Being Lahoris, nay Pakistanis, one can’t have too many qualms about food and its sources. We walk around in a state of denial because it allows us to indulge our voracious appetites and we proudly boast about our unshakeable digestive constitution that has over the years become desensitized to bacteria and disease. Where the average colon would balk at the thought of gol gappay from Liberty Market or nihari from Muhammadi or Waris - whoever ranks higher in the eternal meat wars - we attack the same food with gusto and laugh at the apparent ease with which we now digest just about anything.

To say that our attitude towards food is recklessly cavalier would not be an unfair statement to make. As the old adage goes, you are what you eat - we are slowly turning hollow like our meat and vegetables, propped up on pesticides and growth chemicals to meet the ever-increasing consumption demands. Given the option of peeking inside our favourite restaurant’s kitchen most of us would pass on the offer, afraid of what might be lurking behind closed doors that could permanently ruin the eatery for us.

There is, however, one chef who isn’t afraid of inspection - infact she welcomes it. Asma Ramday of The Polo Lounge and the newly opened deli, The Pantry, is more than willing to give any customer a tour of her kitchens. Her restaurants are as clean within as they are impeccable without.

Ramday’s obsession with cleanliness isn’t just a matter of a mild case of OCD but rather stems from her own life and her struggle with Auto Immune Disorder. After 17 years of suffering from symptoms such as fever, inexplicable weight loss and aching joints among other things, Ramday was diagnosed with the disease some eight years ago. Auto Immune Disorder affects, as the name implies, the immune system. It causes the body to attack itself by fighting healthy tissue and organs instead of battling harmful diseases and bacteria as it normally should. Basically your body’s defense mechanism stages a revolt and turns on itself to crippling effect. The causes for Auto Immune Disorder are many, starting from a genetic predisposition and still somewhat shrouded in mystery but its correlation with food is obvious. Ramday’s crusade for organic, ethically sourced produce hence comes from a place of deep personal pain and tribulations.

Over the span of a delicious seven-course meal specially prepared so that the best of the newly added barbeque menu could be sampled, Ramday talks in detail about how her disease started her on a path to eating healthy and smart. From being head chef at Lahore’s Polo Lounge to barely being able to cook, Ramday’s journey with the disease has been difficult but it made her realize the importance of being careful of what you put in your body. A life-altering disease called for a change in lifestyle, which is what the conscientious chef also hopes to promote in her restaurants and among her clients.

She has started growing a lot of her own produce, some of it planted right outside The Polo Lounge itself. Ramday doesn’t identify the restaurant as an organic eatery yet, because she says that in order to earn that label, it isn’t enough to just grow a few herbs and vegetables of your own. "Internationally, you can only call a restaurant organic if every single item of preparation that goes into the food is organic, including the salt and spices. I doubt any restaurant in Pakistan is there yet," Asma asserted.

Asma is determined to get there one day and efforts to ensure that are well underway. From chickens bred at her farm outside Lahore to cherry tomatoes growing in front of the bleachers at the polo ground, Ramday is painstaking in her journey to offer healthy, delicious food to customers.

In a carnivorous society like ours, where no meal is complete without meat, the restaurateur insists on keeping her marinades for no longer than two days, which does tend to incur greater cost for the establishment. A butchery installed by her at the end of the Polo Lounge prepares all the meat for the restaurant and for its sister concern, The Pantry, which is dated after it has been marinated. A look inside the fridge at the Polo Lounge reveals meat packaged with stickers stating the date of marination and its expiration, a practice Ramday is willing to guarantee is limited to her eateries only.

She considers it a personal obligation to ensure that her customers can walk into her restaurants and never question where their food is coming from or how old it might be. "It rests on my conscience and I could never go to bed at peace if I knew that I was compromising on the quality of the food being offered. I have to leave the country often due to my health restrictions but even when I’m not around, my family and children call the restaurant directly and order food. It’s not just a matter of what I’m feeding people, the Polo Lounge is also where most of my family eats and I can’t imagine offering anyone sub-standard food," she explains.

Speaking to Ramday drives home the point that you can choose to remain oblivious to the truth about food and the corners being cut in order to the feed the world’s ravenous
population but it eventually catches up with you. Becoming an active participant in deciding what you put in your body is definitely a trying lifestyle change but wouldn’t you agree that the alternative is much more horrifying?