Kuredu had the pleasure to host Tora Olsson, a.k.a. ToraFlora, a Swedish vegan food designer and founder of ToraFloraFood, who spoiled the resort’s guests with a series of healthy and visually appealing dishes. We sat down with Tora to lean more about her food scientist background and her passion for health and well-being.

As a chef, have you always cooked vegan dishes or did you start out working in regular kitchens?

I started working in kitchens when I was 15 years old. I got a big interest in healthy food and ingredients when I was around 20 and decided to educate myself more in this area. Today I have a bachelor degree in gastronomy and a master degree in food and meal science. Now when I have my own company and knowledge about health, I’m only doing more intense vegan dishes.

By not working with meats, you have to look elsewhere to find foods that provide the same nutrients; what are the superfoods that you love to work with that fill this void?

We get a lot of protein from animal products, but I feel like there has been some misunderstanding that it’s hard to get protein from plant-based food. If you have a vegan lifestyle and eat a lot of nuts, beans, and peas, all of which contain a lot of protein, this absolutely fills up the nutrition needs of our body.

With the growing awareness of vegetarian and vegan cuisine, do you believe that we will see more and more vegan and vegetarian options on menus at restaurants around the world or will it remain a niche market?

I do believe that vegan lifestyle will increase in the future because people pay more attention, are more aware of what food and beverages they consume, and are also more mindful of the environment.

You have worked with the team here at Kuredu and provided them with lots of inspiration for dishes they can prepare for guests at the resort. Have you picked up any ideas from them or discovered any new ingredients or ways to prepare food?

I developed my own menu in my hometown in Sweden and when I come to Kuredu, I tried to apply my menu in the resort with some new ideas, fresh ingredients from the greenhouse and find some new healthy ingredients. This hasn’t changed the result a lot, but still got the taste, appearance, texture and the nutrition which I expected.

Everyone has a guilty pleasure when it comes to food, what’s yours?

Since I specialise in healthy food, I always feel guilty when consuming something that contains sugar or artificial food. I admit to having occasional ‘cheating days’ when I consume sweets.

If someone wants to make some tasty vegetarian or vegan dishes at home, where would you recommend to start (are there any good, easy dishes to practice with?)

There are thousands of ways to get started. If you are interested in food that is beautiful, delicious and healthy, I would be pleased to give you some tricks, recipes and advice on choosing the ingredients. Visit my website toraflorafood.com and check out my Instagram account for more inspiration!