The Rise of Cannabis in the Food Industry
A recent surge of acceptance in marijuana is slowly making a breakthrough within the food industry. Marijuana is fully legal in 15 states and medically legal in 48, allowing some chefs and to infuse it in their dishes.
Marijuana has long been used as an ingredient in food for users who wanted to get high but didn’t want to smoke.
Depending on the dish, marijuana can be infused into food lipids (fat), or with alcohol tinctures.
Mr. Bradley Poulos, a consultant and professor of entrepreneurship and strategy at Ryerson University in Toronto, ON, speaks on his own experiences when researching and experimenting with marijuana himself.
“Cannabinoids, which are heat soluble, will dissolve in fat," said Poulos. "You can start with cannabis flower or oil. You first heat and 'de-carb' the flower, where you then dissolve the substance into a solvent where it will simmer down with other oils [such as butter]."
When it comes to cooking with cannabis, restaurants are starting to pop up all over the country.
Chris Sayegh, the executive chef and CEO of The Herbal Chef, launched this restaurant to help de-stigmatize the world of plant medicine through modern cuisine.
“We are really some of the only people cooking with cannabis on this high of a scale,” he said. “It's one thing for people to throw weed into a pan to get you high, it's another thing to make the skill an entire business and to actually work with legislative bodies to make sure that our voices are being heard in the industry.”
In this facility, a 12-course meal is commonly presented to the guests allowing their experience to prolong for about 2 ½ hours.
The Herbal Chef ensures that their cannabis is uniquely presented to the table in order to keep them happy and interested in their experience.
“At the beginning of the meal, we want to include a small amount of cannabis extraction to ensure that people are a little more engaged in the evening. We don't want people to consume too much cannabis because they could end up losing interest in the people around them,” said Sayegh. “Toward the end of the meal, we offer CBD in the desserts, which implies the customer to attain the full effects of a really well-rounded experience in our dinners.”
The infusion process is also up to the person consuming it. For example, some people may have a low tolerance to marijuana whereas others may be more experienced with consuming the plant.
“We have a very strict protocol with how much we infuse into the items based upon our individual guest tolerances,” said Sayegh. “We have really coined the term ‘cannabis hospitality,’ which encompasses the idea of how to give consent with cannabis to a guest while making them feel comfortable and informed to have a really good time.”
He also makes it known that his company is full of high-skilled and talented chefs who are trained in the art of Avante Garde modern cuisine with cannabis dosing.
“What we really look for is that we want to make sure we have a really solid terpene profile,” he said. “That is really the only way to differentiate the strengths of one another when putting it in a dish.”
The cannabis plant is clearly present in their dishes by ensuring the incorporation of the entire flower into every dish.
“We use every component of the cannabis plant in every dish because plants, in general, are meant to be consumed as a whole,” said Sayegh. “If you leave out one part, it's likely that you will not get the desired effect that we really want. We always want to use the entirety of the plant.
Poulos also mentions that ingesting cannabis from food is quickly becoming apparent and may end up becoming more apparent within the coming years.
“Cannabinoids in food and other delivery methods are going to be huge, he said. “We are just starting as humans to really understand what the plant does, and once that knowledge is gained, the recreational and medical uses are going to proliferate like crazy.”
Although some have started to incorporate cannabis within food, there is still more knowledge to be gained from this versatile plant.
“The primary active ingredient in cannabis, THC, is just around 120-140 cannabinoids and the problem is, we know a little bit around 10 of them,” said Poulos. “We know a little bit about what cannabinoids such as, THC, CBD, CBG, and CBGA, do. The others we have no idea.”
Discovering other cannabinoids could lead to further knowledge and research on the cannabis plant.
“Several companies are now working on this science so that you can grow these various cannabinoids, the ones that are not expressed so greatly within the plant,” he said. “We can create amounts of them so that they can be studied and added to all kinds of things.”
So now the question lies, are you ready to elevate your eating experience with cannabis-infused dishes?
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