Chef Priyanka Naik ready to share her “Bear-y Tartare” to rescue bears at a Four Paws Sanctuary in … [+] Germany (July 2024).
Priyanka Naik, known for her upbeat, informative videos on sustainable eating and recipes that behoove our health and the environment took part in a special operation recently with the Dream Team. No, not that Dream Team. The global animal sanctuary organization, Four Paws—the biggest of its kind—reached out to Naik about a competition, so to speak, that they were hosting to celebrate six of their bear sanctuaries, which includes a total of 23 rescued bears. The competition ended in a celebration of sorts, with Naik as the featured chef asked to create the dish to mark the occasion.
Although the Dream Team being celebrated was not the U.S. basketball team, the Four Paws competition—ironically called “March Napness”—did take the name from the sport’s most pivotal tournament of year. This Dream Team represents the winning sanctuary who hosted the sleepiest bears this year. And, like basketball March Madness, the competition used brackets to determine the final winning team; in this case, it was a bear from Bear Sanctuary, Bärenwald, in Müritz, Germany.
Light-hearted references aside, the bears at the subject of the competition, and Chef Naik’s involvement, were amidst a dedicated effort to acclimate the bears into an environment that, as much as possible, replicates the wild habitat in which they originate. Unfortunately, these bears had been living in abusive environments, victims of horrible maltreatment, exploited as circus, dancing, or selfie bears, sold in the illegal wildlife trade, or kept in chains and tiny cages.
Bear Dasha testing out Chef Naik’s “Bear-y Tartare”.
Four Paws rescued the bears from areas like Bulgaria, Serbia, Albania, and Poland to name a few. They had been so traumatized, upended from their natural habitat, that they had no ability to function like bears in the wild; their patterns and natural inclinations were so disrupted that they weren’t even able to hibernate as we know bears to do. The mission of the sanctuary is to give them the best opportunity to reclaim what should be natural. The bears are given two acres each, a pond, a den, an enclosure in which to eat, exercise enrichment, and opportunities to re-learn tasks like foraging and using their paws to crack open walnuts.
In a landscape resembling a natural forest, bears were tracked for nearly six months, while caretakers paid close attention to ways in which they slept, or didn’t sleep, what they ate, how they played, or foraged. These were all things that Naik, a self-described animal lover, took into consideration when preparing the meal to be served for the bears when she visited in July.
As the first chef ever asked to participate in such an endeavor, Naik said she was honored. After doing some of her own research, and receiving intel from the caretakers at the sanctuary about the bears’ food preferences—you read that correctly—she decided on steak tartare as the inspiration and visual reference point for what she would make, but used local ingredients, namely fruit, nuts, and honey—made on the premises— for the meal. “As a vegan, I had never eaten a tartare, but like how it’s presented. I ended up using watermelon as the beef, and cantaloupe to represent the egg yolk, she said.” (Find the recipe below at the end of the article).
Chef Naik at the sanctuary In the midst of prepping her fruit-and-nut-filled dish for the bears.
Naik spent nearly a week at the sanctuary, which is in a remote area of Germany, about two hours north east of Hamburg. “The majority of the bears’ diet there is actually, plant-based,” she said. So, as a vegan, she was right at home when preparing the winning meal. “It was also interesting to see the different ways in which the female and male bears ate,” she mentioned. “The boys would sniff then quickly chomp the food like dogs, and the girls did a lot of gentle licking first before daintily eating it.”
Ultimately, the experience opened a flood gate of information and inspiration, Naik said, for the work she does when creating content that teaches people how to live more sustainably at home or while traveling. “The sanctuary shows such attention to detail for every single thing. They serve as a microcosm for things we could be doing ourselves every day. “Even things like composting or not using plastic, or the way they built the enclosures with local materials, everything is so intentional.”
Naik reiterated that even though she was there to make this special meal, and went into the enclosures, she had no direct contact with the bears; she observed and remained a safe distance from them at all times.
“It was so eye opening, and everyone works so hard. I just worked as a caretaker for a few hours and I was dead tired. I couldn’t believe the amount of strength needed to do the job. And the men and women there are doing it day after day.” Naik also mentioned how nice it was to see children there in order to get a real sense of how an actual sanctuary works for the betterment of the animals. “There are a lot places who say they are sanctuaries, but really aren’t.”
Four Paws has 15 locations worldwide, 11 of which are sanctuaries. In terms of the U.S., there are no sanctuaries, but there’s a Four Paws office in Boston. In fact, a large portion of donors for the global organization come from in the U.S.
Naik, whose experience with Four Paws was also featured recently in People magazine is gearing up now for a new You Tube produced series called Make it Vegan out later this month.
Bears Dasha and Lelya eating Chef Naik’s “Bear-y Tartare”.
Although the meal was created for the bears, it is perfectly suitable for humans.
BEAR-y Tartare Recipe from Chef Priyanka
INGREDIENTS:
1 heaping cup diced watermelon
1 heaping cup diced cantaloupe
6 oz blackberries sliced in half
2 red beets cooked, peeled and diced
1 tangerine
1 tsp fresh lemon zest
3-4 tbsp honey of choice
2 tbsp unsalted walnuts chopped
1 tbsp raisins
chopped Salad greens of choice for serving
DIRECTIONS:
1. In a small bowl, slice the tangerine and squeeze all of the juice from 1 whole tangerine into the bowl. Add in the fresh lemon zest and honey. Whisk until combined. Set aside.
2. In a large bowl, add in the watermelon, cantaloupe, beets and blackberries. Pour in the dressing and lightly toss until coated.
3. Place salad greens on your serving dish. Place on a large circle cookie mold. Begin gently layering in your fruits – I like to start with the watermelon as the bottom layer, cantaloupe as the middle layer, red beets as the third layer. Make sure it’s packed tight into the mold and then carefully lift up the mold. Then layer on the blackberries. Drizzle on a spoonful of dressing from the bowl. Garnish with walnuts and raisins. Serve right away and enjoy!
* Chef Priyanka added almond butter to the bear recipe as an extra treat — and you can too!
BONUS! Try the below alongside this tasty recipe for an extra flavor boost.
– Turmeric Whip: In a chilled mixing bowl, whip aquafaba (chickpea water from a can) on high speed with 1/4 tsp of turmeric powder and a pinch of salt until stiff peaks (about 5-10 minutes).
– Roasted Carrots: In a bowl, toss baby carrots together with 1 tbsp of light olive oil, pinch of kosher salt, black pepper and 1/2 tsp of cumin, smoked paprika and 1/4 tsp of garlic powder. Air-fry or roast at 375 for 15 minutes until fork tender. Serve with turmeric whip.
