In a new collaboration with BMW Group Asia, we show you that sustainability can be found in aspects of life – especially everyone’s favourite pastime, eating. First stop: Bollywood Farms!

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In the last few years, the automotive industry has undergone pretty dramatic changes. The biggest change of all likely being that the stage is primed for EVs to change our motoring habits. 

Take the BMW iX for example. It’s not just an all-electric, zero emissions vehicle (and the brand’s technological flagship). It’s the most sustainable vehicle built by BMW and is also built on one of the world’s most sustainable automotive production lines in Dingolfing, Germany. 

The production plant at Dingolfing makes use of green, renewable energy, recycled materials, and reduces long range transportation of materials to dramatically cut down on CO2 emissions. 

And this concept of living sustainably from start to finish can be applied not just by big production plants, but by people like you and me. From bringing reusable containers to the food court to reusable bags at the grocery store, and even gradually changing your diet to incorporate more plant-based options, there’re plenty of little steps we can take.

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In this four-part adventure, we team up with BMW Group Asia and visit four eateries around Singapore to find out how they keep sustainable practices at the forefront whilst feeding the masses delicious, quality meals.

In this first edition, we took the BMW iX out to the Kranji heartlands (or farm lands, rather) to visit Bollywood Farms. 

And it’s not the first time we’ve driven the BMW iX, but there are a couple facts worth repeating. Like its twin motors, all-wheel drive, and a range of almost 400km on a single charge in real world conditions. Plus, 326hp makes for some serious grunt. 

But back to our focus – Bollywood Farms, the love child of Ivy Singh-Lim and her husband, has grown to become an institution in many aspects of Singaporean agriculture since its establishment in 2000. The Poison Ivy bistro opened its doors in 2004, and since then, culinary classes and even a museum has been added to its operations. 

Running these operations is Lynn Ee, aka “General Warrior” on site. A curious title but in her words, a nicer way of saying “she who does everything”.

With a background of training from the prestigious Le Cordon Bleu, Lynn’s most proud of the Bollywood Bhanchha – the Nepali word for kitchen. The private kitchen offers cooking classes and private dining, which is what we had in store for us.

But before we got our grubby hands on the special creations Lynn prepared for us, we took her out for a spin in the iX. 

Like anyone experiencing an EV for the first time, Lynn found the iX “very silent and very space age”. Not a totally wild first impression – in fact, BMW even put in some Hans Zimmer-inspired sounds to mimic engine noise.

With a car like the iX, its manufacturing process and electricity source accounts for roughly 45% fewer carbon emissions in its lifetime in comparison to a diesel SUV. 

But like Bollywood Farms – it has to be sustainable from the get go. It’s not enough to make a car run sustainably, it has to be built so as well. While most car manufacturers design their cars to be recyclable, it’s more sensible to build it out of something recycled in the first place. 

Take the leather on the dashboard of the iX for example. When upholstery is usually dyed, plenty of toxic chemicals are involved. The iX avoids that by having its upholstery colour come from the leaves of olives, as evidenced by the olive leaf embossed on the dashboard.

But for all the talk of clean motoring that EVs provide, electric motors are still hotly debated for how sustainable they truly are.

To make the magnets used in electric motors, you have to extract rare earth metals, and it’s the difficult extraction process of these metals, themselves a finite resource, that harms the environment.

But the motors in the iX (and all motors in every electric BMW) don’t use any rare earth metals at all. A small amount of cobalt is present, but even that cobalt is bought directly from controlled sources. 

So while it’s important to consider the tailpipe emissions in an electric car, it’s also crucial to consider where the car comes from, what materials it’s made of, and where said materials come from. 

Safe to say, the ride was enough to convince Lynn to consider an EV for her next automotive purchase.

And just like the sustainable production of the iX from start to finish, Lynn’s menu created for us follows the same ethos. In the pursuit of reducing carbon footprint, all ingredients used in the Bhanchha are either: sourced from the farm, from neighbouring farms, or obtained from locations within a two hour flight around Singapore. 

Over the course of three dishes, Lynn showed us the culinary wonders one could whip up with ingredients found in her backyard.

Asian Taco

In Lynn’s version of the taco, she uses a wild pepper leaf deep fried in batter to form the shell. Also known as daun kaduk, these leaves are commonly found along our expressways in Singapore, but we recommend to keep driving if you get the sudden craving for one on the ECP.

Reverse Kueh Pie Tee

In kueh pie tee as we know it, the shrimp tends to be a tiny little thing in comparison to the turnip and bamboo stuffing. So flipping the script again, Lynn makes the shrimp the star of the event this time. And keeping in theme, the shrimp was freshly caught that morning from a neighbouring farm.

Nasi Ulam

A traditional Indonesian dish, nasi ulam is a rice-based dish that consists of various herbs and vegetables. In Lynn’s recreation of it, she used eight different types of herbs foraged directly from the farm. 

These consist of: daun kaduk (wild pepper leaf), turmeric leaf, saw tooth coriander, galangal (blue ginger leaf), kaffir lime leaf, laksa leaf, and rojak flower. Alongside these herbs, Lynn mixes in freshly grated coconut, belachan, and toasted dry shrimp. And if that isn’t enough, it’s topped with Nyonya achar for that special “kick”.

You won’t find these dishes in the Poison Ivy Bistro as they are part of Lynn’s private dining experience in the Bollywood Bhanchha. Everything that goes into her menu is freshly gathered from the garden.

With so much to offer, jumping behind the wheel and taking a trip to Bollywood Farms in Singapore’s countryside is a must-do at least once in your lifetime. Who knows, you just might be inspired to start your own farm after.

Brought to you by BMW

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