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Wonder what they ate!

We, in India, had this damn history exam yesterday. But as you know my mind is made for thinking about food, so I couldn't help thinking what these godforsaken Governor-Generals and Viceroys ate for dinner or lunch for that matter! When they came to India to colonize it, did these Britons bring their own cooks or did they eat Indian food? What did Lord Cornwallis eat when he wasn't annexing states? When they went to Mysore did they have south-Indian food or did they create a fusion out of two cuisines? Like Dosas with Worcestershire Sauce! 


But Alas these are some of the questions which our big fat history books tries not to answer. 

Find your foodie status!!

Check your foodie Status!!!

Take this survey to find out whether you are a foodie, connoisseur, big foodie, super Foodie, Great Foodie or just a beginner! Will just take a minute of your time.

Best Sauce Ever!

Out in the market there is an entire host of Pasta Sauces, but like true love there is only one pasta sauce that is perfect for you. Also called love at first bite. You’ll know it the first time you’ll taste it- there’s no replacement for a true pasta sauce. For me I felt this sensation first when I tasted my favourite farfelle pasta with a generous topping of Ragu’s Double cheddar Pasta sauce mixed with Ragu’s Traditional. Man, It was terrific! My first true love in the form of a semi solid substance of pure divinity. Taste it to believe. I won’t ruin your sense of suspense by revealing the taste. But the cheese really burst in your mouth leaving an after taste that is rarely felt. Mamma Mia!

In the light-headedness of this Pasta Sauce, let me list some of the best products of each type of Food:

1> Breakfast Cereal: Kellogg’s no less

2> Baked Beans: Good ol’ Heinz

3> Ketchup: Heinz, obvio.

4> Thai Food: Real Thai

5> Pasta: Agnesi

6> American: American garden

Interesting Facts

Some interesting Facts:

Ø  Bajra (pearl millet) which is about Rs. 1/kg in India is $10/kg (660 rs) in the US.

Ø  The UN has declared 2013 as the international year of Quinoa

Ø  Tomato leaves contain cyanide, a harmful poison.

Ø  Frankie, a Bombay delicacy, came as an answer to Calcutta’s Nizami Rolls.

Ø  Foei Gras, a controversial dish, is a French delicacy made from Fattened Goose livers.

Ø  Eating bugs and insects are actually good for health.

Ø  Italy’s Margherita Pizza was originally meant to honor Italy’s flag: The basil for green, cheese for White and Pizza sauce for red.

HOW TO BECOME A BREAD TASTER !

HOW TO BECOME A BREAD TASTER

1> Buy some good quality bread (for heaven’s sake not the local ones)

2> slice it in half from the middle.

3> Pray  do not put any spread on it.

4> bring the bread near your nose

5> breath heavily on it.

6> This will bring up a strong aroma

7> Smell it, enjoy and assess the smell- Nutty, Fruity, Earthy, Citric.

8> Dive into the bread. Love it, finish it and get the taste.

15> Call yourself a bread taster!

Awkward Feelings

That Awkward Moment When…

1) You walk into an expensive European joint, of course 

unaware of the price. You find it too costly and ask the manager 

if we get Dosa here. When the manager says ‘no’, tell him you 

wanted dosa and walk out.

2) You go to a dinner party hosted by a rich couple. They offer 

you wine. Of course, all wines taste same to you, so you don’t have anything to say when they ask you how was the wine.

3) Cooking your first meal, giving it to your mom for tasting it, and

 you ask her how it is.

4) You want to cook an exotic gourmet meal that requires 

Tofu, 

that being too costly you

substitute it with Paneer, expecting the taste to remain the same.

5) You are explaining what Manchurian is to a Chinese guest 

(in China, they eat nothing of these sort).

6) Ask your local grocer if they have olives, and they give you a 

blank stare.

FOOD DAYS

FOODy DAYS

Hello! Independence day is just coming up and festivities are in the air. There are kites everywhere and The enthusiasm and the anticipation for D-day has begun.

That leads me to a question.

If we have Doctor’s day, Children’s day, Martyr’s day, why cant we have names of days based on food?

Ya why not?

Food is as important as the heroes upon which these special days have been named. Isn't it? So if we can find out the history of food dishes, and assign a day to each food, wouldn't it be so good. And on that particular day, all canteens and cafeterias across the world would serve the dish assigned to it.

Like how about Panini Day, or pizza Day, or Biryani Day or Crepe day, or even coffee day? Imagine the popularity the pizza day would get. Foodies would flood all pizza joints, as patriots flog the red fort on Independence day. 

And of course how could we forget our Aloo Sabzi day? 

What food these songs remind me of...

What food these songs remind me of...

Often when I've little to do, I switch on my music system and sit there doing nothing. Once jusbefore lunchtime I was doing exactly this but I couldn't help thinking about food because as always I was hungry. So I tried to relate dishes to these chart-busters on my playlist.

YESTERDAY-   The Beatles

This Paul McCartney sung high-octave song brings to my mind some sort of high-calorie indulgence that you have today with glee, but tomorrow you are disgusted with yourself for not resisting the killer dish that has packed to your pounds. Yesterday my worries were so far away...

Blueberry Cheesecake, anyone?

STAIRWAY   TO   HEAVEN – LED ZEPPELIN

This ear-shattering music teamed with the soulful singing of Robert Plant makes for a dish that packs a punch, but has still a soft side to it.

Very hot Peri-Peri chicken takes the perfect spot. Also, chilli chicken.

YOU’RE BEAUTIFUL--  James Blunt

This has to be tutti-frutti. Seen anything more beautiful and colourful?

SHE LOVES YOU—The Beatles

Ice-cream. She loves me, you, everybody. We love her too, don’t we?

TIMES THEY’RE A-CHANGING—Bob Dylan

Things have really changed for the coffee. From being a syrup made by the beans of a plant found first in Arabia, it now comes in hundreds of varieties- Cappuccino, Espresso, Cafe Mocha, Macchiato, Cafe latte, Cafe Americano, Irish coffee- take your pick.  

SCIENTIST—Coldplay

This quirky little song is best described by a layered anniversary cake. There are so many layers in both of them that you have to devour them to understand the taste fully. Moreover, this cake is so technically tough to make, that it would take no less than a rocket scientist to prepare it, literally.

MOVE LIKE JAGGER—Maroon 5

Panna cota, baby! Ever seen it wriggle and move and shake seductively when you pick it up with a spoon?


Buy these songs on Amazon:

The scientist- Coldplay
Yesterday- The Beatles
Stairway to Heaven: Led Zeppelin IV- Led Zeppelin
You're Beautiful: Back to Bedlam- James Blunt
She Loves You: Beatles
Times they are a-changing- Bob Dylan
Moves Like Jagger: Hands all Over- Maroon 5

Manners, boy!

WHAT NOT TO DO IN A 5-STAR!!

Your rich uncle has come from the US and is treating you to your first ever 5-star restaurant? Learn the etiquettes and not let your first five star experience turn into an embarrassing situation that always ends up having you to vow never to count five stars again.

1>   Be disrespectful to the waiter:

You wouldn’t want to shout “abbey oye” to waiters even in your family restaurant. Say excuse me, or if you have been blessed with a hard-of-hearing waiter, tap your knife to your wine glass.

2>   Be hard up on tips

Its 10%, which means Rs. 500 for every 5000 you spend.

3>   Buy a lot of alcohol ‘cause its usually five times more than its MRP

4>    Eat a lot. Honestly, no restaurant cares for disgusting noises coming from its customers!

5>   Eat with fingers. Remember, forks on the left and knives on the right.

6>   Eat sushi with fork. Learn to use chopsticks.

7>   Fart. For obvious reasons!

8>     Stick a lobster up your nose.

My rainy day Eat list

My rainy day Eat list

1>

Chicken cutlets

2>

Milk tea

3>

Canapés

4>

Cheesy garlic bread

5>

Burgers

6>

Lots of coke

7>

Fried chicken

8>

Muffins

Amazing Cheeses Part 2

Goat’s Cheese:  Could be either creamy and mild, or firm with a strong taste.

Roquefort: A French cheese with blue veins.  It’s made from sheep’s milk, and is extremely stinky. Unless you have a taste for it, you wouldn’t be able to share a room with it. Try it at you own peril.

Feta: A crumbly Greek cheese usually made with goat or sheep milk. It is a brined curd cheese. It is used with salads pastry or baking. Honestly, it’s a cheese you won’t like!

Cream Cheese: Finally a cheese you’ll love. Spread it on bread, make cheesecakes or have it raw,  you are sure to enjoy it!  It’s a buttery smooth cheese! Mamma Mia!

Mozzarella: If pizza is here, can mozzarella be far away? Think Italian, thing Mozzarella! It’s chewy, tasty and packs a smack on your taste buds. It’s made of milk from water buffaloes.

Manchego: Sheep’s milk cheese. It’s Spanish with strong flavours.  It’s from the La Mancha region of Spain.  Its colour varies from white to ivory yellow.

Cheddar: A British cheese with full and rich flavor, its love at first bite with it. Grate it, cook it, eat it, but you can never hate it. Its hard with an off-white colour. It’s the most popular cheese in Britain while the second most in the US, just behind Mozzarella.

Smoked Cheese: A mild German cheese with a smoky taste! Can it get more mysterious? Try it yourself surely to get that zazzy feeling.

Stilton: An English blue cheese. As with all blue cheeses, a word of advice: If you haven’t got taste buds suited for it, stay away from it. A gap of more than ten foot is suggested.

Ricotta: It’s a mild, low fact Italian cheese, used for stuffing Ravioli. Its high in Vitamin D. High fat creams can be substituted by it for healthier desserts.

SAY CHEESE!

Say Cheeeeese!!!   EVERYTHING YOU WANTED TO KNOW ABOUT IT- 1

Cheese! What’s so damn complicated about it????

Well, what’s so confusing? The confusing thing is that there are over a thousand varieties of cheeses, man!

The word cheese comes from Latin caseus, from which the modern word casein is closely derived. The earliest source is from the proto-Indo-Eropean root *kwat-, which means "to ferment, become sour".

Cheese is a food product derived from milk, either from a cow, goat, buffalo, or sheep. It comes in a variety of forms, textures and looks and tastes. Here are some of the common ones—

PARMESAN: A hard Italian cheese with a strong smell and flavour. It is grated over pasta or risotto, and cooked with many dishes.                                          

 

CAMEMBERT: A French cheese. It is creamy inside and has a soft rind from outside.

SAINT ANDRE:  A French cream cheese. Mild flavour with a soft rind.

EMMENTAL & GRUYERE: Firm Swiss cheese with sweet and nutty flavour.

                    

GORGONZOLA: A creamy Italian blue cheese with very strong flavour.

TALEGGIO: Creamy medium soft Italian cheese with mild flavour.

HALLOUMI: Mild cheese from Cyprus. Can be made from cow, sheep or goat’s milk.

GOUDA AND EDAM:  Mild buttery Dutch cheeses with thin rind and wax coating.