Memories and how food plays a really important part in relationships

Think about it for a moment and you will understand exactly what I mean. Food plays such an important role in every aspect of our life. For instance, if there's a celebration we try to come up with the best or as might be the case, the most appropriate menu for the occasion. Alternately, if someone dies anywhere in the world, the close family and friends organize a 'wake' where good food and drink is served while people gather around in memory of the departed soul. Food is also something that can really taste best when eaten in company. For me, the term 'breaking bread' with someone beautifully depicts a scenario where good food tends to taste even better with good company In fact, I'd go so far as to say that even a pastry and coffee or a croissant and a coffee had with a friend is something that becomes really pleasurable and many a time, truly memorable. Top of my head, I can recall at least ten instances when I've enjoyed the meal/coffee so much more because of the company on a particular day. Shared with family and friends. Then there are some food memories which are very dear to one's heart by virtue of the fact that they centre around the food that either someone cooked for you in a way that was really special or then it could be about a savoury or sweet dish that you cooked for or shared with someone and he/she loved it best just the way you made it.

Which then leads me to a chain of bitter sweet thoughts. For instance, I can never eat sweet rice, or better known in Punjabi as 'Meethe Chawal' without remembering my grand mother in law, 'Beeji'. For Beeji made the best Meethe Chawal in the world as far as I was concerned. And always, always made it for me whenever I asked for it. Never mind that I was a grown up married lady and she was already in her seventies when we first met.. I can also never eat 'Kadhi Pakore and Chawal' ( a yogurt and gram flour based Punjabi dish) without remembering Jairam, my parents' cook for over thirty years who makes the most delicious Kadhi on earth.As also my friend Amrita in Muscat who makes sure she personally delivers a box of her special home made Kadhi to our home whenever she makes it. I can never eat a peppermint without drinking water right after it to check if my mouth really feels cool because that is exactly what my 'long lost and never found again; friend Christine Bose from my school in Calcutta used to do. I can never drink 'Elaichi' ( cardamom ) tea without thinking about my beautiful mother Satinder who I lost recently, because she always drank hers that way.Or dip a Marie biscuit in that same tea without remembering how she only wanted me and not her nurses to help her drink that cup of tea when she was critically ill in the ICU...

I could go on and on but I find that I actually have a pain in my heart remembering some people close to me who are now deceased, so I think I will stop here. But not before I say that what really brought on this chain of thought in the first instance was when I was making Rajma Chawal (a North Indian delicacy made with red kidney beans cooked in thick tomato based gravy) this morning specially for my daughter Neha, when I remembered a friend of mine, Akhila, who passed away in the prime of her life some time bck. For whenever I made 'Rajma' or 'Maa Ki Daal', I would always send her a big bowl, or better still, drop it off to her place personally because she said that it was the best she'd ever eaten.....

A fabulous Coffee and a Welsh Rarebit Cooking Demo by renowned Chef Graham Tinsley at the Crowne Plaza Muscat

A gorgeous February morning, a fabulous location overlooking the Gulf Of Oman, inviting blue seas, delicious finger foods and beverages. 

Add to it, a whole lot of fun and the stage was set for a very interesting WGO Coffee morning cum cooking demonstration by visiting Chef Graham Tinsley MBE  who created some 'culinary waves' as the ladies had a great time learning, tasting, catching up with old friends and making some new ones at the Crowne Plaza Muscat this morning. 

Chef Graham Tinsley is all smiles as he hands out some bite sized delights 

 Chef Graham was born in St Helens, Lancashire and began his career in catering at the Midland Hotel in Manchester under the guidance of renowned Chef Gilbert Lefevre. In July 2000, he went in to partnership to buy the Castle Hotel in the ancient North Wales coastal castle town of Conwy. In addition to being awarded an MBE during the Queen’s 80th birthday celebrations in 2006 for his services to the Food Industry , Chef Graham has had numerous opportunities of cooking for Royalty as well as the Emperor of Japan and European Heads of State at Cardiff Castle.

The fabulous location overlooking the Gulf Of Oman

Starting with a taste of a delicious sweet and freshly baked bread

Chef Graham Tinsley all set for the Welsh rarebit demonstration

Welsh rarebit, perhaps the most famous dish of Welsh dishes and is made with a savoury sauce of melted cheese and various other ingredients and served hot, after being poured over slices of toasted bread. Alternately, the hot cheese sauce may be served in a chafing dish like a fondue accompanied by sliced, toasted bread.It is interesting to note that the name of the dish originates from 18th-century Great Britain. 

Answering all our queries patiently


It was a pleasure watching Chef Graham prepare the welsh rarebit and what the ladies enjoyed most was the 'cheese tasting' bit. He had brought a very wide range of cheese from the UK with him and we had the opportunity to sample some 'first time treats' such as onion and ginger based cheese.

Once the rarebit was made, Chef Graham put it on some sliced bread and sent it to the kitchen so that it could be glazed for that final finished look.

I enjoyed the demonstration thoroughly and came back and looked up a few other sites so that I could learn more about this dish. For those of you who may be interested in trying it out for yourselves. 

1. Here is a recipe I've got from www.welshholidaycottages.com

Ingredients

• 225 g grated, strong cheese such as Cheddar or Cheshire
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
• 1 level teaspoon dry mustard
• 2 teaspoons flour
• Shake of pepper
• 4 tablespoons beer-preferably , Guinness or milk (Guinness gives a stronger flavour)
• 4 slices bread toasted on 1 side only
• 
  

Method 

1. Put the cheese, butter, Worcestershire sauce, mustard, flour and pepper into a saucepan.
2. Mix well and then add the beer, Guinness or milk to moisten. Ensure its not too wet.
3. Stir over a gentle heat until all is melted, and when it is a thick paste, stop stirring, and swivel it around the saucepan, which it will do quite easily.
4. Leave to cool a little, and meanwhile toast the bread on one side only.
5. Spread the rarebit over the untoasted side and brown under a hot grill.
6. This mixture can be made and kept in the refrigerator for several days if required. 
7. 
   

Memories are truly made of moments like these 

Gorgeous flower beds  that add to the ambience 

A taste of some delicious cheese- this is a ginger flavoured cheddar 

Coffee, cakes and bites 

Memories are truly, truly made of days and moments like these.

My first visit to The Chocolate Room, Muscat

For most of us, chocolate rates very high on our list on our list of things that we love to eat, inhale and experience.   And so for the growing chocolate lovers community in Muscat, there is a new place where you can head to and savour a wide variety of all things 'chocolicious.' 

Located in Al Marafah Street, Mirbat Tower in Ghubra the Chocolate Room is  open, airy, well lit and has a well designed and planned menu for people of all age groups. When I walked in at 11 am yesterday  I saw a group of young Omani women tucking into their sweet as well as savoury delights . 

When I asked them if they were regulars, the answer was in the affirmative with two of them telling me that this was their third visit. 

Would they come here again? 

Yes, they definitely would. 

And finally, what was it that drew them there? 

"We love the food as well as the fact that we can sit here and study peacefully during the mornings."

 As good a reason as any, I thought to myself and placed my order for a Cafe Latte and a Chocolate tart.

When my order was served by the smiling Vic, this is what it looked like.

 A Chocolate tart and a Cafe Latte

The presentation looked great and must add, the tart tasted good too. However, call me fussy, but the coffee was another story. It wasn't anything like the Latte I'd been expecting. Of course, this wasn't my regular brand but to me the coffee tasted overly  sweet( in my book, sugar is never mixed in the cup before bringing to the customer). 

It also tasted nothing like coffee!

So when Vic came around to ask me if everything was OK, I promptly pointed that out. That was when I learnt that it was actually a Belgian chocolate concoction and that all their coffees have an element of that flavour. Must admit, I wish I'd known that earlier... 

What I absolutely loved were the interiors. Brown, white, maroon and gleaming, there is a definite element of style about the place  and I can see it becoming a popular destination for chocolate lovers in Muscat. 

The  interiors look good

Vic and the group of students 

Later Vic showed me the Menu in some detail  and this time I saw that there were plenty of other choices  in the sweet as well as the savoury sections.. 

So as I started by saying, this was my first visit to the Chocolate Room but definitely not my last.....

Pastry Chef Mohammed Kessrrwani shows me how make a great French Mille-feuille

The friendly staff at Paul, MGM Muscat

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote my first two blog posts on Paul, Muscat. With Eid rapidly approaching, I  decided to write my third and final post on Paul where Pastry Chef Mohammed Kessrwani shows me how to make the best  Mille-feuille and hope you enjoy reading this one as well.Even better, if you decide to try this out as your very own 'Eid Special.'

Paul is a French chain of bakeries and café restaurants established in 1889 in the city of Croix, in Northern France by Charlemagne Mayot. Today, there are over 500 franchised Paul bakery/café restaurants in many countries worldwide, viz.France, Spain, Belgium and the United Kingdom,  among others.This year Paul came to Muscat and has rapidly proved to be a very welcome addition to the range of restaurants present here.

Having a sweet tooth and being fond of baking myself, I'd specially asked to meet the Pastry Chef and that was how I found myself in the kitchens of Paul Muscat at 0730 hours and when I entered, was surprised to see Chef Mohammed Kessrwani already hard at work! 

                                

                           Chef Mohammed Kessrwani is all smiles

Welcoming me and making sure I was wearing a cap to cover my hair, he positioned me where I could watch him clearly and had no objections to being photographed at his work station. My first impression was,'Gosh he looks so young!" ! And that was proved to be right when I learnt that he was 29 and had been working in Pastry for the last 14 years.

I shadowed Chef Mohammed for two days and am delighted with all that I got to see and learn. On the second morning, I was invited by the Chef to watch an exclusive session on how to make a  great Mille-feuille and was then treated to a Demo of the vanilla strawberry version.

The mille-feuille ( "thousand leaves") vanilla custard slice, also known as the 'Napoleon' is a pastry of French origin. Traditionally, a mille-feuille is made up of three layers of puff  pastry(pâte feuilletée), alternating with two layers of pastry cream (crème pâtissière), but sometimes whipped cream or jam are substituted. The top pastry layer is dusted with  confectioner's sugar  and sometimes cocoa, or pulverized seeds (e.g. roasted almonds). Alternately, the top is glazed with icing or fondant in alternating white  (icing) and  brown  (chocolate)  stripes  and combed to get the effect of lines or striations.

The pastry sheets ready to be worked on

Piping the vanilla cream

Since Paul has strict standards, the basic pastry sheets for the Mille-feuille reach the Muscat restaurant as frozen sheets and every morning when he comes in, Chef Mohammed takes out the required quantity and thaws them till they are at the right temperature. After making the vanilla or as the case may be, the chocolate cream, he starts piping it, neatly but very firmly, around the outer edges and works his way inwards, till the entire sheet is neatly covered.

Beautifully set and Chef starts to top with fresh strawberries

Working patiently, Chef Mohammed  covers the entire surface with the beautifully sliced fresh strawberries and then adds a light glaze to the finished product that goes a long way in adding to the appeal. Reminding me that we all eat with our eyes first, he pops the tray into the refrigerator for about 20 mins to give it a chance to set.

Exactly twenty minutes later, the alarm goes off and he gently takes the tray out and neatly slices the set pastry- a Vanilla Strawberry Mille-feuille into 24 portions and voila, a great new batch is ready!


Sometime later, the Mille-feuille make their way to the front of the shop where customers feast their eyes, before placing their orders for their goodies or best of all, sit down for coffee,  chat and a strawberry Mille-feuille with a friend!
 

Lastıng Impressıons and Food For Thought on Istanbul

Looking through my blog entries on my first visit to Istanbul a few years ago, these are some excerpts that caught my eye and these are also what I'm choosing to share with you. 

Looking out of my hotel window

"Approachıng the last leg of thıs trıp whıch I wıll be ıllustratıng wıth lots and lots of photographs as soon as I upload them, these are some of the lastıng ımpressıons of my fırst vısıt to Turkey, wıth my mınd clearly made up to come here again,some tıme ın the future.

The people here are just wonderful ,arm frıendly and extremely hospıtable. And really do care about you beıng a vısıtor to theır country.In fact, they are extremely concerned that you really should see the best of what Istanbul has to offer. Whıch to my mınd ıs plenty!

Some great street food, bread which tastes fabulous!

The hıstory of thıs place-just too much to take ın! And here I am -a student of Hıstory-I actually found all my hıstorıcal and other flıghts of fantasy comıng true.

Istanbul ıs Constantınople, the most ancıent place ın the cradle of well developed cıvılızatıon. A place where fırst the Romans then the Byzantıne rulers followed by the Ottomans/Othmans came to power and boy,dıd they have some power! All evıdent wherever you look...

A Priceless vase made of a single slab of marble inside the Hagya Sofia

And today we met Mustafa an Ottoman Turk, just outsıde Hagya Sofıa. I dont know what ıt was that propelled hım to come across and talk to us but he dıd and what a wealth of ınformatıon we gleaned from hım!(I'm goıng to need a whole new blog entry for thıs story.)

Mustafa and Avi outside the Hagya Sofia

And at the end of that meetıng we learnt quıte sımply and baldly from hım that he was dyıng of pancreatıc cancer."Dua Karo mere lıye" were hıs last words as we saıd goodbye and he went ınto the mosque for hıs mıdday prayer leavıng me thınkıng that thıs was the most calm acceptance of lıfe and death that I've seen ın recent tımes, coming from a man who had been told that he had two years (at the most to lıve.) Of whıch, one was almost up.

Sometimes, I think of him and I can't help but wonder if.... 

Food for Thought- Ever thought of what happens after that Buffet lunch you went to?

Say you go to a lovely buffet lunch or a dinner.Where the table is groaning with a delightful spread.And you love the look of it all.

But even more, you love the taste of it all..

Accompaniments for a delightful Arabic spread

Yes, it really does look good!

So you do, what most of us would naturally do in such circumstances.

Eat just a a little bit or possibly, a lot more than you would normally. Which is fine, because it really is an exception.

But have you ever thought of what happens to all that lovely looking and tasting food after that?

Well this is what I learnt recently and it really made me wake up to a new reality, one that I wasn't aware of earlier. Here in Oman, we have very strict food and hygiene regulations.Because food standards of freshness, cleanliness etc are very carefully monitored by the concerned authorities.So it follows that all the food after an event, ( particularly all non veg items) are just put into big black garbage bags.And just thrown away.

Makes me really wonder, is that too much of a good thing?

Or then, how many hungry people all over the world, could fill their stomachs and get a peaceful night's sleep?

Questions, questions, questions...

With few, if any answers.....

Chicken Tikkas, Channa Masala and a superb bread Basket at Passage to India

We started with the Achari Chicken Tikka

Followed by Channa Masala and a delightful mixed bread basket

Over the last week, a few readers have asked me if this blog is primarily meant for French cuisine to which my answer has been - this blog will cover anything interesting that I want to share in the fields of - Food,  fun travel and art, in addition to some real 'food for thought' on occasion.

Today, I'm talking about a recent visit to a well known restaurant in Muscat. Called 'Passage to India',  its one of the best places to go for Indian as well as a fascinating range of Chinese cuisine.As far as we are concerned its one stop away from home and the place that we head to when we want to tuck into a delicious and hearty Indian meal.

Top of that list would have to be the 'Achari Chicken tikka' which is cooked in their  Tandoor . A tandoor is a  clay oven used in cooking and baking. The tandoor is used for cooking in Southern, Central and Western Asia as well as in the Caucasian region.The heat for a tandoor was traditionally generated by a charcoal or wood fire, burning within the tandoor itself, thus exposing the food to live-fire, radiant heat  cooking, as well as  hot-air, convection cooking and smoking by the fat and food juices that drip on to the charcoal. Temperatures in a tandoor can approach 480°C (900°F), and it is common for tandoor ovens to remain lit for long periods to maintain the high cooking temperature. The tandoor design is something of a transitional form between a makeshift earth oven and and the horizontal-plan masonry oven. At Passage to India, they have a really great Tandoor, just look at the pics just below and you can clearly see it. 

The word ‘Tikka’ means bits, pieces or chunks. ‘Chicken Tikka’ is an easy-to-cook dish in which chicken chunks are marinated in special spices and then grilled on skewers. This is one of India's most popular dishes. Chicken Tikka can also be made into Chicken Tikka Masala, a tasty gravy dish.

After  having placed our order, I went into the well lit and designed Tandoor area where I could watch how efficiently and deftly the Chef made the Kababs as well the Rotis after that.Because these are Achari( pickle flavoured tikkas) a small quantity of pickle went into the tikka mix which was then speared onto  a long iron stick which is what goes into the Tandoor. 15 minutes later the tikkas were ready, out, sizzling, smelling absolutely divine and that was when I realized that it is the aroma of tandoori food that goes a very long way in building up a great appetite. Honestly speaking, I wasn't really too hungry at that point having fished a late breakfast, but that aroma- it really did make me hungry!

I've photographed the various steps and you can see how meticulously the platter is prepared. Scroll down and check them out...

The Tikkas  are speared onto an iron stick and go into the iron Tandoor, while the dough is ready for the 'Rotis'

Once the Kababs are ready, the iron is dipped into cold water so that they can be easily removed

Onto the serving plate and lightly brushed with butter

Voila, customer delight!

And  that is my plate, one that I tucked into before heading back to see hoe the Channa Masala and the bread basket was to be made

The Rotis in progress


The dough is already prepared in the shape of balls ( mis-en-place) and all the chef has to do at this point is to roll them out and put them into the Tandoor






In the main Kitchen the Channa masala is being prepared

The Final Touches

What I really appreciated is the final touch, everything had to be 'just so"!

This is what the tray looked like 

  

And it was finally at our table. 

We thoroughly enjoyed that meal and since it was just Avi and myself, we clearly realized that there was no way that we could either finish that meal or order any dessert! So we headed back home, carrying a takeaway  bag with us, happy and content-

Our idea of a really good weekend lunch!..

An early morning walk, Baguette making and a lovely breakfast in Paris

Jacques dividing the dough and getting ready to pop the baguettes in the oven

The lovely little Patissier in Volontaires, Paris

The Tempting array

Checking that all is set and ready to roll

The Baguette making machine

 It all began with the phone clock not being adjusted to the new  time zone..

And turned into a delightfully memorable early morning walk in Paris.

On our first morning in Paris I had set the alarm for 630 am as we were planning a day trip to Versailles.As it happened, the alarm rang and call it years of discipline,  I promptly woke up, had my tea and a quick shower. Something looked a little different- was a it just a shade too dark outside? The curtains were drawn and I didn't really want to open them for fear of waking the family.

About fifteen minutes later, Avi appeared- all dressed and ready but with a pained look on his face.Then he said-"Do you realise? Its only 5 am!"

And that was when I understood- what I'd thought was an alarm for 0630 hours was actually set for 0430! Well that was that and not wanting to disturb Neha,  we stepped out for  a very early morning walk.

Everything looked different, the streets were empty and every now and then a few people passed us- those returning from the night shift and work and a couple looked at us in surprise- wasn't 0530 a little too early for a walk? 

Being familiar with the area from our last visit, we knew that we would pass Pasteur, with its  famous Lois Pasteur Institute and this would be followed by Volontaires about two kms later.The sun was rising and there was a beautiful nip in the air, one which made me wrap my jacket a little more snugly around myself.

Three kms later, we were thirsty, but I'd honestly say, a little more hungry. And that was also when we saw it- the sweetest little Patissier that looked so very welcoming.

A cheerful looking lady welcomed us and asked us what we would like for breakfast. We chose the Continental one with a chocolate croissant for me and the cheese version for Avi and paid up. Looking through the glass window and smelling the delicious aroma of freshly baking bread all around, I simply asked her if I could step into the kitchen where the baguettes were bring made.To my delight, she agreed, and there I was, right where Jacques was getting ready to make the next batch of baguettes.

Look through the sequence of photographs that I've posted and its really self explanatory. With something as simple as this machine, Jacques turns out anything between 300-800 baguettes a day (depending of course on the demand.) 

Golden brown and smelling  delicious!

Yes, one batch is ready

Ready for customers coming in during the day

All that watching made us hungry- So here's a well deserved French Breakfast!

Must confess, all that walking and then clicking the pics almost had me drooling and this is what  we settled down to - a simple, delicious, very early morning breakfast on our first morning in Paris...