February 2007

I have been hearing that some people are reading my blog but I am not getting any comments. I wish that would change. As I had mentioned earlier, blogging in a vacuum is not fun. The comments can be mean or nice - that is not the point, as long as I have something coming in. So here is my appeal once again. And please spread the word.

Having said that I was told by a neice of mine whose brother's wedding I attended in India that I didn't talk about the food. I remember saying in one of my posts that I would get to it. One thing that was true of all the food we ate at any of the functions was that there was plenty of it. From a caterer point of view I was not thrilled with the presentation of the appetizers. Everything was in these warm plates with candles underneath to keep things warm. I would change that. I am all for the keeping of the food warm but I am sure there is a better way than to dump all the food in a bowl. So that is definitely one thing that I am going to change when I open my catering company in India.
Now I think this is the first time that I am mentioning this on my blog that I intend on moving to India next year and open a catering company along with a recreational cooking school. So the presentation was one thing that was lacking.
The type of items was plentiful, I can't remember all things off the top of my head but there was a lot of chicken tikka and paneer tikka and some mini corn thing. Potato cooked in a tandoor marinated in yogurt was a big one. It was something I haven't had before and might borrow at my company except I would garnish it with some chives and lay them individually on a tray instead of throwing them all in a pile.
All this should certainly not be taken as me saying the food was poor because it certainly wasn't, just needed some visual tweaking. Cliche coming up, but we really do eat with our eyes first. Maybe it would be a good idea for me to first start a consulting company that teaches people on how to present food. And garnishes, no sign of them anywhere.
Now to the main dinner. That was another story. Before I describe it I have to say the best thing I ate was not at my nephew's wedding but the wedding of one of our old neighbor. They made this paneer dish that was just to die for. I had finished eating when I saw this thing of wonder on other peoples' plate. When I realized what it was I rushed to stand in the food line again and took copious amounts of this paneer that was smothered in this creamy pinkish red sauce. Heaven, heaven, heaven. This is what I remember the paneer being like at all the wedddings that I had attended when I lived in India. I remember loving this dish so much that I would wake up the next morning wishing that I had eaten more than I did.
Hmmm. Well, that was that. The dinner buffets were lavish and had many types of things to offer. A couple of curries, vegetables, rice and the best part was that most people had a person or two making fresh bread. That was excellent since bread has the tendency of getting soggy when cold and this took care of that. There was a salad bar with various chopped salads and this thing called a Russian Salad that I grew up with. It is nothing but boiled vegetables in mayonnaise. May not sound appealing but it has a lot of nostalgic appeal. Oh, there was also a lentil or two and then there was dessert. I have never been someone who pays much attention to sweets but had to try some. Carrot Halva, Gulam Jamun, Kulfi with Falooda sometimes and even Caramel Custard once. All pretty good.
So my overall assessment of these buffets, pretty good but standard nonetheless.
I hope I haven't bruised any sensibilities.
Would love to hear about it.

February 2007

I was at Starbucks, my office a couple of days ago and wrote 2 posts that I lost. Was extremely frustrated. So I am going to try again. And no, I am not at a Starbucks right now - I am at my home office.

So I mentioned that I had a sushi lunch the other day. Something that I didn't realize that I had missed so much until I had it. There are a few sushi restaurant in Delhi now but couldn't find anyone to go with me. I did have what was called sashimi at a restaurant called Nu Delhi. Its a french restaurant but the menu said otherwise. I hate to see menus that are a mile long. Having worked in kitchens and eaten in good restaurants, the longer the menu the lower the standards are, in my opinion. Anyway, this place had an appetizer that said Sashimi in their special sauce or marinade. I had to try it even though it was hopelessly over priced. It was not revelatory but it did seem a bit odd to me to be sitting in the middle of Delhi and eating raw fish - even if it was quite "overcooked" in the acid. It was not all that bad. I am still here to tell the story - so how bad could it have been. I might be sounding derogatory to some diehard delhite but I hate from that city too and am used to eating chaat or going to a hotel for chinese food when we went out to eat. There weren't the choices that there are now like Mediterranean, Lebanese, French and American. So don't blame me for my surprise.

I was also complaining in my lost post that I am not getting as many comments as I would like. It is really tough blogging in a vacuum. Please comment and please spread the word. In 6 months I intend on being listed on the Epicurious website's blogs to read. Help me get there.

Until next time.

February 2007

Just lost a long post. Mad, mad, mad

February 2007

Today is my last day in India. I have been here for almost 2 months. I can't wait to get back to NYC even though this was an absolutely terrific trip. The first thing that I am going to have when I get home is a cup of coffee and a bagel with cream cheese and smoked salmon. Then that evening I am going to have a plateful of ripe cheeses with crackers and a french baguette. The next day will start a cleansing process of eating just fruits and vegetables. I have committed many an act of decauchery (eating wise), not one that I regret but life has to get back to normal. The gym shall be visited too; I will be sure to post on how that goes.
What is the food that you miss most when you are travelling?

I know I haven't posted for quite a few days but I have been having trouble with finding a fast enough and reliable internet connection. That is another thing that I will be immensely grateful for when I get back and that is an internet connection at all times and almost anywhere.

I am coming back to India in March and would love to hear feedback and requests about what to blog about when I get back.

Until then.
See you in New York.

Until we eat again!