Croissant and Coffee, s’il vous plaît
Croissant at Le Parisiene
Day 2: Breakfast at neighborhood cafe – Le Parisiene – coffee, croissant and omelette. This is the second thing on the list of living like a Parisian. First being the early morning trip to boulangerie for a baguette.
On day two, the breakfast is at 7:30 a.m. and on day six, at 9. There is no feeling of rushing about at any hour of the morning. Am I projecting my lack of urgency on the world around me? Everyone around me seems to have time to sit about, to chat with the cafe owner or read a paper. Judging from their shoes, they are Parisians. Yes, the shoes give you away. Tourist is in “comfortable” shoes and Parisians in good looking ones. There is a cafe or two on every block, each with customers. How does the economics work? Most prefer to sit out, including the tourists. It had seemed attractive when looking at Paris on television. But the first five real minutes are sufficient for me, I am soon overpowered by the smoke blown my way by the skinny Parisians.
Paris, First impressions
Looking out from apartment window
A stark divide between Paris inner and outer. As if the gardner has only tended the heart of his garden – planted rows upon rows of beautiful flowers and done meticulous weeding. If the outskirts had the beauty of the wild, that would be fine too but en route to the city from airport, it seemed like just another sub-urban sprawl with rows upon rows of cookie cutter apartments.
We are renting an apartment in St. Germain. The elevator could barely fit two people but at least we had one. Since we are prepared to look picture perfect ourselves during these two weeks in Paris, we had 150 lbs between the two of us. Lugging up three large suitcases six flights of stairs would not have been fun.
First supper
If one likes traveling then every journey builds up anticipation regardless of how seasoned a traveller one might be. Not everyone has George Clooney’s sang froid. But this anticipation must eventually face the reality of air travel. Yes, we are inured to our water bottles being taken away in the name of security. Yes, we know that we will have to contort ourselves into seats that serve dual use at Guantanamo. But we are still not used to the truly execrable food airlines see fit to serve to their hapless passengers. This was our first meal at the Air Canada flight from SFO to Toronto.
Dinner on Air Canada
Some Air Canada employee has a cruel sense of humor to inflict a Cup O’Noodles at poor folks at 30000 feet. And they made us pay $3 for the privilege too. The sandwich was no better – third rate bread, soggy cold cuts, some unidentifiable sauce. Hmmmm, maybe it is not sense of humor but an actively malicious intent behind this. Only that would explain why they could not source good bread from a city that houses Acme Bread Company.
But hey maybe that was a flight from US to Canada, practically a domestic flight. And we are used to getting peanuts, literally, on domestic flights. Maybe the next leg from Toronto to Paris would be a little better.
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A slice of lemon on your pizza?
Lemon, salami, roasted heirloom tomatoes, arugula pesto and goat cheese
After years of trying out all sorts of techniques, I have converged on a few basic aspects in pizza making – a) a soft and stretchy dough that is not a rubber mat but has sufficient elasticity to be hand stretched into a thin base, b) a 500-600F oven, and c) minimal but flavorful topping. Result is a chewy crust with a crisp bottom and rich flavors in every bite.
Some say that we should always eat whole grains. I agree, whole heartedly. I have gladly swapped out white bread for wheat bread – thanks to Acme. There is no better chappati than whole wheat one. I adore whole wheat or buckwheat parathas and puris. I have cheerfully replaced white flour with whole wheat pastry flour in cookies and cakes. I have even grudgingly swapped out regular pasta and white rice for whole wheat pasta and brown rice. But no whole wheat pizza for me. I have tried to swap out regular flour with white whole wheat, part whole wheat, part whole wheat pastry flour and I have failed to like them. So, my compromise – I don’t make pizza often and when I do, I don’t eat too much of it. If, however, you have to have whole wheat pizza, then give Heidi’s recipe a try.
Urban adventure with ground cherries
A ripe ground cherry
Cape gooseberry (Rasbhari in Northern India) is giant version of the ground cherry. Rasbhari is about the size of a kumquat and ground cherry is 1/4 that size. So giant is perhaps not the right description but you get my meaning. If you are living in India, you don’t think of rasbhari as uncommon. Seasonal yes, but uncommon no. In fact, during the season if you are stuck in slow moving traffic you will likely bring home a bunch from one of the numerous street vendors. But if like me, you travel to India, it is a treat like jamun. So, when my husband said in spring this year that he has found a source for ground cherry, I was naturally excited even if it meant growing from a seedling.
Ours came from Seed Saver Exchange. The rest was simple. Transplant, watch em’ grow slowly, very slowly. These bushes start to fruit even when they are a meager 4 inches tall. Wait for the fruits to ripen and fall off the plant. Eat.
Yogurt curry with spinach dumplings
Yogurt curry with steamed spinach dumplings
The yogurt curry is like hot raita. It is tasty and when had with a bowl of white rice, is a light and easy to digest meal. The lovely yellow color comes from turmeric, a spice with anti-fungal and anti-inflammatory responses. An ingredient is this spice, called curcumin, is now being tested against Alzheimer in scientific studies. The nutrition in the meal comes from the steamed spinach dumplings.
Ingredients for the steamed spinach dumpling (6-8 servings):
- A pack of frozen chopped spinach, microwaved for a few minutes until warm.
- 3/4 cup of besan (de-husked black gram flour). Can be substituted with chickpea flour.
- 4-5 pickled pearl/cocktail onions finely chopped (optional)
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp amchoor (mango powder)
- 1 tsp lightly crushed coriander seeds
- 1 tsp paprika
Mix the above ingredients to make a soft dough. Prepare your steamer – I use a bamboo steamer. Make small dough balls with your fist, shape is not terribly important, and steam for 12 minutes. Cool and chop into bite size pieces.
Cook’s reward: Pop a few of these pieces in your mouth while you proceed with the rest.
Trio of preserves
Jams and marmalades this season
Black berry jam:
It is the end of the season here, and I picked up 2 lbs of blackberry at 1/2 the usual price!
Rinse, crush, and add 1 lb sugar. Add juice of 1 lemon reserving the zest. Cook on medium until candy thermometer reads 220 F. Switch off flame, add zest of the lemon and proceed to can.
Homegrown la ratte potatoes
Freshly harvested la ratte potatoes
This year’s potato crop is a bit of a disappointment. We got La Ratte seed potatoes from Seed Savers Exchange but the yield hasn’t been very encouraging. Perhaps the unusually cool weather is the culprit.
Slow cooked la ratte (serves 2-3)
- 40-50 of the small potatoes (~ 1/2 lb) scrubbed clean but skin on
- 2 Tbsp of European style unsalted butter
- Fleur de Sel or other flake salt to taste
Melt butter in an omelette pan. Cover and cook the potatoes on lowest setting for 20-25 minutes. Pick up the potatoes with a slotted spoon and serve hot with sprinkling of salt. Typically, fleur de sel is used in this quintessential french recipe but I didn’t have it handy. The flesh is buttery and nutty. I found the skin a little peppery. Fantastic with a glass of chilled white wine.
Kathi roll – Calcutta vs. San Francisco
Kasa in San Francisco, serving Kathi roll (click for more)
Making of Kathi rolls at street side vendor in Calcutta (click for more)
Kathi or kati roll – kababs wrapped in paratha, flat fried bread, and served with a variety of condiments such as chopped onions, spicy green chillies, yogurt, chutneys and salsas. Admittedly, these rolls originated as street food in Calcutta. Close variations on the concept exists in other cuisines – replace the paratha with a naan and you can be standing at Khan market in New Delhi. Put the kabab and condiments it a pita pocket and you end up with the popular gyros.
But when you set up a hip taqueria on the gentle rolling hills of beautiful Pacific Heights in San Francisco, and serve home style Kathi rolls, you have done something brand new. For one, the milieu is orthogonal to the neon lit battered stall on the crowded Calcutta street that serves a hungry crowd of pedestrians on hot summer evenings.
And secondly, can there even be a concept of homestyle Kathi rolls? Did Kathi roll not originate to satisfy the hunger for spicy, juicy meat held together by flaky, chewy fried bread? Are these rolls not to be had in the anonymity of street crowd – away from the watchful eyes of the dear spouse, away from the responsibility of being the ideal parent? Why would the average Calcutta babu seek out nutritiously balanced and healthy food on the street.
For food purists, Kasa will never reach the divine heights of unwholesome Calcutta street food. However, for the rest of us, there is something to be said about enjoying a glass of mango lassi with a turkey kathi and not having to worry about the number of sick days one has left.
Self checkin at a heritage fort hotel in Rajasthan
Pachewar Fort Heritage Hotel, Rajasthan
Pachewar Fort, Rajasthan. I doubt if many people have heard of Pachewar Fort. I am not even sure it exists in reality. At least that’s how it seemed when we landed there in the dead of night, expecting to be welcomed warmly, and finding nothing … not even the hotel.
I and my business partner, our two women film brigade, were on our way to the Pushkar Camel Fair in Rajasthan, one of the oldest fairs in India, where farmers and camel breeders congregate annually to buy and sell camels. Colorful, quaint, dusty and crowded, it has been a big tourist attraction for decades now. We were going to shoot a film about the relationship between camel and their breeders. Or maybe something rooted in today’s India, say, about how there are more cell phones in this back-of-the-beyond place than camels.
We were driving from Delhi and the travel agent had made arrangements for us to stay overnight in the Pachewar Fort Heritage Hotel. The hotel had looked splendid on its website. “Remembrance of Bygone Splendour” the site claimed, “a 300 year old picturesque and luxurious” heritage hotel it went on to say. It looked pretty all lit up at night in brilliant golds and yellows.
Old man and the sea, Pacific Heights
Old man and his friend at an old age home in Pacific Heights
Like Lonely Planet says, Pacific Heights is a wander and look operation. Most notable sights in this neighborhood are old Victorian style homes. Some gorgeous, most in 1-3 million dollar range. There are parks tucked away for you to catch a snooze or get beautiful shots of the painted ladies. From top of the hills, the bay beckons with its little sailboats. You can spot landmarks such as the Palace of Fine Arts and Golden Gate bridge.
If you go with the city guides, you will get a very detailed understanding of the architecture and evolution of these Victorian homes. The guides will also tell you exciting tales, for instance being mooned by Danielle Steel’s children. Wandering and look operations are hard to describe, who knows where you will choose to wander. I am going to provide a sample of what we found on our wanderings. A link to more photos and map is provided at the bottom of the post.
Calcutta street to California home – Kathi rolls unwrapped
Home made Kathi rolls
After eating Kathi rolls at Kasa, I was inspired to make this quintessential Calcutta street food at home. When you take on such a formidable challenge, you know you are not going to win. There is nothing I can do in my California kitchen that will replicate the experience of eating outdoors at one of Calcutta’s busiest streets. Neither can I hope to replicate the rich interplay between textures and flavors that the street vendors have mastered. When my father’s generation talks about eating out during their college days, they often reminisce about these mouthwatering rolls!
So what can I hope to achieve? I can definitely beat Kasa. I can make mine with healthy, fresh, organic ingredients, mindful of the calories and the nutritional balance. I can bring my experience with modern techniques to traditional Indian cuisine to create something healthy while preserving the authenticity of tastes and flavors.
There are several key aspects to a perfect roll – the paratha, the kabab and the chutney. These ingredients need to come together in a timely manner. The container that wraps the kababs, paratha, should be chewy and flaky. The filling itself, kabab, should be charred and juicy. The condiment, chutney, should create a taste explosion in your mouth.
Mochar ghonto – a quintessential Bengali recipe
Flower on a banana plant
Mocha or banana flower is one of the more complex Bengali cooking but it brings out the flavors of rural Bengal – fields of paddy, fresh rain on dry earth, and the green smell of ponds…..
On a recent visit to Delhi, had some mocha chops at My Calcutta restaurant. So, inspite of its robust flavors, it is not merely the terrain of a home cook. Once the basic prep method is complete, it can be moulded into various forms – chops, kofta curry etc.
Mission accomplished
Courtyard of Mission Carmel
I have been meaning to do a circuit trip of missions around Bay Area. There are quite a few of these missions, so one can’t hope to cover all of them in a day. I have had eyes on a few – Carmel, Jolon and Soledad with possibility of San Miguel thrown in. Opportunity presented itself this memorial day weekend – so I packed some sandwiches, a few slices of the wonderfully moist and orange flavored cake ala Clotilde and, a thermos full of Chai. We left early on this Sunday summer morning – a perfect California day that held promises of a warm clear blue skied summer afternoon.
Walking about in witch town
Salem Friendship reflected in the sea ....(click for more photos from the trip)
Salem is a lovely tourist town – walk friendly – with quaint little pubs, restaurants and antique shops scattered about the main tourist hub. I had stepped into Massachusetts after about dozen or so years and it felt as if nothing had changed. The state highway 107, leading me from Logan airport to Salem Waterfront Hotel, meandered about like a local road with its numerous stop signs and pedestrians let loose. I didn’t mind – I could leisurely take in the sight of New England flora once more. I only had a sliver of that day left for leisure – between evening and nightfall – next morning will get the gears churning again – office, meetings, blackberry, ….
LA’s Grand Central Market
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LA is the land that generated hard-boiled genre where dangerous liaisons occurred on streets named Mullholand Drive. Now, the maze of highways crisscrossing the city makes one wonder how Marlowe would go about saving the damsel in distress – aided by a GPS navigator?
Death by Capsaicin
Crispy fried catfish at Jitlada, Los Angeles
A few weeks ago, my husband and I took a short weekend trip to LA and this trip was entirely for the sake of food – Mexican in particular. But even Mexican food lovers like us, need a break or two. Jitlada was the one we chose – the great Jonathan Gold, the Pulitzer prize winning food critic, had recommended a few dishes among the “99 Things to Eat in LA before you die” and not just because they serve the hottest curries in this part of the world.
Chocolate and coffee at Chocolatier Blue
Chocolates from Chocolatier Blue
Chocolatier Blue is a new addition to our chocolate and coffee series. The earlier ones being Recchiuti, Fog City News, Tcho, XoX, Choco-la, ….
- Location: Fourth Street, Berkeley
- Coffee: I forgot to notice – chocolates were too pretty. There is a Peet’s coffee in the vicinity.
- Chocolates: Chocolate tart and flavored Amedei chocolates – champagne and popcorn, grains of paradise (a west African aromatic and peppery spice), ….
Combine growing up on self-sustaining farms, training at Charlie Trotter’s and a passion for the best ingredients … and then add the sensitivity of an artist (this comes from the better half) – you end up with great tasting chocolates so pretty that you wish you have a young love and Valentine’s day just around the corner.
Sex in the city
Financial District, San Francisco
Should have called it “Taste of Italy”….
Find out what Italian food and kinky sex has in common at Perbacco.
If you are going to the financial district of San Francisco, also check out:
A Foggy Day (in London Town Delhi)
After nearly a decade, I had the chance to be in Delhi during winters. Delhi’s winters have changed so much over my lifetime – as a child I remember foggy mornings and clear afternoons of the late seventies. On weekdays the mornings used to be a torture – the brick houses would be practically as cold inside as it would be outside, sometimes as cold as 3-5C. I showered and shivered, then huddled in the cold school bus as it careened through the fog, and folded into myself during morning school assembly in the cold open fields. But the afternoons were clear and warm and lunchtime typically meant sitting out in the sun with friends sharing our packed lunches. Weekend afternoons would often be spent eating oranges or roasted peanuts while sunning oneself on the porch or balcony. I remember the nineties winters as a dirtier version of my childhood – the fog became smog, the afternoon sunny sky was grayish brown with sun never quite managing to poke through the smog screen.
Famous kathi rolls of Calcutta
Kathi Roll vendor on Park Street
Kathi rolls are Calcutta’s specialty cuisine. What is a kathi roll? It is a wrap – the outside is a flaky shallow fried flat bread and inside can be scrambled eggs or sauteed chicken or slow cooked mutton or a combination of meats with fried onions, chutneys and other spices. There are a few shops along the famous Park Street of Calcutta where the best kathi roll makers are to be found – the shops are typically small shacks and the popularity can be gauged by the length of the queue outside the shop.
Tea and Cakes at Flurys
Flurys, Calcutta
Considered a landmark on Calcutta’s mindscape, Flurys on Park Street is an old tearoom in Calcutta that has been serving tea and pastries since late 1920s. Don’t expect mustiness of a hundred years – a few years ago, it underwent a total re-haul and was turned into a retro styled patisserie. It occupies a charming spot in the fashionable part of Calcutta, inviting the loitering visitors and busy locals alike for a spot of hot tea and fresh baked cakes and pastries. With a girlish pink in the logo and its old world black and white tiles, Flurys continues to engage a cosmopolitan clientele.
36 Hours in Hong Kong
Hong Kong at night
Hong Kong is a perfect city for short term business trip or vacation. Its multiple neighborhoods and islands offer different culture experience – some more trendy and some more traditional. You can sample this city out in bits and parts over multiple trips. Here is our recommendation based on our leisurely experience during a short stay in Central district.
Day trip to Neemrana Fort Palace
Neemrana Fort Palace
Many of the old palaces in Rajasthan and other states have been converted to hotels. Neemrana, now on Delhi-Jaipur highway, is one such 15th century fort-palace. While it is only a 100 kms from Delhi Airport, it is half way to Jaipur and can take 3-4 hours from Delhi depending on where in Delhi you start from.
Afternoon at Triveni Kala Sangam
Lunch at Triveni Kala Sangam
Triveni Kala Sangam hosts classes in art, photography, music and dance. Lunch here is popular among students and people of artistic temperament. Well known for its parathas, it is possibly the only proper restaurant in Delhi that serves home style north Indian food.
Locomotoring 