This is just an abstract of the next Blog that I am going to write. The idea just popped in my mind when I was reading a friend's Blog at http://travellersmantra.com/2010/09/21/reminiscing-mumbai-part-1/. We forever yearn for things that fill our past and get nostalgic at the slightest similarity of something new we enjoy to a hint of something from the past. This Blog will be dedicated to all such cravings, yearnings, nostalgic feelings that people get when they try Food that even slightly takes them down the rabbithole of their past.
Watch out for the next Blog....
Thursday, October 7, 2010
A Hidden Treasure of Flavor
What comes to your mind when I ask you to name the two biggest cuisines in the world? Ones which you can find in any corner of the world. The first one undoubtedly would be "Chinese". I have found Chinese - All you can eat buffets in the remotest areas of the country. I am sure if Neil Armstrong had walked a little farther on the moon he would have either found a Chinese Buffet place or a Punjabi Dhaba. Ah yes, that brings me to the second biggest cuisine in the world - Indian.Some may argue Italian or Thai could be considered a 2nd place contender but thats not what I call the biggest cuisine in the world. My metric(funny how I like that word ha...) is not merely the number of restaurants that serve these cuisines or the number of people who eat them - which by the way would be the highest looking at the population numbers of these two countries. What I refer to solely when I say biggest cuisines in the world is the wide variety of flavors that they produce in their dishes right from "Kashmiri Pulao" to "Szechuan rice". Italians may produce a large variety of pastas or bread, but unless they can do varieties of dishes from a simple ingredient like eggplant, bamboo shoot or coconut, paneer, soya without using them as pizza toppings I would have to go with Indian and Chinese to be the 2 biggest cuisines in the world hands down. The most delicious thing about these two cuisines is that despite of being so close geographically (on a world scale) they manage to bring such distinction in almost every entrée that they make.
But step back a little, my Blog is not about these two cuisines. Does'nt it often happen that a talented and deserving entity sometimes gets lost under the shadows of a bigger- universally acclaimed object. No no I am not talking about office politics here. I am still sticking to the core of this Blog - Food. A small family owned diner sometimes gets lost between a TGIF and Chilli's of the same street. A "matar paneer" dish sometimes gets overlooked with "kadai paneer" and "Shahi paneer" recipes on the menu. This state of forgotten "perfectly savory" entities always makes me wonder, why keep them on the menu if no one cares about them. That is till you try them. A masala daal made by a good cook can change the way you look at lentils for ever. It makes you appreciate the real hidden treasure of flavor lost in the big banner of royal dishes on the menu.Taking this same concept to a bigger and global level, there exists a cuisine that is lost under the big banners of the two biggest cuisine of the world. This cuisine which at first glance shows close resemblances to Indian and Chinese cuisines really shines out to be really unique when experienced first hand. The cuisine which dares to shout out for independence from being categorized as "similar to Indian - Chinese" food is Nepalese cuisine.
One fine day a mindless jaunt to San Francisco led me to this small shack like restaurant called Shangri-la on Lombard and Divasadero. Wondering whether to stick to my favorite "Naan & Curry - Indian" or "Grand Oriental - Chinese" I rambled into this place having the same doubts in my mind which one would have when entering a English - dubbed in Hindi movie in an expensive multiplex. One look at the menu and I said to myself - huh changing names of Indian dishes to local dialect does not change the dish itself. Calling good old "Tandoori Chicken" as "Poleko Kukhura" does not confuse the chicken on the stick. Calling "Chinese dumpling" as "Himalayan Momo" is not unique either. With a biased mind and a dissapointed heart, I order my metric for food (The Poleko Khukhura) and the Momo expecting to get a whiff of Indo-chinese blend.
Ten prejudiced minutes later I get served with what still looked Indo - Chinese food. However at taste of the Momo and the Khukhura changed my outlook completely. It was the most unique taste I have gotten from a chicken in a Tandoor. The authenticity of the flavors and the humongous difference boggled my mind. No matter how much I tried I could not connect either dishes with India or China. I was amazed how Nepal being surrounded by Such big superpowers when it comes to food still maintains a distinct and pleasant difference in its food. Enthralled, I wanted more - so we order the Khasiko Pakuwa (Lamb curry) and Daal Misuwa (Masala Daal - Priti's metric for food :-) ). Again we were amazed at the subtle but unique differences in the dishes from Indian food. The Misuwa on the menu read "Mixed Lentils, beans cooked with tomato, onion, garlic, ginger and spices" Had all the same ingredients as Masala Daal but one- "Spices". That and the preparation method completely changed the taste of the resultant dish. Now, dont expect to taste like a whole new world of food, after all the base is - lentils, but the subtle differences in taste and spices used will really make you wonder whether it actually is daal.
Dont take my word for it....go try it yourself. The best dishes to order are Himalayan Momos for sure (vegetarian), Bhanta Tarkari (Eggplant curry) and Poleko Khasi (Tandoori Lamb).
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| Himalayan Momos |
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| Bhanta Tarkari |
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| Gundruk |
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| Dheedo |
Sunday, August 29, 2010
The "Metric" for Good food
Metric is usually a parameter that gauges the authenticity and decides the quality of the product under test. Clarity and carats are metrics that determine the beauty of a diamond while box office earnings are metric to the success of a movie. Watching the show "Master Chef" on Fox last night made me wonder, is there a metric to good food. Follow the McDonald principal you could say the metric of food was getting the same crispy taste in a french fry in any corner of the world. But come on, that's not a metric, that's a gimmick. It just lets people know that we are your last resort to eating "known" food. In a land where you cant find the food of your choice, you can always buy a burger and fries and you will get the same boring taste that you are so well used to. This, rather than being a downside for not creating rich recipe ideas in different parts of the world became a marketing bonus for McDonald.
I am talking about a real metric, which you can actually use to gauge the quality of the food that you can eat at a restaurant. Italians have risottos, Mexicans have chalupas, and Chinese have lo-mein, dishes that cannot be screwed up but can when made well describe the quality of the food you might expect at that restaurant. I kept wondering what could be considered a metric for Desi food. Tomato soup, Samosas, chai is no longer pure Desi. You get Tomato soup at Sweet tomatoes, Samosas at nepali and burmese resturants, and don't even get me started on Chai. So what could be the true metric. Say you walk into a newly opened restaurant round the corner and they ask you to judge the quality of their food, which is the single most dish that you could use as a metric for reviewing their food ?
Being a Physicist, and a Scientist to the core, according to me the best metric is a parameter that is not too complicated. A single unknown with finite variables is the best way to solve an equation. A "RoganJosh" or a "Do-Piaza" sure can tell you if the food is good, but that is way too complicated a dish to gauge the grass root food levels of the food joint. Plus it is a fancy food-for-class dish that may not please every pallet. A metric needs to be something simple but something strong, something that will put its foot down and say this place rules. All of us have been in this situation where when forced to go to a new place to eat always think, gosh, I wish I knew the best dish at this place. We so wish we had a metric that once proven gives us full confidence in the taste of most dishes at that place.
I believe that metric is "Tandoori Chicken". That's right, a simple tandoor grilled chicken. Mathematically, this dish has but 4 variables - marination, time for marination, tandoor and time in the tandoor. We will not go into the subset variable list of the marination - not because it nullifies my theory, but because anything messed up in that will fail the first variable "The marination". A place that can give you a good Tandoori chicken according to me passes the "Quality test" and gains my confidence on the ability of the chef to serve me good food. Ok, now for any metric you first need a baseline. Baselines vary with individuals, for some it is their mother's tandoor, for some the local chulla around the corner. For me the baseline is Tandoori chicken at the "Shere Punjab Restaurant" near Maninagar Railway station in Ahmedabad. I grew up (literally grew) eating Butter Chicken and Tandoori Chicken at Shere Punjab, A Sardar run restaurant that is the epitome of taste defines the baseline for my metric "The Tandoori chicken". A perfectly made Tandoori speaks to you. The perfect red glaze with hints of black where the Tandoor held it entices the eye to its beauty. Squeeze a full juicy piece of lemon on it and watch the lines of lime running over its surface like a free style ice skater.
I use my metric at any new restaurant that i first step my foot into. So far, the metric has qualified the "Clay Pit" restaurant at Dallas, the "Shalimar" at Fremont, "The Handi" at Clark Quay Singapore, the "d'Tandoor" at Kuala lumpur and some more. I am recently trying to qualify "The Chutney" restaurant at Fremont. I realized that the metric taste varies with day and time. This restaurant has an open kitchen and the Tandoor is visible from the table. The taste is near perfect and qualifies on a week day but nearly fails to comply on a weekend. This can be clearly explained from my equation with 4 variables mentioned before. On a weekday, the same marination and same Tandoor are used (2 of the 4 variables become constants), but because of the higher demands on the weekend, the "Marination time and Tandoor Time" variables are reduced. This directly impacts the quality. The metric equation thus holds true. The days with good Tandoori usually has a perfect overall menu.
Tandoori chicken thus according to me becomes the metric to qualify a good Desi restaurant. Go try it out. See whether the restaurant you eat at so lovingly qualifies this metric. You can use my baseline or use any of my qualified restaurants as baseline. As i said there are some more that qualify, so who knows I may have a baseline close to you - just Ask.
I am talking about a real metric, which you can actually use to gauge the quality of the food that you can eat at a restaurant. Italians have risottos, Mexicans have chalupas, and Chinese have lo-mein, dishes that cannot be screwed up but can when made well describe the quality of the food you might expect at that restaurant. I kept wondering what could be considered a metric for Desi food. Tomato soup, Samosas, chai is no longer pure Desi. You get Tomato soup at Sweet tomatoes, Samosas at nepali and burmese resturants, and don't even get me started on Chai. So what could be the true metric. Say you walk into a newly opened restaurant round the corner and they ask you to judge the quality of their food, which is the single most dish that you could use as a metric for reviewing their food ?
Being a Physicist, and a Scientist to the core, according to me the best metric is a parameter that is not too complicated. A single unknown with finite variables is the best way to solve an equation. A "RoganJosh" or a "Do-Piaza" sure can tell you if the food is good, but that is way too complicated a dish to gauge the grass root food levels of the food joint. Plus it is a fancy food-for-class dish that may not please every pallet. A metric needs to be something simple but something strong, something that will put its foot down and say this place rules. All of us have been in this situation where when forced to go to a new place to eat always think, gosh, I wish I knew the best dish at this place. We so wish we had a metric that once proven gives us full confidence in the taste of most dishes at that place.
I believe that metric is "Tandoori Chicken". That's right, a simple tandoor grilled chicken. Mathematically, this dish has but 4 variables - marination, time for marination, tandoor and time in the tandoor. We will not go into the subset variable list of the marination - not because it nullifies my theory, but because anything messed up in that will fail the first variable "The marination". A place that can give you a good Tandoori chicken according to me passes the "Quality test" and gains my confidence on the ability of the chef to serve me good food. Ok, now for any metric you first need a baseline. Baselines vary with individuals, for some it is their mother's tandoor, for some the local chulla around the corner. For me the baseline is Tandoori chicken at the "Shere Punjab Restaurant" near Maninagar Railway station in Ahmedabad. I grew up (literally grew) eating Butter Chicken and Tandoori Chicken at Shere Punjab, A Sardar run restaurant that is the epitome of taste defines the baseline for my metric "The Tandoori chicken". A perfectly made Tandoori speaks to you. The perfect red glaze with hints of black where the Tandoor held it entices the eye to its beauty. Squeeze a full juicy piece of lemon on it and watch the lines of lime running over its surface like a free style ice skater.
I use my metric at any new restaurant that i first step my foot into. So far, the metric has qualified the "Clay Pit" restaurant at Dallas, the "Shalimar" at Fremont, "The Handi" at Clark Quay Singapore, the "d'Tandoor" at Kuala lumpur and some more. I am recently trying to qualify "The Chutney" restaurant at Fremont. I realized that the metric taste varies with day and time. This restaurant has an open kitchen and the Tandoor is visible from the table. The taste is near perfect and qualifies on a week day but nearly fails to comply on a weekend. This can be clearly explained from my equation with 4 variables mentioned before. On a weekday, the same marination and same Tandoor are used (2 of the 4 variables become constants), but because of the higher demands on the weekend, the "Marination time and Tandoor Time" variables are reduced. This directly impacts the quality. The metric equation thus holds true. The days with good Tandoori usually has a perfect overall menu.
Tandoori chicken thus according to me becomes the metric to qualify a good Desi restaurant. Go try it out. See whether the restaurant you eat at so lovingly qualifies this metric. You can use my baseline or use any of my qualified restaurants as baseline. As i said there are some more that qualify, so who knows I may have a baseline close to you - just Ask.
Introduction
Blog - a word very commonly heard and discussed at social parties and get together. Ok, i wont start introducing what a blog means, i never judge my readers intelligence you see :-) but, this was something which was mystical to me for some time now. I used to think phrases like "I read this in a blog" or "you should blog this" really meant a piece of art to be written and expressed only by the elite writer. But after a long discussion with my friends i realized blogging is just pouring out what you feel about a subject that you appreciate and love to the core. So I thought, hmmm what is the most precious lovable thing in my life....Priti (my wife) was the first thing that popped up in my mind (wink....she may read this), but writing a blog on your wife can go seriously wrong, so i passed on that impulse and settled for the second most loved thing in my life - FOOD. I may be no food connoisuer or a grand chef, but man i know MY food. And those who know me well, know that i really mean it.
Born in an era well before the birth of the 3 important C's in todays life Cable, Cellphones and Computers I opened my first hotmail account at the age of 18. I actually saw the birth and growth of internet, starting from ICQ and MIRC chat to opening of hotmail, with a search engine named alta vista all the way to share your thots on twitter, blogspot and facebook.Did all the regular stuff that is expected of an Indian kid- highschool, engineering, came to University of Texas at Dallas in 2000 finished my PhD in electrical engineering in 2006, joined a semiconductor company in the bay area and moved to california since then. Got married in 2008 and here we are in 2010 starting a blog on what details out the quick version of my life's journey - FOOD. At all steps thru my life, i moved thru different phases of food, ate it enjoyed it and never wondered about it. But now when i look back, i realize what it really means to eat and more importantly enjoy what you eat.
So hence forth, thru this forum I am going to make a bold attempt on describing simple things that i eat in a way that my mind, my heart, my taste buds and finally my stomach looks at it. As my goodluck would have it Priti is a wonderful cook, and I am a wonderful eater. The combo is perfect.
Ok so the first question that comes up is - whats different !
Truly, the answer is - Nothing. This is just another Blog on food. The only difference is, i aint trying to market food, review food, sell food, show how to make food or write a cook book. I am only trying to show my view on what i eat on a daily basis and more importantly how i relish it. I may not educate people on the concept of eating, but i hope to change your views on really appreciating every simple thing that you bite on (and is edible....wink)
I aint writing to be popular, or sell a blog or comments or reviews. I write because i love what i write and i write what i love.
Heres to a new beginning........
Born in an era well before the birth of the 3 important C's in todays life Cable, Cellphones and Computers I opened my first hotmail account at the age of 18. I actually saw the birth and growth of internet, starting from ICQ and MIRC chat to opening of hotmail, with a search engine named alta vista all the way to share your thots on twitter, blogspot and facebook.Did all the regular stuff that is expected of an Indian kid- highschool, engineering, came to University of Texas at Dallas in 2000 finished my PhD in electrical engineering in 2006, joined a semiconductor company in the bay area and moved to california since then. Got married in 2008 and here we are in 2010 starting a blog on what details out the quick version of my life's journey - FOOD. At all steps thru my life, i moved thru different phases of food, ate it enjoyed it and never wondered about it. But now when i look back, i realize what it really means to eat and more importantly enjoy what you eat.
So hence forth, thru this forum I am going to make a bold attempt on describing simple things that i eat in a way that my mind, my heart, my taste buds and finally my stomach looks at it. As my goodluck would have it Priti is a wonderful cook, and I am a wonderful eater. The combo is perfect.
Ok so the first question that comes up is - whats different !
Truly, the answer is - Nothing. This is just another Blog on food. The only difference is, i aint trying to market food, review food, sell food, show how to make food or write a cook book. I am only trying to show my view on what i eat on a daily basis and more importantly how i relish it. I may not educate people on the concept of eating, but i hope to change your views on really appreciating every simple thing that you bite on (and is edible....wink)
I aint writing to be popular, or sell a blog or comments or reviews. I write because i love what i write and i write what i love.
Heres to a new beginning........
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