Solanum Tuberosum

This definitely sounds like a spell in the Harry Potter series of book/movies. Imagine Harry is in a duel with the Dark Prince himself, Lord Voldemort. The duel is at it's peak, the viewers/readers are at the edge of their seats and then Harry screams: "Solanum Tuberosum". What do we see next, Harry and his nemesis sharing a plate of french fries/hash browns/blinis and forgetting what they were fighting about! What a great end to an epic(that's what some claim) series.

Intrigued about why they are eating such delicious things when they should be fighting? Well, solanum tuberosum is the Latin name of one vegetable that is truly and unequivocally loved by millions all over the world. POTATOES! Yes, that ugly rotten looking bastard that has been the sustenance point of millions and a base of cuisines all over the world. Everyone loves it, no one hates it. Every person on an average, according to a UN study, consumes about 33 kgs of potatoes annually! There is a friend of mine though, who dislikes potatoes. Let me tell you, my liking for her dropped a few notches after that.

Remember the "jab tak rahega samose mein aloo" song? It's only because of the aloos that I love the samosa. Let me confess, I am a full-blooded carnivore, I can eat anything that walks on God's green earth but if there is one thing for which I can ignore my carnivorous tendencies, it is the potato. There is no food which is more comforting and more satisfying than that.

Potato was first grown in the southern regions of Peru and introduced to the world by the Spaniards. No wonder that "Patatas Bravas" is one of the best avatars of potatoes in the world. I am pretty sure the Spanish Conquistadors were raving and going crazy about potatoes rather than El Dorado, the city of gold. The blessed vegetable, it is said, came to India some time in the 18th century and it has been residing in our hearts ever since.

Every cuisine in the world has it's own avatar of potato and it is delicious in it's own right. A number of cuisines in the world now are based on potatoes. Naturally, Peruvian cuisine is one such cuisine. The Irish people had a massive food crisis when potato imports to their country were hampered by World War II. Probably Hitler understood the importance of potatoes and was really, really fond of Himmel und erde which very successfully combines potatoes, bacon, apples and onion. The British have their very own 'bangers and mash', roast potatoes and 'shepherd's pie'.

The French have made one potato creation, the most popular in the whole world, the 'pomme frites'. French fries are devoured and loved all over the world. Nothing beats well made fries, though I would advise you to stay away from the McDonalds' mass variety ones. The Russians have 'blinis'.

We as Indians, love potatoes more than any other vegetable. Aloo paratha, jeera aloo, dum aloo, chops, samosas, aloo kachouries, aloo papads etc. I can go on forever. My personal favorite though is the Tandoori Aloo, barrels of potatoes stuffed with cottage cheese, nuts and spices. For this one thing, I can ignore chicken, mutton, pork and beef. This one dish has helped me get through some really rough times.

One of the main reasons for their popularity, according to me is their relatively simple and quick cooking procedure. It is tasty when it is cooked with the least number of ingredients. Also, it is cheap. Did I mention that it is nutritious too ? It is a good source of starch,vitamins, proteins and carbohydrates and in this inflation driven economy, one of the cheapest vegetables available. But do not write off this vegetable as a cheap one because even though it is normally cheap, a rare form of potato called 'la bonnotte' is usually sold for around Rs4500/kg. It is amongst the five most expensive foods of the world.

I won't keep you any longer now. Go to the market,  buy some potatoes and cook and eat them the way you like it.

PS: I thought that to keep you, my readers more involved, I would run a poll on what is your favorite potato avatar. Leave a comment on this blog or email me on: uditmaheshwari18@gmail.com or text me on:+919811836692.

Judge a Book by it's Cover

The famous quotation says otherwise. But, in today's materialistic, busy world, why not? I am a firm believer in the fact that we first judge by sight, that's what makes the first impression. As is said, first impression is the last impression. Same for people, same for food. A picture speaks a thousand words? Applies to food too.

I was seeing celebrated chef Vineet Bhatia's show on Fox History and Entertainment, "Twist of Taste". Frankly, I was disappointed. From a chef who is responsible for giving us the revered Rasoi Vineet Bhatia in London, I expected much, much more (Unfortunately, I haven't had the pleasure of eating there, but I have read about the food, seen the pictures and read the reviews. Normally, not one to rely on customer-reviews, the food looks and sounds delicious. It dares to do something different with Indian food.) But, I digress. His variations with indian classics were too simplistic and too obvious. Maybe it was meant to cater to people cooking at home, maybe it wasn't. And again, I digress. (ADD is to blame I guess)

Why that show made me write this blog is the way the food was presented. The presentation of the food literally made me salivate. For desert, he made a cage of jalebis and put kulfi in it! He made something so simple, look so avant garde.

In contrast, Indian food, has long-since suffered from poor presentation. I am a firm believer in the quote that "we eat with all five senses". When the waiter brings you your food, you just don't jump into the bowl, you see it first. Hence, your vision is used. At about the same time, you smell the food, your sense of smell is used. When you eat it, it arouses your taste buds.  Hearing and touch, also play a huge role. Nothing beats the feel of a crispy roti or a nan or the cracking open of a bone and the sound that it makes!

But eating comes at a much later stage. What sets the first impression is the sight. Indian food, is amongst the most delicate cuisines in the world. Yes, some of the flavors are bold, but hidden under those bold flavors are some very delicate, subtle flavors. So why is this delicate food presented in such an un-delicate manner? Indian food is more often than not serve in a haphazard and chaotic manner. Chicken tikka haphazardly spread out between a few spoonfuls of kachumbar salad or the ubiquitous cucumber and tomato. Gravies unceremoniously dumped in a bowl, the dal dumped in a balti. Rotis stacked tall in a basket.

We are Indians, we eat Indian food all the time, we know how most of the Indian food tastes, hence presentation doesn't deter us from eating anywhere. However, for a person who is just introducing himself to the joys of Indian food, his first date; if we can call it that; will never be a good one. And we all know that we dress up the most for the first date and then relax afterwards as the number of dates keep increasing. How do we attract a person to our food if we present it to him like that?

I, for one, have suffered a lot due to this bad presentation. My household has seen a number of cooks come and go. Some have been good, some have been bad. Now, I know that most cooks who cook in our kitchens won't know a garnish from a "silpat", however, cooking vegetables to make them look appetizing is something which anyone who cooks should know. A lot of the cooks who cooked at my place made simple vegetables like cauliflower, ladyfinger, bitter gourd unappetizing. I have often quipped that bhindi, if cooked badly, looks like a lizard's tail, burnt (Now, we can all collectively puke). My eating out increased significantly during those cooks' reigns and decreased when cooks presented the food in a good way.

This is where Indian food loses out to other cuisines of the world and maybe some cuisines from Mars too. A rissotto is presented extremely delicately. Even the very simple and uncomplicated spaghetti and meatballs is made to look different from it's simplistic self by good presentation. French, we criticize for being too pretentious, however, they do know how to make their food presentable. They can make a simple "pommes frites" look bloody beautiful. We are 4th in world cuisines as far as popularity goes and we rank 54th in the world in the list of "haute cuisines". 54th! Good presentation can make us really jump up this list. Yes, Indian food can be "haute".

It doesn't take much to make food look good. Some fresh, evenly chopped corriander can go a long way. Use a squeezy bottle, the one people use for ketchups, to make patterns on the plate with gravies, chutneys etc. You can easily make a circular pattern with rice using a bowl or katori. You can use a "mandolin" (a type of knife, not the instrument) to make waffle shaped potato fries. Try it out.

But, I am not a professional cook, I won't preach to you or give you tips on how to present it well. Present it in a way that makes it look good. Use your own creativity. Let it be abstract, go crazy with it.

PS: Your food should still taste good, there are no two ways about it.

In the Mood for Adventure and the Lack Thereof

I might earn a few brickbats for saying this but I believe that we, as Indians, are a bunch of people who prefer to stick to safe and secure food and cuisines rather than venturing too much into a territory without a flashlight. Indeed, you see many Indian restaurants serving your usual malai tikka, dal makhni, laccha parantha fare. Even Italian or Chinese restaurants serve the usual fare. Very few Italian restaurants here serve "Gnocchi" and no one serves "Cannolis". Something as common as "pot stickers" are hardly seen in Chinese restaurants and again "bubble tea" isn't found here. No one dares to go beyond the regular fare. Call it being scared of taking risks and seeing their means of livelihood tank or just not knowing any better. However, if you do truly love food, just take one step beyond the ordinary and you will love it.

I used to be a very safe eater preferring to go to the tried and tested restaurants and ordering the same food which I eat every other weekend. My love for food has truly grown in the last 3 to 4 years which has resulted in me craving experimentation with my food. Sure, once in a while I do crave the good ol' stuff but more often than not, I am disappointed after the meal because I rue the missed chance of having tried out something new.

This obsession with trying out new things has resulted in me tasting some truly incredible food. I will try to describe a few of my experiments with food here. While on my month long trip to London, I encountered a farmer's market in Greenwich which had food from all corners of the world. I tried out some Turkish fare dished out by the good looking (ahem) Turkish sisters. The completely different Turkish pizza was one of the best pizzas I have ever eaten. It was a pizza crust stuffed with keema and rolled-up and stuffed with what can be called a kachumber salad. It was brilliant. While there, I also visited a beer and jazz festival which had a dark beer which had mint leaves and lemon in it and it was the most refreshing beer I have ever had. I also had a hog sandwich (hog meat grilled on a huge pit and marinated with honey and mustard and stuffed in a baguette). Once you have eaten hog meat, it'll be difficult to appreciate any other kind of meat. Sadly, it is not found anywhere in India.

Coming back to the something different food in India. Here the hunt for something different begins with another 'D", something difficult. My trysts with experimental food here has mostly been in food festivals. I recently attended a Bohra Muslim food festival. It has a huge Gujarati influence since most of the Bohra Muslims resided in Gujarat and specifically the Kutch region. The hara masala mutton was brilliant. I have hardly found such subtle and complex flavors in Indian food (that probably sounds like a paradox but it's true).

I also had Tajik food recently. Now this cuisine has probably hardly been eaten by anyone here and I am pretty sure there are no restaurants serving this. The dumplings, roasted vegetables in curd, the sambusek etc. were really really good. Special mention must go to the mutton quorma,which, with its delicate spices beats it's Indian counterparts anyday. The biryani and keema 'non' though good, were not very different from what we might have eaten here. Though, I would advise vegetarians to steer clear of this cuisine unless they are happy with grazing on very few vegetarian dishes, most of which consist of roasted vegetables.

Experimentation in Indian cuisine, specifically, cuisine of the South should be done by people who swear by the usual suspects the vadas, dosas and idlis. Try it. It'll knock your socks off. I used to vociferously malign Gujarati food though I must confess that a recent encounter with it tempered my indignation at it. It is probably the most balanced Indian cuisine.

Though I have to confess, not all my experimentation has turned out to be good. My experiments with Malaysian food were not good. I would not be running back there to try their version of 'thukpa' nor for their green colored dessert made from potatoes (yes, it's true). Their 'rendang' though, was something I would travel the world for. A dinner at a French restaurant; a cuisine which I have never eaten before; left me a little disappointed. The 'Quiche Lorraine' was the only redeeming part of the meal.

Try different food pairings. You never know what you might love. When I was a kid, we were hosting a dinner party and Dad made a vegetable, complete desi style, from artichokes. To this day, I regret frowning at that dish and not tasting it specially after our guests really praised the dish. Try a pineapple and pepperoni pizza, its good.

It makes me happy to see Russian, Irani and Afghani restaurants opening in the city I love. I like the fact that Lebanese restaurants are experimenting, Italian restaurants are serving pizzas without the overpowering marinara sauce. But still, a lot needs to be done.

Experiment, broaden your horizons, try something new every time you eat out. You never know what you might love.