Alright, i have been cooking for some time now and can now claim to have got fairly good at it. Though Italian is a bit of a struggle. However, some lessons are to be learnt only the hard way:
- Steel vessels in a microwave lead to some pretty spectacular fire and sound works.
- Using the oven to toast a slice of bread at full blast because you are late for office is like using an AK 47 to kill a mosquito!
- In the above process, the time difference between a superb golden brown toast and a charred black one is usually less than 10 seconds.....
- Exotic fruits at throwaway prices in the supermarket are cheap for a reason!
- There is no such thing as an 'authentic Indian restaurant' outside of India unless of course you have been out for so long that it really doesn't matter
- If you order curry & rice in a British restaurant, never ask them to make it more spicy. Chances are they will add as much black pepper as they can get their hands on
- If you walk in to a Chinese restaurant and order something vegetarian don't be surprised if you find seafood or eggs..After all they would feel bad at serving you only steamed rice
- There is no such thing as a 'good Thai vegetarian' dish or for that matter Thai and vegetarian in the same sentence is generally considered quite brainless
- According to a nice establishment just outside Victoria station in London there is indeed a 'vegetarian Chicken Fried Rice' with lumps of bananas painstakingly given the shape of the chicken! Available at a special price of only 15 pounds
- That book titled 'Indian vegetarian cooking for the NRI professional' is fake. It was probably written by a Marketing person who identified the most gullibe market segment!
- Free Range eggs & chicken refers to the fact that poultry is allowed to roam freely and who give eggs or their own meat quite freely and voluntarily. This is to improve the general happiness & liveliness of the animals (official definition) so much that they readily give their lives to solve the larger problem of hunger faced by mankind
- Free trade coffee generally refers to the fact that the organisation doesn't trade with those employing child labourers.But there is no problem in supplying truckload of arms to such impoverished countries. After all these kids are out of work and what better way to spend time than to practice your shooting skills...
Awesome post! But as far as food is concerned, I have adopted a don't ask don't tell policy. I want a Sriracha fried rice with tofu. Period. Don't ask me if I am ok with fish sauce or duck sauce or worcestershire sauce. I won't ask you whether you use any of those and do not want to know what they contain.
btw, try Whole Foods. I think they have a store or two in London. Here again you should not question organic items on ethical grounds. It's better quality, no doubt. Isn't being organic about supporting local, sustainable, small farms & businesses? And the last time I checked, Whole Foods has multi-billion dollar operations in at least three advanced countries.
There is a place in Baroda selling Jain chiken - made in gravy sans onions & garlic!
Hypocricy always exists at a certain level, the question is at what level it starts bothering you:)
haha, mast hai! your blog writing skills have come a long way ;-) ! well, it can be a compliment :D !!
This post of your reminded me of all the " Indian Restuarant" disasters I had during six months stay in US last year :)
Particularly being a Veg was an added advantage
Rahul: I agree the more you know, the more you doubt!
Nitesh: Thanks for your stamp of approval. I don't know what i would have done without it!
Mansi: I assumed US might be slightly better but i think any place outside of home is the same!
Interesting read!
I am having similiar experience (or even worse) in Tokyo! No idea what they serve in the name of Indian food and I am a non-veg, even then :)
All the best with your culinary skills and keep bloggin!
Cheers