People & Chefs
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Somen Debnath | Travelling 191 Countries, 200,000 kms, Meeting 20 Million People By The Year 2020!
I started writing my Culinary Travel blog to pen down and share my ‘experiences’. But there wasn’t any mission. I have consciously never written anything about politics, religion, natural disasters, human disasters and many other calamities and catastrophes that I have felt strongly about. I want to write about things that make the readers feel that there is ‘hope’ in this world and there is much to look forward to. Embarking on a culinary journey and meeting new people on new shores on my travels give me that ‘hope’. So imagine my excitement to meet a man who has been traveling around the world ‘with a mission’ and with same…
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Feteer Meshaltet In Video | Talking To Celebrity Chef Joe Barza
Feteer Meshaltet, Fetir or Fateer is the Egyptian layered pastry meaning ‘cushion-like pie’ – the stuffing or the filling coming in the form of chicken and cheese, sausage and cheese, tomatoes and olives, cream and honey or traditionally the simple Kraft Cheese! Had as a sweet or a salty savoury, the making of Feteer is an art in itself – a dramatic, action packed act in an opera. The video shows Chef Takrori making Feteers in the recently opened Helio Lounge in Dubai Marina. He is an expert hailing from a family where 3 generations have engaged themselves making Feteer. These Feteers are a modern day, but a fine adaptation…
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Violet Oon | The Singaporean Food Guru & Her Recipe Of Chilli Crab!
Violet Oon is the brand ambassador of Singaporean Food. She’s a culinary legend and is regarded as the ‘darling’ of Singaporean food industry. I tasted her cooking. I learnt her recipes. Specially, the Singaporean Chilli Crab. I sat with her as she ate her lunch and we talked only on food. And the above picture belongs exclusively to me! We are Singaporean Chilli Crab addicts! We had visited Singapore in August 2011 and our tastebuds went ballistic. We ate everywhere – in Chinatown, from the food hawkers at Newton Food Centre to the polished restaurants at the elite Clark Quay. Not to mention the various food stalls thronging the random…
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Asha Bhosle | Cooking With Her & Sharing Her Chicken Keema Recipe!
Asha Bhosle is more than a legend to me. But at this hour, all I can say is that the legend cooked. She cooked for us. I tasted her cooking. I learnt some of her precious recipes. I cooked for her, or am I imagining things in my head? I did hear her sing. I sat with her. I talked to her. And the picture below belongs exclusively to me! I did have the honour to spend almost a day with Asha Bhosle, the legendary singer of Bollywood whose career has spanned over the last six decades. Entering the Guinness World Records for the most single studio recordings, recording up…
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Taste of Dubai 2013 | I Saw Them Cook And I Ate What They Cooked
Atul Kochhar, Reza Mahammad, Gizzy Erskine, Vineet Bhatia, Georgio Locatelli and Suzanne Husseini – I saw them cook and I ate what they cooked! Taste of Dubai is one of the most awaited food events in the city. The 3 day-event just concluded this weekend. Bringing in an alfresco dining experience, it featured internationally renowned chefs and 30 of Dubai’s top fine-dining restaurants. There were far too many good restaurants showcasing their signature dishes at rates that were less than fine-dining (and my gut feeling is that the number of restaurants participating next time is going to hit 100!). But portion sizes? Most of the dishes looked pretty but in…
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Chef Sanjay Bahl | Flavours And Flavours And Flavours of Patiala!
Indian fine-dining must be the new mantra in Dubai food radar – Rang Mahal by Atul Kochhar at JW Marquis, Signature by Sanjeev Kapoor at the Melia Hotel, Options by Sanjeev Kapoor (with 2 branches already – in DWTC and Mövenpick Deira, Asha’s at Wafi and MOE with a launch of a new Menu (and I met the legend Asha Bhosle yesterday!), Amala at Jumeirah Zabeel Saray (also serving North Indian food), Amal in the Armani Hotel… and now Patiala in Souk Al Bahar, in Downtown Dubai. This is definitely a good sign for Indian Cuisine, taking it beyond what is popular internationally – the British Indian Cuisine – the…
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Chef Abhijit Saha | Is There Heart And Soul In Molecular Gastronomy?
Molecular Gastronomy or ‘Food under Surgery’? A few days back, I attended a demonstration session on Molecular Gastronomy conducted by Chef Matthias Mittermeier from SOSA. SOSA is one of the leading manufacturers of premium Molecular Gastronomy Ingredients. Molecular Gastronomy, also termed as the modern style of cooking or the Avant-Garde European Cuisine, is practiced by both scientists and food professionals in many professional kitchens and labs. Here, cooking takes advantage of the technical innovations in various sciences and is a sub-discipline of food science that seeks to investigate, explain and make practical use of the physical and chemical transformations of ingredients that occur while cooking, as well as the social, artistic and…
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Sanjeev Kapoor | Talking To The Chef Extraordinaire
Sanjeev Kapoor needs no introduction. Sounds clichéd. But that is the truth. The million dollar smile that radiates from his face and has earned more than millions of fans worldwide (I wouldn’t be surprised if the figure touches a billion in India!) cannot be the only reason. A celebrity Chef, TV Show host (Khana Khazana, his cookery show on television was telecast non stop for more than 17 years!), author of many best-selling Cookbooks, National Award winner for ‘Best Chef of the Year 2008’, co-owner of India’s first 24 Hour Food Lifestyle Channel, Entrepreneur… the reasons are many. A few pointers of his fame internationally: – His cookbook, How to Cook…
