Love, Care, SHARE

Have you tasted some foods which, if you do not share with a particular person, don't taste the same good 'self'?
I have tried it many a times. Hot and Sour soup hasn't tasted the same in last 18 months since Nearly Headless Nick left. There is no fun having Hot and Sour soup without fighting with Nearly Headless Nick over who would get more Shiitake mushrooms.
Ditto about the Greek Pizza. It has never tasted better with Pea-NUT not around. NEVER EVER!
Call it love if you may.
I love my Pea-NUT and Nearly Headless Nick.
Cheers to them!

Mister Master Chef

Attitude, suits some perfectly. One of those people of course is Skeeter (maybe kidding, maybe not). And the other is Gordon Ramsay. I have read, heard and seen so much about this attitude thingy of his, that I thought it would be but unfair not to share it with people who read this blog.

So, the story goes like this:
Gordon, was once asked by a Japanese journalist (a she) how can he "still" call himself a working chef when he ran 11 restros in 4 different countries, and was simultaneously making two TV shows on both sides of the Atlantic?

So, Mister Master pointing to the Armani jacket this journalist was wearing, said: Did you ask the store where you bought your jacket from, if f*****g Giorgio stitched every f*****g button on your f*****g jacket with his own f*****g hand?! Heeee

Point being, Mister Master has invented his dishes and trained all people working under him to follow his exact style and what you get to eat at Ramsay restros is the exact f*****g replica of the dish as it would be if made by Mister Master. :)
You can watch the last 3 minutes of this video to see the same incident being narrated by Mister Master himself.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RZF5EI_JWj0

I love Attitude, if it has substance. Do you?!

Skeeter and the Fairy Dust

Skeets loves to pamper herself royally, when she has the time.
The last time she did eet, she made herself breakfast comprising a potato-ey, cheesy, grilled toastie. It was accompanied by barbecue flavoured crisps, a sexy Dilito's Jalapeno sauce and the healthiest drink the world can offer: Coke. ;)
Sat on a couch, with some LOUD music on, and enjoyed this:

Proceeded to make Rajasthani gatte ki kadhi and aloo (no pic). Being in the kitchen (during winters and only by the mood) is therapeutic for Skeeter. And spices, will remain the first love. No giggling there!
And then, after mooning about all day, Skeets took out that precious can of Spaghetti to gobble it down by the sparkling moonlight.

It's Greek for me!

To make a morsel enter my mouth, the texture, the flavour, the aroma, the colour, are all put through an acid test. Call me what you like, but believe me you, I have been like this all my life. As a kid, I would go to the kitchen and inspect mom-made food to see if the four of these are okay. If not, I would declare 'I am not hungry'. Of course at that point in time I never knew I would grow up to be in love with food.
Later, a lot of additions were made to this list (which are often written about at DFZ).
I once opined that food courts at shopping malls can never serve good food, and hence should not be even thought about unless you are dying of hunger and cannot drag yourself to a good restaurant nearby, or far away for that matter. Little did I know that I would soon trounce my own opinion (proudly so), and throw it down the tallest tower. Ha!
Wow! I am finally talking (read writing) about Wow Italia, the one place whose mention can make my stomach growl and howl. This place has left me awed for quite some time now; this is the place I would love to visit again and again and yet again. They do, inarguably, the best Greek Pizza in or around town.
Stationed in the food court of The Metropolitan Mall in Gurgaon, for money the size of the smallest black mustard seed ('maybe' I am exaggerating), Wow Italia serves me their chef-d'oeuvre Greek Pizza topped with Fresh Garlic, Feta cheese (my favourite), Black Olives, Parsley and Green Beans. If I die and go to heaven when I have Costa Hot Choc, after having this Greek Pizza, I enter a state of blissful trance.

Wow Italia also hold the distinction of being the first eatery to own a heartfelt personal note hand-written for them by Reeta Skeeter on a circular sheet of paper which comes beneath the Pizza on the Pizza tray. :D

Also, I would recommend their Pasta (Spaghetti is the best bet) with Dansih Gorgonzola. This pasta is falvoured with Rosemary and topped with Capers, Black olives and Parsley. Yum!
Do visit. You will NOT regret.

Little wonders

At times little things that you want, HAPPEN. My case was something like this: I used to interview celebs and commoners. When all this was at its peak, I had people coming to me and asking me to 'please' write about them. I remember this particular incident. About 4/5 years ago AK came to me and asked me to do a story on her. Half-heartedly I started doing it (I was sure the Editor would say NO to it later on). The fact that she wanted me to write about her put me off, for I should have been the one asking her to talk to me. Anyway, the story got published in TOI and that was that. Years later, I read about her on the front page of TOI. And I was like :O That was her fate. O' course she is a famous artist now and all that.And with incidents of the like happening on a day-to-day basis, I wondered [I was a kid then ;)] if a day would come when I will be written about. Lo and Behold!
Click on the image to enlarge and read :)

The Classy Glassy: Costa Hot Choc

Hola Boys and Girls!
Finally, I unleash what lies inside the 'Glassy' for all those who have been dropping in umpteen questions about Skeety's love for the Glassy(s).
The term Glassy refers to a glass in which Skeety is served her drinks [soft ones mostly ;)]. The Glassy has, and always will play a quintessential role in Skeety's drinking rituals.
Here are two random facts about Skeety:
* Skeety can get high on any drink she likes.
* She does not like being disturbed when she is enjoying her drinks and can get really angry if disturbed.
And now the POP = Point of the Post:
Skeety has a reason to rejoice as Costa Coffee has re-opened at Shopprix Mall, Noida (yeah I know this is the first time Noida is featuring on this Delhi blog). And in the Glassy lies Costa Hot Choc.
Man, is she at a loss of words or IS SHE?

Skeety's poison, Costa Hot Choc (wish she could rename the chain that), is best served with two sachets of brown sugar, a generous dash of chocolate powder, and that, preferably at a moderate temperature as tongue-burning has become a ritual with her at Costa. *Grin*
Oh yeah NOT TO FORGET, it should be in the Classy Glassy (take away cup/mug/glass for you). The drop dead gorgeous colour of the Classy Glassy's exterior is Skeety's eye candy.

And then of course there is the rich creamy texture, the light brown-ish colour, the slight nutty taste of the Hot Choc itself. Skeety dies and goes to heaven for the 30-45 minutes long drinking session. Oh Boy!

Coinciding with the re-opening of Costa is Skeety's newest discovery in Noida, which would make her shut up and stop cribbing about the place: the chaiwala near Skeety's office. He serves good ealichi tea @Rs.3 a glassy. Pata ni kahan chup ke baitha tha ab tak (Don't know where was he hiding all this while?!)
Another random fact about Skeety: Tea tops the list of Skeety's LDOMW: Lovely Drinks of the Muggle World. Costa Hot Choc comes a very, very, very close second.

Mustard Sting...ting ding

It is sarson season in Dilli, and I savoured the first offering of the season only a few days ago. Give me Mustard Greens any time and you won't hear a 'no'. I absolutely relish the mix. And I take pride in being mommy's veggie supplier. She instructs me, and I go out to the market/mandi/Big Apple/Reliance Fresh, wherever time permits, to find her the best and freshest possible produce. For this season's 'first buy', I walked to a rickshaw vendor. He combined bathua, soya, palak and of course sarson and chopped it for me (they do it on request) in his hand-driven chopping machine.

And since I am talking Mustard here, I might as well add about my obsession of using Mustard oil in my cooking. When cooking with Mustard oil, you have to be a little patient else you get that bitter taste in your food which all (barring some nerds) dislike. The Mustard oil, unlike clarified butter and vegetable oil, takes a lot of time to heat up. But, as I have a penchant for elaborate cooking procedures, waiting for it to heat up is no issue for me. The simple 'stir and serve' does no good to my creativity as far as the kitchen is concerned. That perhaps 'may' explain my prolonged absence from my place near the cooking stove (yes it remains that for me, no matter what fancy names you may want to call it).

Anyway, back to Mustard oil: Many consider it unhealthy, some call it outdated compared to the much celebrated Extra Virgin Olive Oil, yet others make the weirdest face expressions to display their hatred for it. I confess I was one of them too. But then that was 'Once upon a time'. Now, I propagate its use in the same manner as Sri Sri Ravi Shankar promotes The Art of Living. It does wonders to your hair (heat it and add 4-5 small cubes of camphor after crushing them), to your digestive system and what not. And then, the ones who create a lot of noise over their dislike for Mustard Oil should not forget that ages ago, when there was no Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Vegetable oil and blah, Mustard oil was the sole medium of cooking.
I do the simple stir fry aloo with Mustard oil, which is a personal favourite. It takes about 45-60 minutes to prepare. Then there is the 'On Special Request' gobhi aloo dish that is relished by all in the house; of course it is done by me in Mustard oil.
And then to add some zing to the mustard sting is this silly little boy called Brother Bear. He hates the smell of Mustard oil. Every time I cook in it, he comes out of his room shouting curses at me. He even goes to the extent of making some hilariously outrageous statements that the 'smell' of Mustard oil causes 'rashes' on his body. Now, how absurd and silly can it possibly get?