Phew!!!! last two weeks have been erratically busy. When there is loads of stuff to be taken care of within a stipulated period of time, one just loses track of time. But one thing that was worthwhile about the busy fortnight was that I was mostly immersed into my second love : cooking. After a long long time I had friends come over, and this time for brunch. I loved everything about it. The setting, the drinks prepared by me.... Of course they were mock tails. I have still not been able to graduate to cocktails though. No no no, not that I don't know how to prepare alcoholic drinks.....it's just that the old time middle class girl, used to a teetotaller dad's home has not been able to incorporate alcohol completely into her day to day routine. Although, I have learnt to use it in my pastas, risottos and tiramisu. Anyways.....what I was talking about was the menu of the brunch. Well, it comprised of waffles. bagels, cinnamon rolls , carrot squares etc. etc. I love preparing dishes for my friends and fortunately they appreciate my dishes and are ready to be the scapegoats to my experiments. I love baking. Its therapeutical. Now I know why all the chefs have such a serene expression on their face. Serving food to people is a de stressing exercise in itself.
Today, as I was settling down to plan the menu for the various upcoming lunches, high teas and dinners, I remembered my initial attempts to preparing the so called exotic dishes. I have been cooking the Indian meals since I was twelve. My dad used to love my preparations. He was a blood pressure patient, still my meals were tasty while sticking to the regime of absolutely low fat in them. Even today, I can prepare the best of the Indian meals with very little oil and they are yummy. Indian food has variety in taste. Its altogether a different thing that Kim Kardashian finds it disgusting. My goodness! what a derogatory word to use for food. Even something like cockroaches and all those weird things which some parts of the world relishes, can't be termed as disgusting. After all it's food for people who are used to it. Nobody is being forced to eat it. I am sure it was just a slip of tongue and the rather derogatory word got blurted.
But what's wrong with me today? At the drop of hat, I am off shooting from the main topic. Seems my thoughts are all jumbled up. Let me get back to the point, which was about my initial attempts to making the so called exotic dishes. I remember once I tried making pasta for the whole family with a ready made sauce. Don't remember exactly the name of the sauce but it had basil in it. Everybody on the lunch table almost went hungry that day because, there was no back up plan and the dish had turned out so bad that even I could not pop it into my mouth. Just so that the food didn't go waste, I asked my nephew to go and give it to the stray dog in the building. That twelve year old came back and broke my heart by saying," Well the dog sniffed it. I think it wrinkled its nose and walked away. O yes! it did turn and look back once, with the question in its eyes, that how can you people eat such disgusting food?"
I conquered it and today I am quite good at what I make. One day I want to start my blog on cooking and then I will share loads of recipes with all. Till then..... they are just simmering in my heart and getting perfected because good food is not about how many ingredients one puts, it's simply the love with which it's cooked.
