Experimental Cuisine

In more recent years, best restaurant awards have been going to places that do cuisine that can be described as experimental. Heston Blumenthol has pioneered this. This year's winner, Noma, a Danish restaurant, seems to be  taking it to the next level. Edible dirt is one thing that stands out from the menu. Using science to come up with stunning food. Heston has come up with, using a laboratory-style kitchen, perfect (according to him) everyday dishes like bangers and mash etc. I think it being 'perfect' requires it to be done in an everyday style. Using an everyday kitchen. What he has come up with, can be described as a scientifically created, controlled version of everyday food. Without the errors, limitedness and non-perfectness of an everyday kitchen. 
How does it taste? Well, I haven't tasted any of it so I can only imagine. It would taste great. But not the same. I've had Thai food at very expensive restaurants with kick-ass commercial kitchens. Street food in Thailand, cooked using minimal equipment, usually no the side of a busy highway, tastes better.
I rest my case.

Healthiest food - souvlaki!

Trying to lose weight? Here's a simple, yet delicious way of doing that. Switch to having Souvlaki for lunch. Start the day by having a small breakfast - fresh juice with some toast. For lunch have souvlaki - chicken or lamb, on a Turkish roll, with salad if you want. No cheese. No Mayonnaise. For dinner (this is the hard one) - salad, no later than 7 pm.

Try this for a couple of weeks and see the results. This is one of the best ways of losing weight fast while making sure you eat enough healthy food. 

Danish feta or Greek Feta?

The base is same for both of these styles of feta cheese. As far as the actual taste goes, they should both taste more or less the same. The biggest and most obvious difference between these two cheeses is the texture. Greek feta is more solid than it's Danish sidekick. Consequently, Greek feta cheese is more suited to salads where as Danish is more suited to burgers and sausages. Greek feta is very good for crumbling over salad, or to be used as whole cubes. On the other hand, Danish feta is good for forming a paste or just melting over hot burger patties or sausages. Both taste great!

Organic Lamb sausages

There has been a lot of talk about organic stuff in the last decade or so. We've tried a few different things and to be honest, you can't tell the difference just by tasting (at least we couldn't). But, the health-related benefits are supposed to be great. There has been a debate out there for and against organic food for as long as the stuff has been around itself and it'll never be settled.
One of the things that we tried and really stood out were the Greek-style lamb sausages. With mixed herbs and mild spices (mint, rosemary, lemon myrtle and chilli), these sausages are tasty, juicy and full of flavour. We've come up with an interesting way to cook these sausages - boil them in water until they are done (read us out before you go "that's criminal!"). Dry them and then lightly sear them in olive oil, slice them in small chunks and drizzle some more olive oil on top. These sausages need to be accompanied with feta cheese and some garden salad. The end result is amazing. We serve this breakfast with tzatziki. So much better than bacon and eggs (NOW you go "that's criminal!"). 

Himalayan goat curry

In the Himalayan communities of northern ranges of India, goat meat is consumed on a regular basis and is considered (deservedly) far superior to lamb meat. The taste and texture are both, better and leaner, resulting in super goat curries. 
Recipes are handed down from one generation to the next and every community has a champion goat curry cook. These guys don't use any secret ingredients or mysterious techniques, they just happen to have that 'touch'. Though nowhere near as good as them, I follow what I learnt from these people and try to bring it to your plate. Dishing up a killer goat/lamb curry involves slow-cooking the meat in vacuum conditions for 3 hours. Then, it's combined with fresh herbs and spices. Some ground spices need to be lightly toasted before they're combined. Then the whole thing is allowed to sit on very low heat for another hour. Need I explain more? All this slow-cooking with fresh herbs and toasted spices brings out the best in this dish. And then I've got that 'touch', y'see...
:)

Scary stuff!

Anyone watched Food Inc. yet? 

Vegan food needed

Friends of Monal have spoken and we've listened (sounds sooo Dominos!). Vegan/vegetarian food is still appreciated in our (mostly) carnivore country and that's good news. Thanks a lot guys.


Here're two of chef's special vegan/vegetarian dishes:


1. Sautéed Mushrooms and Broccoli in chef's red wine sauce with rice


2. Chickpeas, mushrooms and carrots stir-fry with lemon dressing served with toasted Turkish rolls. 


Enjoy!