Finely Chopped: December 2010

Thursday, 30 December 2010

A typical evening with Dr Mirinda

You are unlikely to see pictures of their Bollywood clients when you go to a plastic surgeon's clinic.

But go to Dr Margaret Miranda's clinic and you will find the Finely Chopped visiting cards boldly placed below the glass on her table. Three of them. Here's one.

No, she is not a plastic surgeon. She is our family doctor. She and I once spent hours chatting on food while K coughed away at the patient"s chair

I went in yesterday looking 'quite gone' according to the Doctor. Went out smiling and perky with a box of Christmas sweets made by the good doctor herself. The nan khatais 'unique' according to her. Christmas cakes whose recipe "I share unlike other East Indian women".

The doctor's chirpy daughter came in while I was there. Her mom gave her a baby cough syrup so that 'the baby' could study for her MD exams. She saw me and called her brother in. The inspired young man had chopped the chiang mai sausage that I gave them, and used them as a filling for roast chicken. He was really excited by the pickled green chillies in it. They still can't stop talking of the sausages.

Something that caught curry Spice's fancy too.

I first heard about the sausage story during my last visit to Dr M. I had come to her with a cold. It was past 8 PM. Her Cinderella time. There was a lady sitting outside, nauseous from something she ate.

Doc was checking my pulse when I heard a voice from across the window. "Oh were you the one who got the sausages?" And then her daughter came in. Taking a break in her MD exam preparations as she bounced up and down to joyous memories of the Chiang Mai sausages and how her brother had cooked them.

Yesterday a debated raged between mother, daughter and son on how to cook the duck they had bought. Son, who is training to be a chef wanted to do something innovative. Mother put her foot down. "I have paid for it. I am cooking it the traditional way." All this while father waited outside patiently as they had a dinner to go to.

But like I said, not before she packed the sweets she had made. She said that I should have home cooked food and therefore she would give only sweets made personally by her. Showed me the Christmas crib. The dolls were done by her late father.

A hug, advise to sleep, eat bland food, watch my weight and I was off.

Well this is my doctor Miranda. The one who had shared her pork spare ribs recipe with me the first time I went to her with a bad stomach.

"I am not in a presentable state"

I plan to cook my way out of the blues tomorrow. Microwaved Oriental pork spare ribs, Thai green curry as learnt at the cooking school at Chiang Mai and feta and mushroom cous cous salad on the cards. Hope it works out.

Nan khatais that re unique, cake recipe that she doesn't mind sharing, all made by the good doctor herself

Sunday, 26 December 2010

Gia. Sixty Four not out ... Christmas Cakes, Rum Balls, Chocolate Cakes, Sorpotel

Big thank you to Debopriyo of Debopriyo's Pictures, who answered my cry for help on uploading photos on blogger. This is what he had to say "For faster uploading of pictures, try draft.blogger.com. Log in with the same login and password and click the "Make Blogger in draft my default dashboard".
The same blog will open up and the uploading system is a whole lot better."

Am looking forward to writing the next post now. Was really stressed about uploading photos.

For more photos of Gia's cake check out this album on the Finely Chopped Facebook page

The Haghia Sophia at Istanbul was once the central cathedral of Christianity. Istanbul was Constantinople then. The headquarters of Christianity. Then came the Ottoman empire. The Haghia Sophiya Cathedral became the Ayasofiya Mosque. Constantinople ... Istanbul. Till Ataturk, the first Turkish President converted it into a secular museum.

I took my first proper bite of Gia's Christmas cake today. Was almost knocked down by the intoxicating whiff of rum. The cake was soft, moist, hugged the knife (no pun intended) as you cut it. Chirpy as a little plump teen sipping on his first sherry. Filled with raisins and dried fruits bringing in a touch of the Ottoman into a Christian tradition. East met west, ensuring that the Yuletide spirit spread well after Christmas. These cakes were even better than last year's.

It is always difficult to write on something involving a friend. Objectivity of blogging and all that jazz which I live by. Plus my reputation was at stake. I had announced the Inception of these cakes to the world after all. But our 'Baker with an Edge' didn't let me down. And I can hear her say in a desultory drawl, "what, you doubted it or what?"

So here folks are Gia's Christmas Cakes. 64 of them were baked. Twenty five kilos. Single handedly. Without any help. Now if only Christmas Cake Baking is made into an Olympic Sport.

And here are the rum balls. You are warned not to drive after biting into one of them. The police is pretty strict these days.

And Kainaz's favourite cake. The cake baked by Gia which spoilt her for very other cake. The cake which makes you find K more often in the fridge than outside. Face covered in cake. A happy content smile on her face. Baked by Gia almost a year after she baked the earlier one. "It is exactly the same", exclaimed Mrs K with glee.

That's not all. We got to taste Gia's sorpotel yesterday. It came with very precise instructions on how to heat it. The unsaid message, "not in the effing micro".

How was it? Well Kainaz, who belongs to the vindaloo camp, needed a restraining order so that I could get a bite.

Sorry Gia. I know you think it's a hassle and don't want to do it but you should take catering orders too. Mankind needs it.

Note: This is not an anonymous review. All the food here were gifts from a friend. So would be great if any of you, who ordered them, write in on how you found Gia's stuff.

'Gia'

"And the award for the biggest fan goes to..."

A fantastic birthday treat at the best buffet in town... Brunch at Olive, Bandra

The best buffet at in town: Brunch at Olive

I had earlier written about being underwhelmed by Olive at Bandra. I found the prices to be too steep and the service uninformed for those prices.

I have also often said that I am against buffets in principle. I am against binge eating. I would rather savour individual dishes. Plus most buffet servings look like horse bucket food - congealed, unappetising and stale.

I eat my words today.

The Christmas brunch at Olive, Bandra, was out of the world. The best that I have come across in a long time. It was very expensive. 2000 Rs (40 USD) plus tax on Christmas and 1500 on Sundays. Madhumita treated us to it on her birthday. Felt bad about the erosion to her net worth. But what a spread. Mind blowing. A bon vivant moment if there ever was one.

A tremendous selection of Mediterranean food. Heaven if you dig this light and elegant cuisine the way I do. Fresh, visually appealing despite being a buffet. Constantly replenished. Jon, the customer service manager, who has come from Greece, said that the main difference between the food in the Mediterranean and at Olive was in the produce. The feta and the olives were more robust there.

The buffet included alcohol which was a bit of a waste for our table though a couple of us did taste the mulled wine folks in the UK were tweeting about. Warm with spices infused in them. There was a moderately good pizza with very nice cheese but the crust could have been less crisp. The macarons not a patch on those of Le 15.

Mezzes which were very sophisticated in taste. An indulgent, de-stressing and rejuvenating massage for your palate. Smoked salmon. Fresh mussels. Scallops and calamari fritters. Leg of ham with a crackling layer of fat. Enough to make you groan in sheer sensuous ecstasy. Olive with pickled red chillies which exploded in your mouth...the memories lasting long after like a passionate affair of the heart. A tantalising cous cous salad, so rare to get. Potato in chorizo. Poached pears. The rare pesto mix to satisfy my very picky pesto standards. The perfect creme brule. Dark chocolate brownies which streamed down your soul.

The way you would expect heaven to look when your time on earth was up.

At times reciting the menu says it all. And I had just eaten half of what was on offer. What more can one add? The spread at Olive made me finally understand the point of rap. Yo!

I didn't have my camera but I took my friend's Sony Cyber Shot. Similar to mine. Clicked tons of pictures. Couple of the staff got into the spirit of things. Returned to the table to find myself bang into the middle of some very girly talk. I scampered off to take more pictures.

Happy birthday once again Madhumita. Many happy returns of the day and here's to many more lovely meals. And I still can't fathom why you were scared about whether I would approve of the lunch. Am I that intimidating?

You can check this album on the Finely Chopped Facebook Page for these and more photos