Kerala

Squid-ink pasta with squid and prawns. Other ingredients: olive oil, shallots, garlic, pancetta, bell cherry tomatoes, a tiny but potent red chilli finely chopped almost to paste and half a glass of pinot grigio to deglaze and marry the whole lot together.. No tentacles in shot because my girls scoffed them all up!

I am enjoying these establishing scenery shots.

OK, I bought a globe artichoke last week having never eaten one before. Reading is scant preparation. Wish me luck.

Sorry to hear about your Thai curry paste, sartoric. Always impressed by your posts. I wish someone else in my house liked curry...

Fish Pie. Fish Pie. Eggs apparently mandatory, who knew? Haddock, salmon, pollock, king prawns. There's a dash of turmeric in the roux to add a little bit of mystery. The yolk has blackened, but tastes great. I don't think it's a sin, is it? Keepin' it rustic. Mangoes for dessert, from our own trees back home. Delicious!

Hi Vijay. Welcome to the fora here. I hope we will be of help to you. I am sure you will add much to our community if you find us useful! Just for context, please tell us where you live and work. Customs and facilities in Andhra Pradesh will be different to those in Assam. I am very intrigued to see how the eGullet community can respond to your requests for practical solutions to difficulties in situations which are outside our usual frames of reference. This is all very different from concerns about the quality of extra virgin olive oil from single estates compared to EVOO from several European sources (just my own first world dilemma this afternoon in Waitrose.) With regards to your question: given the parameters you have stated in terms of manpower and time, I would suggest preparing the parathas ahead of time and freezing them. On the day, you could heat them on hot plates and send them out, say 1-2 minutes per batch. When freezing, grease-proof paper between layers of parathas would probably make life easier. You still have time to try out technique and timing. I think the quality of the finished product will be very close to absolutely fresh preparation. Do not thaw the parathas before reheating them, as this will result in a somewhat soggy texture. I am sure you will successfully solve the challenge. Please post photographs so we can all enjoy the outcome vicariously!

Easter Bank Holiday Monday Roast. For Easter it should be lamb, but I already cooked roast lamb for the same family members last week on holiday. Hence, this: Pork loin. I always have trouble with the crackling so I cheated on one. The joint on the right was brushed with gin before rubbing with salt and pepper, the other was rubbed with S+P without other prep. The gin washed joint had a crisp crackling but it was rather flat. This is a failsafe for crackling, but it never turns out excellent. The other joint actually yielded perfect crackling this time- rather unsatisfactorily for me as I don't know what I did right this time. Anyway, it was much appreciated by my father in law and my 12 year old. Beet foliage Beets. Meat and potatoes with two veg. This is England. Bit of Europe sneaking in as a small glug of truffle oil in the mash. Tarte Tatin to finish. I don't like pudding, so I'm not good with dessert.This one is hugely popular, and an easy win!

Thanks for your videos Vijay.

Just supermarket chicken for the first attempt. This is an amazing technique and the result is fabulous- succulent and crispy. The bird and the vegetable stuffing enhance and complement each so well. Pepin is new to me- what a guy!

OK, as a customer, I'd just like to tell my story about turning up late. I turned up late with the missus four years ago at Au Bon Accueil, Paris, just as the chairs were being taken inside at dusk. The venue was chosen from internet research- I had a long list of must-eat places. The waiter went inside, talked to I guess the owner, and came back out and presented us with the menu. He seated us side by side. I thought, well, I'd quite like to see my wife as I have my dinner but, whatever. The waiter was insistent. My French is strictly what I can remember from phrasebooks, and this wasn't the time to get into an argument. I can't recall the main course, probably duck confit. I ordered the mille feuille for dessert after the waiter's mimed explanation of the dish. Just as dessert came out, the Eiffel Tower lit up, sparkling like Champagne, right in our eye line. The Eiffel Tower started shimmering! My wife and I had never seen this before, and it was a magical moment. I'd gone to Paris at my wife's insistance, worried about racism at worst and metropolitan indifference at best. All I found was respect and consideration. Much more so than in London. Every restaurant and cafe we went to treated us wiith grace and love. But that evening in Paris, served by people who didn't have any expectation of repeat business, we had the best service we ever had. Four years later I 'm still talking about it. I think I'll rememnber it forever. Thank you to all those who go the extra mile. We do appreciate it. Au bon accueil

Tilda is perfectly acceptable. I think you just have to try different brands to find your preference. But Tilda is perfectly acceptable!

Mackerel, Scotch Bonnet, avocado, baked potato and coarse salt.

Interesting about the alcohol. No problems getting this? The religious right managed to get a ban on alcohol except for 5 star hotels etc., but I think this was overturned last year, then subject to challenge. I do understand there are more reasons than religion to prohibit access to alcohol. People do eat beef in India, and more so in Kerala, but again the RR have been pushing for a ban, as in other parts of India. I understand why there's an instruction not to discuss politics and religion on eG, so I won't go on about this.

OMG the tase of home!

Thanks rotuts, that is what I was trying to do! Hate showing up my grossly inadequate abilities... As for the Chablis, it's just a random old pic to see what happens when I try and post. Not Trader Joe's- I'm in the UK. Quick bit of googling reveals it's Maurice et Fils. I probably got it from Morrison's, currently at £12 a pop. Must have been on sale!

Just to be clear, "in our house," not "in out house." My typo!

Just testing, please ignore me. Hope this is an acceptable place to experiment. If not, please redirect me. SD card Dropbox: download then upload Editing: cut and paste in download Well that didn't work...

My brother-in-law got back to me on this important question: "Yah, cows love banana leaves. So if one has a cow, no reason why not. When I was a boy, we had 2 cows. But these days, in our house, it is thrown into the compost." So there you have it! sartoric, I am really enjoying this blog. Looking forward to your reports from my home state!

The banana leaves are discarded after a single use. I've always just chucked them on the pile round the back and never thought further about disposal. Cows can eat banana leaves, so perhaps it does indeed end up as animal feed.I've asked people who should know, and will report back when I find out.

I'm very impressed with this tour. And now I'm hungry!

Although this woman is rolling, and I would never argue with her about what's correct!

The granite slab with the shallow depression is used for fine grinding. The stone roller is used to scrape the foodstuff across the flat surface. The effect at the interface is the same as that achieved by a twisting motion when using a mortar and pestle.

Thanks for the spelling correction Liuzhou. As far as taste is concerned, I understand JW make a safe conservative whisky. I don't consider the Green Label a cooking whisky. It's a nice dry balanced drink. I've been there, done that with the medicinal Islay malts (been drinking whisky for 30 years) and sometimes you don't want to be reeking of peat in the morning. It has been impossible to find the Green Label in supermarkets in the UK for a few years now so I was pleasantly surprised to find it in Morrison's. I'm not happy with the ongoing trend away from age statements in the whisky market so I was absolutely sure I'd not see it again!

Long time lurker just trying to contribute, yo! It's a great whiskey which has been unavailable for years and which I saw today. Bought one bottle and I wish I'd bought more.

Not available for about 5 years. Gold Label 18 yo not available at least as long. Blue label £100+.