Suvir Saran

Then just wear a Sari. Would certainly make me smile and be happy.

I hope you will enjoy the meal. Maybe you can bring me a Tarte Tatin I can share with the chef.

You are very generous for giving this all this time and care. Thanks! Lets put a close on the confirmations for now. I think 43 is a good number for now. I shall confirm with the chef once again before we take two more. I have planned a menu with the chef this afternoon. It sounds wonderful. Once I have come to peace with it entirely, I shall post it here. But I also hope you all will be flexible with the chef and I in planning something wonderful that may change with the days... Hope it does not cause you all too much anxiety. So 43 for now....and no more. Is that OK?

Yes prata is from paratha. It went from India to Indonesia and also to Malaysia and Thailand. You can find some form of Indian flatbreads in all these countries.

Sounds like a great idea.... Try it and share a recipe. I would love to hear more... Practice makes perfect.. or at least near perfect... And this could be your way of practicing both Indian cooking and something new. The thought is far from horrifying.

Since the thread is back up, and at the risk of killing it again (don't you hate it when you have the last post?), what kinds of tarkas do you recomend with Dhoklas? I usually use some canola, sesame seeds or mustards seeds or both and curry leaves, asafetida, green chili and dessicated coconut at times. Also red chili powder, but make sure it is handled with great care. It burns very quickly. Chopped fresh cilantro is essentail for Dhokla.

let's confirm all 43 and accept another two. To make it a total of 45. Thanks for keeping track of this SuzanneF. You are most kind and generous.

Chefette made the best Dessert Onion Rings I have ever had. Her dessert, Cornucopia, was very good. I went to the demo as skeptical as one can be. I went their to only find some food for the intellectual part of my person, and I have come back sated by the taste of her preparation. It helped that she was witty, charming and such a pro at having the audience's complete attention. The dessert had layers of complexity. And it had a great balance between the taste and textures provided by its many individual components. For a presentation that would have sufficed in its success as nothing more than just a challenge to ones thought and intellect, this dessert did that and also more. I was glad my curiosity got the best of me and I went to the Demo.

They transported me back to coming out of the swimming pool and finding the bearer holding a tray that had my favorite Cheese sandwiches and thick hand cut potato chips. This was a staple all through summer. Mom would drop us kids at the pool, and we would swim and play for a couple of hours... and our treat after was the above. The glorious days of our youth.. And the golden age of Gymkhana Club in New Delhi... Thanks Cathy for taking me back in memory lane.... I wanted to ask for kethcup to go with those potato chips.. Since that is how I ate them as a young boy.

You were? I don't remember. Might have missed you, because I left early with someone or other, I can't remember their name. All I can say is that you and the person you left early with were both missed afterwards. Especially the rich red ..... someone was wearing...

Both you and I. I bought Vanilla Ice Cream, I swear. And I too was there. Enjoyed meeting you briefly. Thanks for the American goat cheeses....

And how was your Saturday? very, very busy! Too busy reading to write anything! Do share with us your observations... questions.... or whatever... helps each of us learn more.

How many do we have on the Wait list now?? What is our total count SuzanneF? I will plan a menu sometime this weekend... I hope you all have fun.

Tomato Chutney

Brain in Indian Cooking

Liver in Indian Cooking

Heart in Indian Cooking

And how was your Saturday?

Most amazing Poached Quince Recipe - Meredith Kurtzman

I met several of our members for the first time. Some yet again. The home (CathyL's) was most beautiful and warm. It was inhabited in every corner and in it's details with great energy and also foodie sensibility. And yes the architectural details and the art on the walls and around the house were inspiring and conducive for pleasant exchange of thoughts amongst us all. The greens cooked by Shermar and prepared painstakingly to showcase their differences were most spectacular. The Tarte Tatin's that Toby cooked were amazing at the very least. I could have finished each of them... But I knew I had to be on my best behavior and share.... Cabrales's macarons were superb. I was enjoying even the not very good Payard ones. But those reminded me of the tacky and poorly prepared Indian confections found in sweet shops in Indian areas....Artificial coloring and flavoring seeming to be their core. It was great meeting everyone. I was most amazed at how in-life meetings dissipate any differences we may have had online. We all shared far too much in common to have noticed even for the most brief moment any of the stuff that can so easily divide us online. It was a great thing... since we all understood yet again that we have far more in common than what separates us. Many thanks to CathyL. And thanks to everyone for sharing with an unexpected guest all that was at the tables.

Meredith Kurtzman the pastry chef at Esca demo'd Ricotta Fritters with Poached Quince. The fruit (quince) has never tasted so good. And I cook a lot with it. I could have eaten all 100 plus portions of the fruit by myself. edit: Meredith, if you read this thread... I am craving the quince. It was amazing. Thanks for your great long effort in poaching it so perfectly.

I am sure your passion for good food made you popular. I would do anything to be able to taste some of these goodies you write about. Sound yummy... thanks for sharing your passion with us....

I was told by a dear friend that each day I should try and emulate a person I can never think of being. Since I did not see Tommy post yet, I thought I would be Tommy for two minutes. Forgive me please....

I went to Les Portes des Indes recently, because my wife's a great fan of the Blue Elephant and I thought she'd like it. It is indeed run by the "Blue Elephant Group". Apparently the food that they serve there is from the former French colonies of India, which explains the French connection (so to speak). The chef was on Good Food Live a few weeks ago and he described it as "a cuisine that's evolved in the French colonies" when asked by the presenters (many times, if I recall) about its origins. I quite liked his style. I have not eaten food like what these Fusion restaurants serve in any visit to Pondicherry. Not sure where the chefs are getting their inspiration. Yes the French colonized that part of India... But they actually enjoyed the local foods. They also ate their own dishes. Sometimes tables were set with foods from both cultures. At other times dishes that had some accent of both in each other. But rarely the kind of mediocrity that many have displayed in the name of French-Indian fusion found its way into the world of natives of that region (or for that matter even the world of the colonizers). They had far better food served, cooked, sold and found locally to have to bother about such affectation. I would question the research that has gone into words uttered by many of these chefs. I was a owner at Pondicherry ( a French-Indian fusion restaurant in NYC ). It went even farther and said it was simply foods of the French Colonies. Little if any of the food was made to be authentic to what may have been cooked in that time. Between the owners, chefs, publicists and celebrity partners, most of this was sheer drama for publicity that is easy to get if you build such shallow stories. And yes they got media. Even a following. It was only Gael Green that had the guts or vision to say "Fusion Confusion". The rest were too meek to question what had seemed a logical step. How sad! In fact the chef at Pondicherry was guided mostly by Indian owner/management/ and friends of owners about what the food could or should have been in that time. And the French born and trained chef simply added spices to his repertoire and created dishes that could pass of as Fusion.. and with the blessings of the owners. No great effort was put into trying to study what really may have been served in those rare homes where perhaps this kind of fusion may really have taken place. I doubt it that such homes existed then. I fear Tonyfinch is correct in what he says... The two cuisine's have little in common at their very soul. And yet they also have much in common in terms of cultural and social roots. But for fusion to become meaningful, each cuisine would have had to lose some of its ego and take from another more generously. Like Tony, I cannot believe the French would have considered losing much of their ego.. and do understand that for those "goree chamree ke aashiq" (those that love white skin) losing their Indian makeup is the easiest thing to do. They feel if they become "Western", they become special. And then there is the world of uninspired restaurant owners and managers that have little if any vision, and are most to blame for the sad state of Indian restaurants outside of India.