Memorable Meals in India: Part 2 – Goa

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After Bombay, Shefali and I spent a few days days visiting her cousin who teaches at a school at an ashram about an hour’s drive outside Coimbature, Tamil Nadu.  Spending time in an environment dedicated to the spiritual teachings of a single guru was “enlightening”, to say the least, but the communal eating part of the ashram, while enjoyable – like one enjoys school cafeterias – left me wanting.  Specifically, I was wanting to eat meat.  Fortunately, our next stop was Goa where we hoped to chill on the beach and eat delicious food.  We were fifty percent successful in our plan.  You see, while we knew traveling in India during the monsoon season would make for some rainy and wet weather, we did not quite anticipate how much the seasonal storms would affect the normally crystalline waters and tranquil beaches for which this Indian state is known. The ocean was rough and choppy, with dangerous riptides.   So while there was a pseudo-romantic walk or two on the beach ( view more Goa pictures), there was no beach lounging or swimming.  We had to drown our sorrows, by snacking a lot.  We ate plenty of regular Indian fare or course.  For example, we found the best kathi roll of the entire whole trip in Candolim at the only restaurant we could find open (it was surprising how many businesses were closed during the monsoon season). But as a former Portuguese colony, Goa has a rich culinary traditional blending the bold flavors and wine and vinegar marinades of Portuguese cooking with the spice of Indian cuisine.  So we made a point to seek out Goan dishes and order them if we could.  We didn’t always strike gold but that could have been due more to where we were eating (again, it was tough to find open places during the low season), but there were definitely some stand out fantastic dishes.  Unfortunately I didn’t document them so well, but they were (in no particular order of preference: pork vindaloo, chicken cafreal, pork balchao.  The high point was eating at Viva Panjim in Goa’s capital city of Paniji. It’s run by this wonderful woman named Linda D’Souza who retired from teaching in Bombay to open up her restaurant in her family home and based many of the dishes on family recipes.  She was super cool. Please enjoy the photos below for more visual stimulation. Be sure to click on the thumbnails for full sized photos and more in depth descriptions.

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Memorable meals in India: Part 1 – Mumbai (Bombay aka “the Bom”)

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Long time no write blog, huh?  Well, fortunately for me “long time no blog” does not mean “long time no eat”.  In fact, I’ve been eating quite well these past few months and it’s high time I reported back on what all I have been shoveling into my mouth and stomach. Let’s talk India.  I had the great opportunity to accompany my wife, Shefali , on a trip to India where we visited family and played the part of tourists for five weeks.  So how do I even begin to describe this vast country and it’s wide variety of food? Rice and beans.  Yeah basically, it’s like Mexican food. Okay, not really… but kind of.   Bear with me and my amateur analysis of one of the world’s great cuisines.  As I see it, like most of the world’s cuisines, Indian food has at it’s base: starch – in this case rice (and to a lesser degree wheat).    As a majority Hindu country, much of the population is vegetarian and does not even eat meat (which is more expensive anyway) so the protein in Indian meals comes in the form of legumes  – mostly lentils. But don’t get me wrong.  In my limited experiences eating in India, by no means did I find the food bland. It is the opposite. It is fresh, vibrant, at some times subtle, at other times bold and at all times delicious. The wonder of Indian food is in fact the variety and depth of flavors that can be derived from basic ingredients and the ingenious blending of aromatic herbs and spices.  At least that’s what I found during our first five days in India (spent mostly in Bombay with a couple days in Pune).  Now, since we were visiting Shefali’s family during this time, we ate mostly home food which, as we all know, is often the best.  Although to be honest, home cooked in many families, often means a cook prepares the meal and serves it to the family.  It still comes from a place of love, but it’s more in thinking up what’s for lunch or dinner and the creation of the menu than the execution.  Anyway, please enjoy some photos and descriptive captions of some of the delicious things we ate in Bombay and Pune.

 

 

 

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July 4th (2011)!!!

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Shef and I hosted our third annual July 4th grill fest and I must say it was a success. And by “success” I mean there was a lot of delicious food and nobody left hungry. As has become tradition, I made my famous C’s Pulled Pork ™. And by “famous” I mean it’s known among friends to be pretty damn good. To add to the porkiness, I also made some ribs, because really, pork spare ribs are basically like pulled pork but on the bone – at least the way I make them.  Also, we grilled up some jerk chicken using this marinade that Michelle L. brought back for us on her recent trip to Jamaica.  This marinade is called Eaton’s and it is the bomb.  Our lovely guests brought all sorts of goodies like sausage, steak, corn, watermelon, banana cream pie, homemade coconut ice cream…  mmm…  Please enjoy some photos.

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C’s Carnitas!

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A carnitas taco with homemade tomatillo salsa. Bien rico!

Roast pork of any sort is the bee’s knees. And by bee’s knees, I mean one of the greatest developments in the history of food – if you dig on the pig. So the Mexican style roast pork known as carnitas – literally “little meats” in Spanish – with it’s tender and crunchy bits is like the bee’s knees on steroids. Because good burritos and tacos were always readily available back in California, I never really had any need to make carnitas myself. But then I moved to NYC where the Mexican food was sorely lacking. Things have changed in the last few years.  There are better Mexican options and of course the Puerto Rican style pernil so prevalent in many of the Spanish American joints in NYCwill do in a pinch.  But I’ve found that when I have the craving for the moist, yet crispy morsels of savory pork, the best solution is to do it myself.  It’s so easy.  All it takes is a bit of time.  So without further ado, I present to you my version of carnitas. Enjoy!

Ingredients:
3-4 lbs of pork shoulder meat (cut into 1-2 inch cubes)
1-2 tbsp of white vinegar
1-2 tsp of salt
1-2 tsp of cumin
1/4-1/2 tsp of cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp of paprika
1-2 tbsp of dried oregano

This is how I do it:

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C’s Habañero Salsa: This spice goes to eleven…

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Such bright, beautiful little peppers...

Such bright, beautiful little peppers…

... and it grows up to become this salsa which will hurt you, but you'll love it anyway - kind of like a dysfunctional relationship.

… and it grows up to become this salsa which will hurt you, but you’ll love it anyway – kind of like a dysfunctional relationship.

Alright, are you ready to have your mind blown? or your mouth? or your stomach? ok, your butt? Well, I guarantee you that this salsa will do at least one of these and hopefully just the first two. Like the tomatillo salsa, this one has become a staple in our household but unlike the tomatillo which you can slather liberally on just about anything, with this salsa, a little dab will do ya (bonus points to anyone who remembers that slogan).  This stuff packs some serious heat so please exercise caution.  But, you have my personal guarantee that with its sunny, bright, citrusy and peppery spice, you’ll have a hard time limiting yourself to just a little dab. It enlivens whatever you put it on. I dare say the word “picquant” is the perfect adjective to describe this salsa.

Ingredients:
1/4 lbs of habañeros (roasted and seeded – you might want to wear rubber gloves when handling these peppers because the chili’s oils will actually start to burn your skin with prolonged exposure. Perhaps I should heed my own advice).
1-2 tbsp of white vinegar
juice of half a lime
1/4 tsp of salt
1/8 tsp of garlic powder
1/8 tsp of cumin powder (optional)
1/8 tsp of sugar
1-2 tbsp water (to thin out the sauce and mellow the spice – a little)

Here’s how I do it:

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