Chronicles Of The Sassy Fork

A lot of my posts are on Marathi cuisine.I am half Maharashtrian(half Bengali) therefore keen to learn more about my culture and share it with my friends.The Global Kokan exhibition at the BKC grounds(24-27th Feb 2011,10 am to 10 pm) is an attempt to present the wealth of the Konkan to the rest of the world....food,arts and tourism .The sets are designed by none other that Nitin Chandrakant Desai,the art director from Bollywood (of Lagaan,Jodha Akbar and Devdas fame) whose historical T.V serial Bajirao Mastani has many,many followers. Ths made me smile.....Shudh Shakahari Kokani Masa...the pure veg Konkan fish! At the centre there was a miniature stage which had folkdances all day long. At the sides are halls,some airconditioned,which showcased various things The Matsyalay Mahavidyalaya is an institute in Ratnagiri that provides degrees such as Bachelors and Masters in Fisheries Sciences. They were selling small packets of Shrimp Pickle made by their students. Other stalls were those ...

I first heard about Laksa in the year 2007 when I read an article in the DNA about Laksa made by Nelson Wang.He gave a simple recipe that included getting Laksa paste from Crawford Market,which I did but with great difficulty.There was only one bottle available! The end product made it all worth while.My cousin's friend likes Laksa so much that she carries home a bowl of this street food every time she passes through Singapore Airport. My uncle Tuhin used to live in Langkawi,Malaysia.He told me that the best Laksa is from Penang and that a family there had a age old secret recipe to the dried shrimp paste which was the crucial element to this wonderful one dish meal.The one from Penang is called Curry Mee and has pork blood.There is an Asam Laksa which is a sour fish soup made of mackerels and tamarind.Penang is also home to the smelly Durian fruit which is eaten with rice. I was mighty thrilled when my friends Kainaz and Kalyan gave me a packet of Curry Laksa. The paste has lemon ...

There are many cooking classes in Mumbai but I could find only one Malvani Seafood class.I met Bimba Nayak at last year's Upper Crust Show where she was displaying her chocolates and handing over pamphlets of "Cooking Concepts".She has worked for several years as Chef to the King Of Kuwait.She used to take baking orders earlier and even worked as a seamstress but now only teaches. It was from her that I first heard about the difference between Malvani and Koli Cuisine.Geographically from faraway areas the food is bound to be different.Kolis are the first inhabitants of Mumbai and Malvan is at the southern coastal tip of Maharashtra,close to Goa.Malvani food is spicier and has garam masala whereas Koli dishes are sweeter and are made with Koli masala.Malvani food mainly has fresh fish,barring the Javala or miniature shrimp whereas Kolis use many types of the dried fish(and also fresh) I attended the class sometime ago (which she takes with the help of her son Hiren) and th...

The Upper Crust Dog Show is a one of a kind event launched by Farzana Contractor,wife of the late Busybee /Behram Contractor and editor of the food and lifestyle magazine Upper Crust(www.uppercrustindia.com).She is a mother to two adorable Lhasa Apsos.No surprise then that she has started a pet magazine called "Dogs & More"! Dog A'Fair is an informal show about home dogs rather than show dogs, where one can see different dog breeds and interact with them and their proud owners.The minute I entered, I was greeted by this cute 3 month old Labrador pup who wagged his tail incessantly and licked me all over my face! The show had celebrity dog lovers like American Consul General Paul Folmsbee, Pritish Nandy,Perizaad Zorabian,Aarti & Kailash Surendranath and Ashmit Patel.Paul applauded Farzana for bringing out this community event.Mumbaikars from different parts of the city and from different fields got together in South Mumbai to just be around animals,which was a gre...