Chronicles Of The Sassy Fork

I have been intrigued by the name of  Magazine Street Kitchen,ever since I read about it.Turns out Magazine Street is the street in Byculla it is on. The Kitchen is beautiful and spacious,2500 sq feet to be precise! Something one finds hard to find in Mumbai.We were seated above in the dining area as we waited for everyone to arrive.This is where top chefs from around the world serve their fare.Their bakery sends its goods to the weekend sale at Colaba and Bandra Ten of us gathered to learn about Japanese cuisine,beyond sushi.Some of the people in our group had already visited Japan and though Chef Divesh Aswani hadn't,it didn't stop him from taking us on an interesting journey of making Gyozas,Tempura,Teriyaki and Ramen. We discovered a world of new ingredients: Seaweed,Shitake Mushrooms,Bonito (Tuna) Flakes,Soy,Yuzu and Sake.Both seaweed and shitake mushrooms are a good source of glutamic acid,as  Chef Divesh enlightened us.Glutamic acid i...

On a hot April afternoon,food blogger,chef and food stylist Ankiet Gulabani conducted a Food Styling and Phone Photography Workshop at the charming Jamjar Diner at Bandra.The venue was well chosen as the restaurant had a sun roof with the most amazing lighting and the walls too were done up in beautiful soothing colors.When I saw what Ankiet planned to teach,I jumped at the idea! I am not the sorts to carry around a DSLR Camera though there is no doubt that its pictures turn out fabulous.Many of my home chef friends use one but learning a skill for a daily gadget makes it so much simpler! The cool,calm and collected Ankiet Gulabani is well known for his stunning blog "Belly Over Mind".The workshop was to have limited seats but the place was bursting with hungry minds,each with an unusual Instagram handle.Today's food is as much about presentation as it is about taste      At first,Ankiet spoke about the principles: how to make food the hero and use minimalis...

My first tryst with Sourdough bread was in USA.Had tomato soup in a sourdough bread bowl in LA.Then when I visited my friends in Napa Valley, Kavita and Brendan,I was bowled over by it everywhere.Gorgeous and delicious sourdough bread with a tough crust and soft,slightly tart crumb made by artisanal bakeries,culinary institutes (CIA) and signature restaurants chosen by my friends One can get sourdough bread in Mumbai at very few places.I particularly like the one from La Folie and Kitchen Garden.Guess it has something to do with the origins of the bread in Europe.It was taken to America from there during the Gold Rush For the past year,I've been following Sujit Sumitran on Instagram after an acquaintance attended his class in Goa.Yes,that's where he lives.After dabbling in sales,marketing and in the technical sphere,he gave up his job at the age of 50  yrs to start his own consultancy.I have met so many people who give up their original profession to pursue their passion ...