Dadar Maharashtrian Food Walk

Author : Sassy Fork      Blog : Chronicles Of The Sassy Fork      Date : 5/20/2013 11:44:00 AM

'When friend and food blogger Kalyan Karmakar thought about the idea of having an evening Dadar Maharashtrian food walk,I was thrilled! Dadar,Girgaum and Lalbaug are considered some of the Maharashtrian strongholds.Me? I was born in Dadar,lived and schooled in SoBo and then have been at Dadar onlyEveryday I learn something new about my cultureKalyan's walks are fun because you meet all kinds of interesting people who have their own stories to tell, so no two walks are ever the s(...)'

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Rediscovering Matunga...a Food and Mythology Walk

Author : Sassy Fork      Blog : Chronicles Of The Sassy Fork      Date : 5/6/2013 11:09:00 AM

'In the city of Mumbai,walks serve as a great way to stay outdoors.Saw an announcement for a Matunga walk and jumped at the idea.Having been there several times,I thought it would be fascinating to learn about its history and culture.Turns out one more person thought that way and that's how Neville too joined the Travel-Logs walk.We both agreed that this is a great way to learn history and wished we had been taught this way in schools.Nitika Khanna who has done her graduation in Hist(...)'

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A Vanilla Afternoon

Author : Sassy Fork      Blog : Chronicles Of The Sassy Fork      Date : 3/9/2013 8:12:00 AM

'We watched the NDTV Good Times Show, Aneesha Baig's "Will Travel For Food" with great interest, specially since it featured our friend and food blogger Kalyan Karmakar and his favorite Bandra hangouts.It also covered another food blogger Shaheen Peerbhai who is famous the world over as the Purple Foodie.Shaheen spoke of her favorite finds for baking ingredients including a small place called Evellene International at Mahim,Mumbai.As it was close to where both Sue and I live,we decid(...)'

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A Berry Affair

Author : Sassy Fork      Blog : Chronicles Of The Sassy Fork      Date : 2/20/2013 4:14:00 AM

'Berries are my favorite fruit...I used to love looking at boxes and boxes of summer berries in American supermarkets on my vacations.Now we pretty much get most of them here....strawberries,mulberries,blueberries,gooseberries and raspberries.Other ones available abroad include Chinese Wolfberry(which I have tried in a Chinese dish),Acai Berry (tried as a drink) from the Amazon Forests,Cloudberries available in North Scandanivia which are eaten by Eskimos and Boysenberries which are (...)'

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The Great British Invite

Author : Sassy Fork      Blog : Chronicles Of The Sassy Fork      Date : 2/18/2013 5:21:00 AM

'Went to Palladium at High Street Phoenix and saw the Great British Invite,a venture to promote UK to people in Mumbai.The stall had a table set elegantly for Tea ...I had no idea that Afternoon or Low Tea (where light snacks and tea are served on low set tables) was different from High Tea which had fish,meat and baked dishes.There are several places in London that serve high tea.In Mumbai,in most places,Low Tea is served as High TeaThe event had a lucky draw the prizes of which fre(...)'

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Day 2 at Mahalaxmi Saras Exhibition,Bandra

Author : Sassy Fork      Blog : Chronicles Of The Sassy Fork      Date : 2/2/2013 5:00:00 PM

'Went back again to the Mahalaxmi Saras 2013 exhibition at Bandra Reclamation.This time with friends Sue and Nathan...two global travelers who like to try everything.They had me in splits with their travel storiesThe show is not just about food but also about various handicrafts.After a longtime I spotted the "soup" which is used to separate grain from the chaff...a process called thrashing,as Sue mentionedThere are stalls from various states so no wonder that I spotted a Maharashtri(...)'

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Rural Food at Mahalaxmi Saras Exhibition 2013

Author : Sassy Fork      Blog : Chronicles Of The Sassy Fork      Date : 1/31/2013 10:19:00 AM

'Attended the Mahalaxmi Saras Exhibition for the first time.I know it's not going to be my last...This is set up by the Govt to promote rural fare.There are stalls with handicrafts and from small scale food industries from interiors of Maharashtra and some other statesThe first stall I came across had roasted millets or Nachni...wholesome cereals which can be made into a porridge or a bhakriThen there was Ukadi Tandul which is small grained and fibre rich.It is used to make rice, gru(...)'

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Chiplun 2013

Author : Sassy Fork      Blog : Chronicles Of The Sassy Fork      Date : 1/31/2013 3:08:00 AM

'I was back in Chiplun.This time on work.The town by the Vashishti river.We stayed a little away from the main town,in an area called Lote Parshuram which is an industrial area.You see factories everywhere.After our work was done,we were taken to a small restaurant which was frequented by the locals.There we ate a chicken thali and lots of seafood.Particularly liked their speciality...a fish called Tokli...somewhere between a rawas and a surmai...delightful!My vegetarian colleagues t(...)'

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Versova Koli Festival 2013:Spirit Of Mumbai

Author : Sassy Fork      Blog : Chronicles Of The Sassy Fork      Date : 1/20/2013 3:44:00 AM

'Versova Koli Seafood Festival is held once a year in January.It is the mother of all seafood festivals...huge variety,of jumbo sized seafood cooked in different styles.I first visited it in 2010 and was blown out of my mind.This year,it was even bigger and better.Mahul and Mahim have their own Koli festivals.Just a few days ago,I attended the BMW Guggenheim fish event at Mahim and got to hear Kolis speak about their lifestyle and a marine biologist gave his opinion on fishingAs alwa(...)'

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BMW Guggenheim Lab: Maazhi Maach(Our Fish) at Mahim Beach

Author : Sassy Fork      Blog : Chronicles Of The Sassy Fork      Date : 1/13/2013 7:06:00 PM

'BMW- Guggenheim Lab  is a mobile lab touring cities all over the world,getting people to think about their cities and how they can change them.Yesterday I visited the satellite centre at Mahim beach which had a fisherfolk special event called "Maazhi Maach" or 'My Fish'.The structure of the lab is specially designed by architect Atelier Bow Wow of Tokyo for Mumbai and is in the shape of a mandap or public stage.It is made of bamboo and looks magical...as seen above in the pictu(...)'

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Food of Mill Workers:BMW Guggenheim Lab Mumbai

Author : Sassy Fork      Blog : Chronicles Of The Sassy Fork      Date : 1/4/2013 4:49:00 AM

'Finally attended a programme by the BMW Guggenheim Lab,Mumbai.This is based at the Bhau Daji Laud Museum in the Zoo premises but has several satellite centres...Priyadarshini Park,Horniman Circle,Sambhaji Park,Batliboy Compound and Mahim beach....all open spaces in our city.This lab is a mobile one having covered New York and Berlin.They serve to engage citizens in discussions about urbanism,architecture,art,design,science and such subjects and to inspire new perspectives and soluti(...)'

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Gujarati Winter Food

Author : Sassy Fork      Blog : Chronicles Of The Sassy Fork      Date : 12/18/2012 3:23:00 PM

'Was invited by Twitter celeb Anaggh Desai for a special Undhiyu and Ponkh lunch.Anaggh is called God on Twitter.When you meet him,you feel it more so....towering in height,warm in disposition,here is a man who is well versed in many subjects,is straight forward and gets along with people of all ages and goes about connecting them.Ponkh is tender jowar.Winter food.In farms,the stalks are roasted with their cobs and then beaten to separate each grain.I have had it before but nowh(...)'

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The Upper Crust Food And Wine Show 2012

Author : Sassy Fork      Blog : Chronicles Of The Sassy Fork      Date : 12/16/2012 5:22:00 PM

'Make it a point to go to the Upper Crust Food and Wine show every year.A great place to learn what's new in town...food concepts,gadgets and products.Stretched over three days,convenient as it includes the weekend.However this time there were far too many weddings to attend.I went on a Saturday and Chef Devarat of Radisson Blu,Alibag was demonstrating Maharashtrian cuisine.He seemed quite popular as many of the women attending said they watched his program on Marathi channel ETV.I w(...)'

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Our Diwali Guest

Author : Sassy Fork      Blog : Chronicles Of The Sassy Fork      Date : 12/6/2012 1:40:00 PM

'This Diwali was extra special....one of the funniest food writers Simon Majumdar came to Mumbai.It was only after Kalyan and I became friends that we discovered that we both loved his book "Eat My Globe"....his real life story based on adventures all around the world in hole in the wall and fine dining places,in search of the best food.His mum always told him to go everywhere and eat everything...and he did! Now Simon Majumdar is iconic in USA...judge of Iron Chef Ame(...)'

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The Seafood Walk

Author : Sassy Fork      Blog : Chronicles Of The Sassy Fork      Date : 12/5/2012 10:14:00 AM

'Me,I have a thing for seafood.Just crazy about it.Might have lived on an island in my last birth.What can be better than loving something so much and knowing that it's also great for your health thanks to its content of omega 3 fat (that's good for the arteries)? When I saw that Rushina had announced a Seafood Market Tour,I was game.I do know a little about buying fish thanks to market trips with my parents.This time it was Sandeep Shreedaran,a marketing professional with a great in(...)'

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Pathare Prabhu Food Festival 2012

Author : Sassy Fork      Blog : Chronicles Of The Sassy Fork      Date : 11/16/2012 4:41:00 PM

'There are very few community festivals...the Koli festival being very prominent and  the Pathare Prabhu festival which was held on 3rd and 4th November 2012 at the Pathare Prabhu hall at Khar.Pathare Prabhus were one of the earlier settlers of Mumbai and owned properties in Girgaum,Fort,Malad,Uran and Bhayander.Even today, the majority of Khar is owned by them.They started the Mahalakshmi Temple in Mumbai and Bhaucha Dakka Jetty.Actually it's quite interesting to observe that s(...)'

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Shivaji Park Bengal Club Durga Puja 2012

Author : Sassy Fork      Blog : Chronicles Of The Sassy Fork      Date : 10/22/2012 12:56:00 PM

'The Bengali Durga Puja Festival lasts for  five days as compared to the nine nights of Navratri.The main puja for the Goddess starts on Mahasaptami.Today is Maha Ashtami,the next day.We visited the Mahalakshmi temple,then the Ekviradevi Temple and finally the Bengal Club Durga Puja.It is the 77th year of its celebration.The place was vibrant! We were in time for the Anjali.Several people from other communities also come here so I landed up explaining it to the Punjabi lady stan(...)'

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Bandra Notunpally Durgotsav 2012

Author : Sassy Fork      Blog : Chronicles Of The Sassy Fork      Date : 10/21/2012 1:50:00 PM

'         I am half Bong so have been going for Durga Pujo since childhood....the one in Bandra and Shivaji Park.Last year Finely Chopped wrote a beautiful piece on Notunpally and gave us a new perspective.I had no idea that Durga Pujo was the biggest festival for Bengalis.I spotted Samudra Sen,one of the organizers of the Pujo,thanks to the post.Mon Basu,I know for years and years.He used to be a pilot.He is in his eighties but you just can't guess that look(...)'

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Farmers' Market at Maharashtra Nature Park

Author : Sassy Fork      Blog : Chronicles Of The Sassy Fork      Date : 10/14/2012 1:36:00 PM

'I have visited Farmers' Markets in USA and have been floored by them.There are stalls and stalls of fruits and vegetables and some with meat and cheese.I have read about the ones in Mumbai but had never been to one.When I saw the announcement on Mumbai Ready Reckoner,it said it would be held at Maharashtra Nature Park at Sion-Dharavi,a place I had heard good things about.That's how I got down to visiting it this Sunday.It's the brainchild of Kavita Mukhi,someone I met years ago when(...)'

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Red,Red Wine...

Author : Sassy Fork      Blog : Chronicles Of The Sassy Fork      Date : 9/30/2012 4:10:00 PM

'         A whole lot of Spanish cuisine restaurants have opened in Mumbai and with that a lot of information about Spanish food and wine.You hear everyone talk about Sangrias.These are Spanish drinks made of wine(mostly red) and chopped fruit such as apples,peaches and apricots which are soaked in them for some hours.All this wine talk got me to try cooking with wine.       That's how I made a plan to make Lamb with Red Wine and Prunes.I'(...)'

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