Secret Ingredient: Bell Pepper/Capsicum

September 25, 2010 by Lavanya

When Nupur announced the Iron Chef Edition of Blog Bites, I had lots of  red bell peppers in my fridge that I wanted to use up before my next trip to the farmer’s market. This has been a super busy month for me- but there was no way I was going to miss an opportunity to pick an ingredient and think of two ways of showcasing it a la’ Iron Chef. And so, of course I picked Bell Pepper. The […]

Categories: Food/Drink • Tags: bell pepper, blog bites, chutney, Food, Iron Chef, paneer, Recipe

My favorite smells

March 5, 2010 by Lavanya

It is probably obvious that my overarching love of smell dictates both my love of perfume and of food. Both perfume and food combine basic or simple smells  in varied ways to create a layered complexity that I find completely bewitching. Sometimes I can decompose the complex smells into their component parts and sometimes there are unified and impossible to separate. But at all times, they intrigue and move me to the point that I find myself questioning my sanity. […]

Categories: Scent • Tags: favorite smells, Food, perfume, Scent

My Florence Pages: Food and food like things

December 15, 2009 by Lavanya

Day 1: We reach Florence around 9:30 on the morning of November 27th. We are famished. After dropping off our luggage at Hotel Maxim, near the Duomo, we head out in search of food. The sandwich shop that I had planned on eating at, a hole-in the wall called I Fratellini, is closed for repairs. We need to find alternatives. We decide to drop into Procacci – a gourmet sandwich shop, to taste their famous finger sandwiches. We try the […]

Categories: Food/Drink, Picture Memories, Travel • Tags: Florence, Food, restaurant reviews

Venice Diary: Of masks, markets and melt in your mouth food

December 6, 2009 by Lavanya

It is inevitable that one speaks of masks when one talks of Venice. Even though masks seem to be hardly a part of  the current ‘Venice experience’. Yet, they hang at every corner shop or stall, a hangover from a past where they had an undeniable role. The masks in the corner are from a shop near the San Marco square called Max Art Shop. Here, masks are handcrafted by local artisans from either ceramic or papier mache.  So ofcourse I had to […]

Categories: Food/Drink, Picture Memories, Travel • Tags: Food, Italy, masks, restaurant, Venice Diary

Tea-Time Treats: Paneer Puffs

October 14, 2009 by Lavanya

It has been beautifully drizzly the past few days. The kind of days that heighten my craving for warm savory snacks.Hot bondas and bajjis, pakodas, even maggi noodles. But the one tea time treat that, for me, is inextricably linked with early rainy evenings in Bangalore, is the Vegetable Puff. Vegetable Puffs are  found abundantly in the many bakeries that dot Bangalore (along with khara buns, aloo buns, butter biscuits and many other doughy wonders). The vegetable puff is, however, […]

Categories: Food/Drink • Tags: Bangalore bakeries, blog events, Food, monthly mingle, nostalgia, paneer, puffs, rainy days

O foods : Orange and TomatO Rasam

September 27, 2009 by Lavanya

Defining ‘Rasam‘ is an almost impossible feat. This post does such a great job of describing its frustrating ‘indescribeabilty’ , that I won’t even try. However, one thing that is common to most kinds of Rasam is that hint of tartness. The ‘tartness agents’ usually used are tomato, tamarind, lime or some combination of the three. Now, before I get ahead of myself : Rasam literally means ‘juice’. It is a thinnish, tart, South Indian soup, usually served with rice, […]

Categories: Food/Drink • Tags: clementine oranges, Food, O Food Contest, Orange Rasam, Ovarian Cancer Awareness, Recipe, tamarind, tomato

Seven Things

September 21, 2009 by Lavanya

Kiki at Yogademia passed on the Kreativ Blogger award to me!  I have been enjoying reading her blog, on balancing work and life, and this was a lovely surprise. Thank you, Kiki! As part of receiving the award, I am listing seven things (out of the many) that I love. Seven Things I love: 1. The smell of  freshly cut Tuberoses/Rajnigandha 2. Adding olive tapenade and comte cheese to home-made pasta sauce 3. Discovering my favorite film (and film maker): Le […]

Categories: Film, Food/Drink, Music, Scent, writing • Tags: Farmer's Market, Food, paper, smell

The Green Acquaintance

September 14, 2009 by Lavanya

It all started with the figs. I had never eaten a fresh fig, before that sunny saturday morning at the Farmer’s market. It was not like I’d never eaten figs before. I had!- But only the dried fruit- with their pruny texture and sticky, jammy taste. I love dried figs. So, in my ignorance, I assumed that a fresh fig could hardly better the taste of its dried self. I imagined fresh figs would taste milky and green, for some […]

Categories: Food/Drink • Tags: bell peppers, Farmer's Market, figs, Food, green acquaintance, mint, onions, pattypan squash, Recipe, spinach, thyme

Photographing Figs

September 9, 2009 by Lavanya

Forgotten fig sliced Like an opened kumkum box Sweet vermillion streaks Pictures by me

Categories: Food/Drink, writing • Tags: fig, Food, haiku