Bellissimo!!

Oops!! Did the title and the picture give it away too easily? Sorry for that. Yes, it is an Italian restaurant. And in Kolkata this time. I've been living here for more than a year now, so it's only fair that I write about at least one of its restaurants.
Well, I did not discover the place, the credit for that has to go to one of my friends on campus. The first visit was forgettable considering the fact that we spent a ridiculous amount of time roaming around Little Russell Street - stoned - looking for the place. When we got there, my friend realized that he was too drunk already and halfway through his Risotto, left the table and threw up in the restroom.
Oh, I almost forgot, the place is called 'Fire & Ice'. So, the next visit was on Christmas Eve. This time there were three of us and believe it or not, we ended up stoned and spent 15 minutes looking for the place AGAIN!! But when we got there, we were treated to a meal none of us is likely to forget for a long time. Here's a summary.
Tomato soup - Super-duper thick and comes with a generous helping of Parmesan cheese. My thumbs up!!
Foccacia - Isn't this supposed to be an Antipasta?? It was almost bigger than a regular pizza. Very nicely done as well.
Pizzas - We ordered a Proscuitto e Funghi (Ham and mushroom topping). It was perfect, had a super thin crust and was a welcome break from the Domino's and Pizza Hut routine.
Pasta - Penne with Pesto. A very good combination and again, it came with a lot of Parmesan.
Dessert - This was probably the best part. The piece de resistance. Crepes with different fillings (sugar n lemon, honey, nutella) and - hold your breath - Strawberries in White Wine. The most innovative and brilliant dessert idea I’ve come across so far. The glass even has a little honey at the bottom.
I've been to Fire & Ice several times after that night and what is really remarkable is that not a single food item I’ve had there has ever disappointed me. I've introduced the place to a lot of my friends on campus and all of them are hooked on. So the next time you're in Kolkata do take the time to go. And yeah, don’t go stoned!!

And then there is Bourdain!!

Chefs. They are a peculiar species. You could call them a cross between executives and artists, creating and serving works of art (well, sometimes) and running a kitchen for a professional enterprise all at once. Let's look at some of the best in the business.
Ferran Adria - El Bulli, Spain
Gordon Ramsay - Various restaurants
Thomas Keller - French Laundry, LA
Nobu - Nobu's, various locations
Famous, talented and awe-inspiring they are, but there is one who has chosen to be radically different from all of them and has in the process created a fan following his peers could only dream of.
Womanizer, two-pack-a-day smoker, self-confessed cocaine and heroin addict, vegetarian and vegan loather. Doesn’t sound like much, does he?? Hold on, don't judge him till you've read through this post. For all you foodies out there, he's a lesson on being a foodie. Ladies n gentlemen, I give you Anthony Bourdain!!

Bourdain started out by doing odd jobs in restaurants in and around the New Jersey area. But he wasn't like any of the Michelin star chefs I mentioned at the start. He was a maverick - and still is. He wasn't in it for the Michelin stars. He wasn't in it for the fame. He had two needs - he wanted women, and he wanted drugs. Being a chef gave him both. His first big break in the business was a job at an upmarket New York restaurant called Brasserie Les Halles where he is the executive chef today.
So what makes our man so special? Well there's a twist in the tale. He's taken to traveling around the world sampling cuisine wherever he goes, writing books and making TV shows while he's at it. Now, there are other travel show hosts who do this but Bourdain is different.
Firstly, there are no five star hotels or resorts or big restaurants on his show. The man eats with regular local people wherever he goes. In Portugal, it was a friend's farmhouse, in Mexico his assistant's village and in our very own Mumbai the Khau Galli. Secondly the man will eat anything; I repeat anything that is offered to him. Wanna know some of the things he's had to eat? Here goes.
(Warning: This is not for the faint hearted)

Ant-eggs in Mexico
Cobra with beating heart in Vietnam
Sheep testicles in Morocco
Seal eyeball somewhere in Scandinavia
And finally the piece de resistance -
Warthog anus in Namibia!!

Despite all his idiosyncrasies and his maverick status, the fact remains that Bourdain is a rock star and a blessing for foodies around the world. I am definitely hooked on and even you should be - if you're a foodie that is. I leave you with a list of his books and TV shows.

Bibliography

Fiction

Bone in the Throat
Gone Bamboo
The Bobby Gold Stories

Non-Fiction

Kitchen Confidential
A Cook's Tour
Typhoid Mary: An Urban Historical
Anthony Bourdain's Les Halles Cookbook
The Nasty Bits

TV Shows

A Cook's Tour - Discovery Travel & Living
Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations - Discovery Travel & Living

A gift from Canada

Well, I had asked for a bottle of Pernod Absinthe, which my friend did get, but it was accompanied by another bottle - yes, it was maple syrup. I hadn't asked for it but my friend had come from CANADA. And that's what you get when someone comes from Canada. So I thought, you know, whatever, I’ll use it as a topping. For waffles, for vanilla ice cream, for whatever needs a topping. And that's what I did for a while.
But experimenting with ingredients is a part of me and my cooking and it was just a matter of time before the bottle of maple got a piece of the action.
I was in the kitchen on a Sunday afternoon when I saw some basil seeds in a cup and decided to make falooda. Now I had apna desi Kesar and Khus syrup for the flavoring but I decided to test the maple syrup for its use other than as a topping. The end product did pass the test as far as I was concerned and also got thumbs up from mom n dad - the guinea pigs for all my culinary experiments.
Not long after that, Mr. Maple was tested again - this time in an original recipe that I had come up with in my free time. In this one, Mr. Maple had fruits, butter, rum and his old friend Vanilla ice cream for company. And this time, he passed with flying colors, winning a place on the topmost tray of my refrigerator (a place reserved for special ingredients) in the process.
For the benefit of foodies and amateur cooks, both the recipes have been included in the post. Bonapetit!!!

****Maple Falooda****

Ingredients
Sweetened Milk - 2 glasses
Basil seeds (sabja/takmariya) - 6 tbsps
Boiled Vermicelli - 6 tbsps
Maple Syrup
Vanilla Ice cream

Preparation
Soak the basil seeds in water overnight. Take two glasses. Add 3 tbsps boiled vermicelli in each glass. Add 3 tbsps soaked basil seeds. Fill each glass with sweetened milk. Add maple syrup to taste (about 3 tbsps). Top with a scoop or two of vanilla ice cream.


****Fire & Ice****

Ingredients
Bananas - 2 nos.
Alphonso Mango - 1 no.
Litchis - 8 to 10 nos.
Castor sugar
Butter
Old Monk Rum
Maple Syrup
Vanilla Ice Cream

Preparation
Slice the bananas lengthwise. Dice the mango and deseed the litchis.
Add 2 tbsps butter to a pan on medium heat. Add the fruits to the pan and sauté for 2 minutes. Add castor sugar to taste and sauté for 5 more minutes. Add 4 tbsps of maple syrup and sauté for 2 more minutes. Flambé with Old monk Rum.
Serve in two bowls and top with Vanilla ice cream.