River Ferries and Mango Trees

There are experiences, and then there are experiences. Like traveling through Europe as a student. Like going to Morocco on a hastily made plan (visa rejection notwithstanding). Like trekking through an unbelievable Himalayan landscape to get to Roopkund! And then there is this.

First some background. My family belongs to Goa, both mom and dad. Usually that makes people go "Wow, that's awesome! Do you have a house there?” Unfortunately my ties to Goa are more tenuous than that. My grandparents moved to Bombay in the 1950s. In fact my mother was born and raised in Bombay. As a consequence I have no immediate family in Goa. In fact, the closest relatives there are mom's cousins and dad's. Which is why my trips to Goa are like those of any other tourist. Is there an ancestral village house to go to? Well on dad's side, it no longer exists, everything has been sold off long back. On mom's side though, the story is a bit different, and that's where it gets interesting.

Premanand Mahambare is my mother's cousin. My mother's father and his father were brothers. He lives on Chorao Island in North Goa which is mom's ancestral village. He and his wife were teachers at Dayanand High School on the island, where he was also the principal. In addition, he was also the Sarpanch of his village panchayat for 15 years. The interesting bit is that he continued to cultivate the ancestral land through all this. The rice fields were too much work so they were converted into a coconut grove more than 20 years back. But horticulture continued and in addition to the existing mango and cashew trees, Premanand mama planted several different fruit and vegetable trees over the years and made sure the orchard did not fall into decay.

A milestone was reached in early 2008 when a group of farmers on the island approached mama with the idea of forming a farmers' club to improve profitability of their agricultural activities and to have better access to government schemes. The project was called 'Chorao-Madel Farmers' Club' and was started with the support of NABARD, Central Bank of India and TERI. The first product to be sold through the club was milled red kernel rice cultivated organically by farmers on the island. It was made available at several supermarkets in North Goa under the 'Chorao Island Farmers' Club' brand. The response was phenomenal and the rice continues to be produced and marketed till date. Next came Goa's favorite variety of mangoes - the Mancurad. Chorao is famous for growing these and mama has several trees in his own orchard. In the 2010 mango season, Mancurad mangoes harvested on the island were marketed by the club under the brand 'Aamcho Chorao Mancurad' ('Aamcho' means our/ours in Konkani and the pun is obviously intended). The success of this product came as no surprise - Mancurad mangoes are very popular in Goa - and the profitability of direct marketing was a revelation. The 'Aamcho Chorao Mancurad' brand today is the flagship of the Chorao-Madel farmers club.

More products were marketed as time went by, and with the help of the supporting agencies, new techniques of organic farming were introduced to the island's farmers. The club went from strength to strength and its success was rewarded in 2010 when NABARD recognized it as 'Goa's Best Farmers' Club' for 2009-2010. Recognition of success came from beyond Goa as well with mama bagging an award from the Ministry of Agriculture in New Delhi in 2010 for his efforts with the club! He was also featured in a coffee table book published by the ministry called 'Harvest of Hope'.

I had been to Chorao a few times before, but never during the mango season. I had also never stayed there. So, while I knew how awesome the place was and how gorgeous it looked, I had never quite had the experience of a summer harvest. The time when you can pick mangoes off the trees to eat, the time when the jackfruit and cashew trees also bear fruit. So, after years of hearing about mama's exploits and even reading about it online, this summer was when I finally decided to do this. Spend three days in the ancestral village picking mangoes, roam in the orchard and generally have an awesome time.

So on a hot May afternoon, I finally got off a taxi from Goa airport at Ribandar and met Premanand Mahambare at the jetty. Chorao is an island in the Mandovi river and to get to it, one has to take the ferry. It can also be reached by road but that's a much longer route. As you approach the island, the sight of dense mangroves greets you. That's the 'Salim Ali Bird Sanctuary'. It gets a lot of migratory birds in the winter and morning boat tours are quite popular with birdwatchers! After the ferry ride, it's a 15 minute drive and we reached just in time for lunch. Smita Mahambare (my mami) is a very good cook and I ate my fill. Before I could get off the table, a plate with 4 mangoes was put in front of me. I looked at my cousins who were already smiling, then at mami. And she says, "You came to eat mangoes rite?" The plate looked like a challenge at first, but not when I dug in. These Mancurads can send any Alphonso packing! This is what they looked like.

In the evening, it was time to go pick some mangoes. This is what I came here to do after all. So me, mama and my cousin Ankita set off with these improvised contraptions. They are long bamboo poles with baskets (similar to basketball baskets) attached at the end. The orchard is pretty big and in addition to the Mancurad, there are other varieties of mango and a very long list of other trees. Let me try to summarize all that is grown on the property. I will probably leave something out, but here goes.

- Jackfruit
- Cashew
- Jamuns (don't know what they're called in English)
- Guava
- Coconut
- Breadfruit
- Lemon
- Starfruit
- Tamarind
- Kokum (that's what is used to make the Goan solkadi)
- Pepper
- Pineapple
- Banana

Picking the mangoes was fun, but it does get tiring hauling that tool after a while. Here is me doing it.

Some of the trees in the orchard are very old. One in particular stands out for being the largest and oldest on the property. It is said that when my grandfather and his brothers were growing up here, the tree was as big as it is now, which means its approximate age is 150! It has a fallen branch and still produces huge quantities of mango every year. Here's me and my cousin Ankita with 'Big Daddy'.

After an hour's work in the orchard, here is what we managed. Mouth-watering?

The reason why these are so good is that cultivation is as organic as possible. While some fertilizer is definitely used, no artificial insecticide is sprayed on the fruit. Instead, pheromone traps are used to get rid of the fruit flies. No other bullshit like ripening agent or coloring agent is used either. The ripening process is totally natural. So none of the artificial/chemical taste one gets from mangoes bought in city markets these days.

The mangoes, once picked, are stored in the attic on the top floor of the house, and once ripe enough, are packed in boxes bearing the farmers' club brand name and shipped off for sale.

The evening was spent in the open space at the back of the house, devouring some of the 'harvest'. In addition to the mangoes, we had also picked some cashews and one of the locals helped bring down a couple of jackfruits (these are heavy and it's quite a task).

Let me stop here for some well-deserved praise for the quality of the produce. Chorao is, even in this day and age, a fairly isolated location. Being an island, it has remained protected, not from every development (there are all the comforts of banks, ATMs, electricity, paved roads and even internet) but from industrialization and heavy vehicular traffic at least. That has kept pollution of the air, water and soil away. Add to this the years of hard work that people like Premanand mama and other farmers on the island have put in and the organic farming techniques. No surprise then, that every piece of fruit that I dug into was fit for a regal dining table.

The next day saw some guests from the other side of mama's family and they are very fond of what we call jamuns (not sure what the English word is for that). So off we went into the orchard again. The jamuns are picked in a different way. The trees are pretty tall and the fruits grow high up in the branches. A long bamboo pole with a hook is latched to a branch and you then give it a vigorous shake. And then it just rains jamuns!! Picking the fallen jamuns from the ground is less than fun, with the red ants crawling on one's hands and feet. But when this is what you've got to show for it, who's complaining?

Over the next two days, I basically struggled to keep track of how much of the produce from the orchard ended up in my plate and in what form. The breadfruit from the tree outside the balcony was used to make chips that were served at lunch. The seeds from the jackfruit we devoured appeared in a curry. Juice from the cashew fruit called 'neera' (this is later fermented and distilled to get feni) came in a big bottle one evening. And the list goes on.

Three days are not enough to be able to fully absorb all the sights and sounds and tastes of a place like this. I tried to experience as much of it as I could. And I have splendid memories and a really awesome Instagram album to show for it. Not to mention the box of Mancurad mangoes that I brought back and am still enjoying!

This post would not be complete without thanking the people who made this trip memorable by being such great hosts. Mama and his family made this an unforgettable experience and it's all down to their enthusiasm - in the middle of entertaining several other guests and right in the middle of mango season and all the business of it. Here they are!

Clockwise from top left - Premanand Mahambare (uncle), Aditi Prabhu (cousin), Pramila Mahambare (grand aunt), Smita Mahambare (aunt), Ankita Mahambare (cousin) and yours truly.

Thank you so much!!

p.s. For more information on the farmers' club and to order their mangoes (they deliver only within Goa), visit http://www.thechoraofarmers.com

Anything for a good meal

No surprises in the title there. My well documented 'journeys' in search of good stuff to eat - crossing the length of Italy for a Pizza, a trip to Delhi just for the food - have already established it. However, there has been another instance of going to great - some would say unreasonable - lengths to get what promised to be a great lunch, and it hasn't been put on this blog yet.

So, in March last year, a colleague came up with the idea of going to Kuala Lumpur for the Malaysian grand prix. It was a last minute plan but apparently there were great package deals (flight tickets + F1 tickets + accomodation) on offer. Now, I'm not a big F1 fan, and there's an Indian Grand Prix now as well. But when I heard Kuala Lumpur, reason promptly made way for temptation. It was gonna be 3 days in KL and my thoughts went straight to - not surprisingly -  all that I could eat there. So I was game and we convinced another colleague to come along. The plan was on.

The first season of No Reservations had an episode in Malaysia in which Anthony Bourdain spends a few days in KL before heading off to Borneo. A hawker centre, Torpedo Soup (won't elaborate, check it online) at a Mamak stall and Steamed Fish Head at a hole-in-the-wall Chinese joint in KL's industrial neighbourhood is what was covered. I wanted to try all of these things and more - and I did - but the Steamed Fish Head is what caught my attention the most. A hole in the wall in the back of beyond, that serves an exotic speciality to regulars, most of whom belong to the local Chinese community? You can't go too wrong with that.

The first day in KL turned out to be quite hectic. Window shopping in Bukit Bintang, dragging my colleagues for a kilometre to eat Vietnamese, and partying the night away at Asian Heritage Row. The fish head would have to wait till tomorrow.

Waking up with a hangover did not help. Moreover, my colleagues were smart and slipped out to go shop at Mid Valley Megamall....there goes the iPhone with the GPS. Thankfully I had a Google map printout of the locality. By the time I took a shower and was ready to go, it was already past noon. The fact that this place is located in what I would call 'The Mira Road of Kuala Lumpur' also did not help. But mass transit came to the rescue and it was one monorail and one LRT ride before I reached the station at Chan Sow Lin. And this is where the fun part begins.

The map was not what I would call self explanatory and the road outside the station was near-deserted. So on the road parallel to the LRT line, I started walking in hopes of soon finding someone, who would help with directions. That took more time than I thought it would, and when I finally reached a bus stop, the few people there either did not speak much English or had no idea where this goddamn 'Fish Head Stall' was. Worse still, I couldn't locate any of the diagonal roads or bylanes from the map after 15 mins of walking in the oppressive KL heat (and humidity). I finally found a guy in a car repair shop who spoke enough English and said he thought I had walked in the wrong direction from the station - Wow!!

So what basically lay ahead was a 10 minute walk back to the staion, and 10-15 minutes in the other direction, not knowing for sure if I would find the place. Well, "so be it" I said and started marching. Thankfully, post Chan Sow Lin station, I began to realize that the car repair guy was right after all. I had walked in the opposite direction initially coz now, the road signs started matching with the map. Finally, almost 30 minutes after I got off the LRT, I finally turned into the lane off the main street that led to my destination.

 But the fun does not stop here. This was a grid of bylanes and the fish head stall was on the peculiarly named Jalan 2/89 C. Asking for this location in an industrial hell-hole full of welding shops where everyone seemed to be Chinese?? After a few attempts at pointing on the map and sign language, I gave up. Couldn't really turn back after all this effort, so i kept walking and finally found a sign that said 'Jalan 2/89 C'. Bless the KL authorities that put signboards for the smallest of bylanes! I turned into the lane and there it was.

In addition to the steamed fish head, I wanted to try the Stewed Chicken Feet as well. But when I asked for it, "Ovaa!!" is the response I got. So i settled for the Boiled Choy Sum Vegetables with Oyster Sauce and of course the fish head. The fish head comes in two varieties, the lighter ginger garlic sauce or the darker soy and oyster sauce. I picked the latter with a bowl of sticky rice.

The vegetable thing was quite bland and I could only gulp a few morsels while waiting impatiently for the fish.

The Steamed Fish Head however, was another story. A giant carp head (more than the head actually) steamed and drenched in soy and oyster sauce combination along with ginger, garlic and bird's eye chillies. And it looked like this.

It was more like the upper half of a gigantic carp. But it was really good. And I was really hungry. It went really well with the sticky rice. There was coke to wash it down. Yes, I finished the whole damn thing, and loved every bit of it. Finishing off the last bit of that salty/pungent sauce and scraping the leftover flesh off the skeletal remains of the carp was a pleasure that reminded me of Sunday lunches at Grandma's and the effort it took to get to Chong Yen Steamed Fish Head Stall was all but forgotten.

Dragging myself back to Chan Sow Lin station was less than fun, given the overeating and the heat and humidity. All I could do after I got back to the hotel was hit the sack.

Moral of the Story - If a place makes you work hard to get there, it's almost always worth it!.
If you ever find yourself in KL, check the place out.

Chong Yen Steamed Fish Head Food Stall
No. 22-24, Jalan 2/89C
Off Jalan Chan Sow Lin 4
55200 Kuala Lumpur

Plan ke Mutabik

The Himalayas have managed to find a permanent place in my heart and mind in the last two years. I have done two treks in the Garhwal Himalayas - The Valley of Flowers trek in July 2010 and Roopkund in September this year. These Himalayan odysseys have ensured that Uttarakhand and it's hills always remain at the back of my mind and that I return periodically. Even when a trek is not possible and I have only a few days to spare on a trip up north, I always try to fit Rishikesh and some nearby Shiva temple in the itinerary.

While the landscape, trekking opportunities and the associated folklore of Garhwal and Kumaon are unmatched, the same cannot be said about the food of the region. While I have never been disappointed with what I have eaten here - the dhabas are as good as anywhere else - the food tends to be the very simple and home-cooked type. Specialities that draw you to other parts of the country - like the Lucknowi kebabs or the Rajasthani Laal Maas - are not to be found here. Or at least I am yet to find one. No wonder then that the state of Uttarakhand has not been featured on this blog so far, despite my repeated visits/sojourns/excursions.

This year's trek to Roopkund was no exception. While the cook on the trek did an excellent job - he even made gulab jamuns in a trekkers hut at at altitude of almost 4000m!! - there was no food experience I could really blog about. There was one sight however, that set my mind racing and led to the 'plan' in the title. It's a peculiar one, I must admit and I don't know if anyone has ever thought of it or done it before. But if I manage to pull it off, it will be quite a coup.

Of the many and varied picture-perfect sights that the Himalayas have to offer, the Bugyal is one of particular touristic interest. Bugyals are vast alpine meadows located at altitudes greater than 3000 meters in Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh, where they are more commonly known as 'Thatch'. Bugyals are popular as camping sites during treks, but some are so picturesque that they end up being trekking destinations in themselves.

There are two such Bugyals on the Roopkund trekking route - the more picturesque Ali Bugyal and the more culturally significant Bedni Bugyal. Apart from being camping sites, they are also important pastures and are used for grazing sheep and cattle by the local shepherds. While passing through these meadows, you are sure to come across large flocks of sheep guarded by shepherd dogs. And this is where the idea hit me!

While I have been eating mutton since childhood at home and in restaurants and have also written about it on this blog, how much of it has been organic? The meat we eat in the city, probably comes from an animal raised in filthy conditions in some tiny enclosure it shares with tens of its kind. What they feed it you probably don't wanna know! Now compare that to the sheep grazing here in Ali/Bedni Bugyal. They lead far happier lives in a pollution-free part of the world, eat what is probably the best grass there is to find in unbelievably beautiful high-altitude meadows. Can you imagine what their meat will taste like? Maybe this picture will add weight to what I'm saying.

You know what? have a closer look!!

Now that I have made my point loud and clear, here's the plan. The shepherds take their flocks grazing in the meadows during the May to September season and spend the rest of the year in the villages at lower altitudes. So here is what we do.

Find a shepherd in Lohajang (base for the Roopkund trek) and strike a deal to buy one of his sheep.
Find a butcher to slaughter the sheep and do the gutting and initial preparation.
Book a suitable cottage in Almora with working kitchen and supplies.
Get the meat back from Lohajang and start cooking!! Kebabs, Raan, Mutton curry, Bheja Masala, Kaleji fry, Biryani...the works!! Even with a small sheep and a large group, it's three to four days of fabulous eating.

Sounds like a plan doesn't it? So, who's in?

Arigato Gozaimasu!!

Japanese restaurants in India rarely go beyond the usual Sushi and the Teppanyaki counter.The few that do cost a bomb. This did not bother me much, till exposure to travel television brought with it greater knowledge of Japanese cuisine. The Yatai stalls of Fukuoka grilling Yakitori skewers, the Ramen alley of Sapporo, and the precision of Soba cooks jumped out of the telly and went straight for my belly. Needless to say, Japanese cuisine was the next object of my wasteful use of high-speed internet at the workplace.

One aspect of the Japanese food scene that particularly caught my attention was the Izakaya. These are places where the Japanese get together for after-work drinks and they also serve some great food, mostly grilled stuff like Yakitori and Gyoza. A google search on the word 'Izakaya' threw up a surprise result. A Japanese restaurant in Delhi apparently went by the name. The website was still under construction, so on it was to 'burrp' and 'zomato'. The reviews were great and the place seemed authentic enough without being a rip-off a la Wasabi.

Trips to Delhi keep happening for some reason or the other - weddings, stopovers on trips to the north or just to eat (yes, that too has happened). Well, there are no prizes for guessing what I went to Delhi for in the last week of October 2011. And no, it wasn't the first Indian Grand Prix. It was the other thing, and that's all there is to say about that. Anyway, the day after the 'fiasco', it was time to salvage the trip with some (hopefully) great Japanese food. That plan almost got canned, thanks to an unusually long time spent at a spa (not me) and getting lost (twice) on the way to Vasant Kunj (again, not me).

3.30 pm is usually past closing time for most restaurants, but Izakaya was cool enough to make an exception for us. For that and the 'Irasshaimase' that greeted us at the entrance, I was already liking the place. The red and black interiors have a part-tradtional Japanese and part-conventional seating and the well stocked bar is also quite visible. I generally don't like restaurants in malls and thankfully, the decor at Izakaya does its best to take the being-in-a-mall feeling away.

Yakitori is what I wanted to start with and unlike other places which just served grilled chicken cubes dipped in tare sauce, at Izakaya there is variety. We went for Yakitori Hatsu, which is chicken heart yakitori. Liver, skin, chicken leg and chicken meatball were the other types. The pieces were tiny but the grilling and tare marination was perfect. And to top it, the waiter got a spice mix to season the Yakitori. As if the tare sauce wasn't enough.

Sushi came next and here too, Izakaya comes out all guns blazing. Maguro (Tuna), Tempura and Sake (Salmon) are the common varieties of Maki Sushi available at most Japanese restaurants. Izakaya offers more choice and we went for the Unagi (Eel) Maki. Nigiri Sushi was not on the menu, but on asking, the waiter said it could be prepared on request. We were mighty pleased with the Maki and so we got ourselves some Salmon Nigiri. Neat job with both the Maki and the Nigiri and it's worth a mention that the waiter was of great help in explaining the mixing of the wasabi and the soy sauce for taste to us novices.

To wrap up the meal we ordered Yaki Gyoza (fried meat dumplings) and Yaki Udon (stir fried wheat noodles).While the Yakitori and the Sushi were the stars of the meal, Izakaya managed to not disappoint with what came after.What deserves a special mention is the service at Izakaya. Ambience and service are two things I don't give much thought to, in my mind they're mostly hygiene factors. But the waiter at Izakaya has to get a 10/10 for his troubles during our time there. Not only was he prompt with suggestions from the menu and off it, he also helped out with seasonings and side dishes we were totally unfamiliar with.

Kudos to Izakaya for raising the bar as far as Japanese cuisine in India is concerned. Several new places have opened since then and how long it takes to top this one remains to be seen!

The website still doesn't say much but here it is: http://www.izakayaindia.com/
For menu (incomplete) ratings and reviews: http://www.zomato.com/ncr/restaurants/south-delhi/vasant-kunj/izakaya-2885

All good things...

They have to come to an end. And so did my London eating spree. It’s a shame that it's taken me a year to complete this series. As far as being lazy and the eternal procrastinator is concerned, I stand guilty as charged! There's another series of posts coming up about my trip to Kuala Lumpur in March this year and the pledge to complete those by September is my get-out-of-jail card...:)

It was an eventful trip to say the least. From postponing tickets after the London riots erupted to seeing Plan B and Artic Monkeys live at the V Festival.  From being stranded at Dubai airport due to a delay in the connecting flight and landing in London at an odd hour to being questioned by the immigration folks for what seemed like an hour. Cycling in Hyde Park and chucking Madame Tussauds to go visit the god-awesome British Music Experience museum at the O2 in Greenwich.

Food-wise, the aim of the trip was to try one cuisine from each of the six continents in an authentic restaurant. Sounds pretty easy to do in London rite? Well, if there's one thing I've learned from all this traveling in recent years, it's that you can’t do all the things that you thought of when you planned the trip. Some things are dropped coz your travel buddies are not on board, some are logistically difficult, some don’t fit into your budget and so on. I think it’s obvious by now that I didn't manage to complete the 'circumnavigation' that I'd set out for. So let's just focus on an awesome meal that marked the end of the 'voyage'.

It was my last evening in London - a Sunday - and six of us were wondering how to spend it. I was of course thinking of dinner plans i.e. what cuisine and which restaurant. The choice was between Ethiopian and Ecuadorian and both options sounded equally tempting to me as well as the other five. However, we finally settled on Ethiopian since the restaurant in question seemed easier to get to.

 Addis Ethiopian Restaurant is located conveniently near the King's Cross-St Pancras metro station in central London. It claims to serve authentic Ethiopian cuisine in an authentic setting and even has Ethiopian beers and wine on its menu. To its credit, it seems to be run by Ethiopian immigrants and draws a sizable Ethiopian and East African clientele.

The concept of a 'starter' is absent in traditional Ethiopian meals. However Addis restaurant has made an exception keeping non-Ethiopian patrons in mind. We got ourselves some sardines stuffed with herbs and spices. They were fresh and well-seasoned, a good start to the meal.

An ever-present feature in any Ethiopian dinner - one that literally holds the meal together - is the traditional bread called Injera. It is made from fermented flour of a grain called 'teff' and is somewhat similar to a Neer Dosa but slightly sour in taste. All the food is actually served on top of the Injera and is eaten like the Roti/Naan/Neer Dosa is with the curry. The best thing about this style of serving is that the porous Injera soaks up the flavors of the curries. By the time you work your way to those parts of the Injera on which the curries are served, you're left with the best part of the meal.

The Injera was undoubtedly the star of the meal, but the curries and stews were not bad either. We ordered Tibs Firfir, which is cubes of lamb meat fried with onions and spices, Kitfo- minced beef prepared with Ethiopian butter, Doro Wot - Chicken cooked in a spicy pepper sauce and a vegetable curry. All of this was pretty good and ended up looking like this.

We had three Germans in a group of six and I was initially skeptical of their enthusiasm. Ethiopian food is known to be heavy on the spice, a bit much for the bland European palate. Would the Germans regret this?
Well not only did they like the food, when we desis started feeling stuffed, they brought on their A-game and polished the grub off to the last piece of Injera!

Ethiopia is known for its coffee and most Ethiopian restaurants have an elaborate coffee ceremony which is an absolute can't miss. Addis restaurant is no exception and the ceremony began with freshly roasted coffee beans being brought to our table, so we could first take in the aroma. The beans were then ground and brewed and served in a pot and small cups made of black ceramic. The coffee was good and the elaborate ceremony made it especially worthwhile.

For a value-for-money, authentic Ethiopian dining experience in London with the added bonus of a flamboyant coffee ceremony, look no further than Addis Ethiopian restaurant. For further details, here's their website...http://www.addisrestaurant.co.uk/

Garden of Eden

Outdoor food markets around the world are known as some of the best places to eat local food. Not surprising, considering the availability of fresh ingredients. No wonder then, that every food-related show worth its name usually features a local food market in each episode. Tsukiji fish market in Tokyo and Rue Montergueil in Paris are notable examples.

But when it comes to a megacity like London, the definition of 'local' must be revisited. With almost every nationality represented adequately, there are markets in London with strong representation from various immigrant communities. Brixton with its Caribbean flavor and Brick Lane in the middle of Bengali territory are two of them. There is one market however, that brings artisanal food products - mostly organic - from all over the world and combines it with restaurants and food stalls right in the heart of London.

Borough market has been in existence since as far back as the 11th century, though the present location (across the street from the London Bridge tube station - Borough High Street exit) has been in use since the 13th century. What started originally as a gathering of traders selling grain, fish, vegetables and livestock, today serves as a venue for innovative restaurateurs and producers of artisanal foods to showcase their products. It is also a haven for all those people who care for good food and great ingredients - chefs, restaurateurs, passionate amateur cooks or just people who love to eat and drink! And as far as the vendors are concerned, it’s a diverse group of remarkable individuals from all over the UK, Europe and the rest of the world.

I don't remember when and where I first became aware of its existence, but I soon stumbled upon Borough Market's website and not surprisingly, it didn't take long for the YouTube/Wikipedia style browsing to begin. All vendors and restaurants are listed on Borough Market's website and most of them have their own websites as well. What's more, the timing of the find was just right, as I was to visit London in less than a month. Browsing the Borough Market website was like finding oneself in a toy-store as a child. The sheer variety of products on offer, especially in cured meats section meant that planning a visit became a daunting task. Moreover, the market is primarily wholesale and the retail sections are open on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays only. Nevertheless, Borough market had been ticked as a must-visit during my time in London.

Thankfully, Borough Market is not difficult to find. The London Bridge station is on the Jubilee and Northern lines of the London Underground and one of the gates to the market is bang opposite the Borough High Street exit of the station. The market is divided into three broad sections - Jubilee Market, Green Market and the Middle Row. While some traders are open for business on all three days, some set up shop only on Thursday/Friday/Saturday.

My first stop was one of the most popular shops in the entire market. Brindisa was started in 1988 to bring high quality Spanish ingredients to the UK. Today it stocks the best Iberico ham, Manchego cheese and a wide variety of sausages and other cured meats made in Spain. They also have Tapas bars at three locations in London. I was here for their chorizo sandwich, which is served at a small stall right outside the main shop. It's served in sliced Ciabatta bread, stuffed with grilled chorizo from the shop, sweet Piquillo pepper and crisp rocket leaves...brilliance in simplicity...nuff said! While I was there, I also went into the shop and bought some Manchego cheese. Brindisa has a very wide range of artisanal Spanish food products and a killer chorizo sandwich! To find out more, visit http://www.brindisa.com/.

Next up was a small shop called Hobbs Meat Roast that serves fresh baguettes with a variety of fillings.  These are quite popular and the shop regularly draws long queues for lunch. I went for the roast loin of pork with stuffing and apple sauce, which was pretty good. Other fillings include turkey breast with stuffing and cranberry sauce and salt beef with dill pickle and mustard.
http://www.boroughmarket.org.uk/page/hobbs-meat-roast-2.

I wanted to pick up some cured meat to go with the Manchego cheese and found a great stall in Jubilee Market. This one sold sausages from southern Italy and I picked a great-tasting sausage made from wild boars indigenous to the region. Unfortunately, I don't remember the name of the stall.

Last stop on Thursday was a shop in the middle row called Mrs. King's Pork Pies. The pies are made with fresh pork and jelly stuffed in pastry. I was stuffed by now and had to get these packed. They are to be had cold (the jelly melts if you heat them) and were pretty good.
http://www.boroughmarket.org.uk/page/mrs-kings-pork-pies-2

An hour spent in Borough Market and there was a lot left to try/buy/eat. So I came back there with my friends on Saturday. There was one stall I really didn't want to miss and it operates in the Jubilee Market only on Saturdays. De Calabria offers a variety of products from the Italian region of Calabria, located at the southern tip of the peninsula. Two notable products at the stall are Soppressata - the region's most popular salami - and N'duja - a heavily spiced spreadable salami made from pig's cheeks, lard and belly. The soppressata was out of stock, but the N'duja tasted fabulous and I got some packed to get back home.
http://www.decalabria.co.uk/

Another Saturday-only stall at the market is Rainha Santa Portuguese Foods. They source their products from the Alentejo region of Portugal and the list is truly impressive. From marmalades and preserves to honey to cured meats and cheese, these guys do it all and it all comes from a single estate. I wanted Serra da Estrela cheese which was out of stock, so I ended up buying their chourico, which I got back home.
http://www.rainhasanta.co.uk/

Two visits to the Borough Market and I couldn't even scratch the surface. The number of stalls and sheer variety of products on offer made it impossible to cover it in greater detail given the shortage of time. So, if any of you are headed to London anytime soon, I'll have a list ready...:)
Till then feast your eyes here....http://www.boroughmarket.org.uk/

Nam Veteran??

London is well and truly one of the world's biggest melting pots. Britain's colonial legacy and London's constant rise as a global business and financial centre means that each and every one of the world's nationalities are probably represented here in good number. Get on the tube here and you'll know. You'll see South Asians and Latinos. You'll hear Russian and Chinese being spoken. And you'll think the white guy in the suit is a brit till he whips out a copy of La Gazzetta dello Sport!

All this diversity guarantees one thing - you can find good quality authentic cuisine from almost any country in London. Filipino, Somali, Ecuadorian...you name it and London's got it! Obviously, the possibility of trying cuisines that would take decades (or more) to appear on the menus at restaurants in India got me very excited. Being spoilt for choice isn't always a good thing though. At last count, there were more than 190 countries in the world. Assuming that at least half of them make their presence felt in London's culinary scene, two weeks is too short to even scratch the surface.

The solution was simply broadening the categories from countries to continents. Only six of them (unless you count Antarctica) and now the task looked easier. One cuisine from each of the six continents had to be sampled in my two weeks in London. Target finalized, it was time for planning. This meant that in the weeks before my trip, I spent hours in office trying to pick a cuisine from each continent and then searching London-centric food-related websites for highly rated restaurants. The list was ready and I was raring to go. Now, whether I was entirely successful in this endeavor, is something we'll leave for later.

Like I said, I was looking for cuisines not easily available in restaurants in India. Within Asia, that would be Vietnamese. Anthony Bourdain has done several Vietnam episodes, Andrew Zimmern has been there for Bizarre Foods and so have most food and travel shows. All that television coverage got me intrigued. The cuisine seemed like a collision of influences from China, the rest of South East Asia and France, which makes it unique in the region. Moreover, there aren't many Vietnamese restaurants in India, only a few unimpressive Vietnamese dishes on menus in 'Pan-Asian' restaurants. 

The restaurant I had found online was simply called 'Pho' and was actually a London-based chain with 6 branches across the city. But my friend Anu suggested a stand alone place called Cay Tre in Old Street.  The place had good reviews and when we got there at 8 pm, it was full and we would have to wait for 30 minutes. Also, the staff and a lot of the patrons seemed to be Vietnamese. The signs were good.

So, after a few beers at the pub across the street, we finally got our table and I couldn't wait to get started. My previous experience of Vietnamese cuisine consisted of mediocre summer rolls and disappointing Pho at the aforementioned 'Pan-Asian' restaurants. I had high expectations from Vietnamese food and I had a feeling that this dinner would really raise the bar as far as oriental food was concerned. I was right. This turned out to be an epic meal in which we devoured four of the classics of Vietnamese cuisine. Certainly the best meal in London and one of the best restaurant experiences ever. Now that that's out of the way, let's go through each dish in detail.

First up, we had the summer rolls, called Goi Cuon in Vietnamese. These are spring rolls that are neither steamed nor fried. They are rolled in soaked rice paper and filled with shrimp, lettuce, bean sprouts and rice noodles. Served with a mixture of fish sauce, lime, sugar and garlic called nuoc cham and hoisin sauce, it has a guaranteed presence on the menu at any Vietnamese restaurants. The ones at Cay Tre were fat, tightly rolled and a far cry from the mediocre imitations found in restaurants back home. Forgot to take a picture though.

Next came a salad of raw mango and dried squid. Unlike the other stuff we ordered, this is not a well-known classic of Vietnamese cuisine. I have grown up eating dried fish, but had never tasted dried squid. The dressing of lemon, sugar and fish sauce made this order worthwhile and the rice wafers on the side was a nice touch.

After the salad, it was time for another classic. Banh Xeo are Vietnamese crepes made from turmeric flavored rice-flour batter. The filling consists of chicken, shrimp and bean sprouts. This is one dish that represents the uniqueness of Vietnamese cuisine more than any other. Firstly, the crepe is a French import, but this version is nothing like the Galettes and Crepe Suzettes of Paris. The rice-flour batter makes the texture different and turmeric seasoning and the filling are anything but French. And it's eaten differently as well. A piece of the crepe is sliced off, then wrapped in the accompanying lettuce leaves, dipped in some nuoc cham before being chowed down. This is what it looks like.

Pho (pronounced 'fuh') is called the national dish of Vietnam - and not without reason. It's the first thing that comes to mind when ones thinks of Vietnamese food. It has been made popular throughout the western world by Vietnamese restaurants on whose menus it's sure to be present. It is a soup that consists of a broth made from meat, bones and bone marrow which is poured over meat (usually beef) and noodles and seasoned with lemon, chillies, mint and fish sauce. Before this meal, the Pho I had tried in restaurants back home had been disappointing. Not surprising, because making a good Pho requires painstaking effort, and a broth that must be simmered for hours. Fortunately we were in a Vietnamese-run restaurant. These guys got it just right. Have a look at the big bowl of Pho and my friend Anu looking suitably happy with it.

The last course was something I had tried to make at home and failed miserably. Ca Kho To is Mekong Catfish caramelised in anchovy fish sauce and simmered in a clay pot. The presentation is flamboyant and the clay pot was even flamed from below at table side. As for the taste, the caramelised sugar and the salty fish sauce work perfectly together and this whole thing was great with sticky rice.

Exotic cuisine in an authentic restaurant one of the experiences I looked forward to in London. Cay Tre Vietnamese restaurant fulfilled and exceeded my expectations. Check it out at http://www.vietnamesekitchen.co.uk/caytre/ and if you find yourself in London, be sure to drop in for a great meal.