Life begins at the end of your Comfort Zone!

And then after all the positivity and smiles and happiness and it all,

there are some moments we may have some days when, there is this big

lump in your throat that feeds of your history or past or present

heart ache. And you know what. That's alright. Because we are human.

The trick is to understand yourself and know that even this moment

will pass, like it has passed right now to the past. And the next

moment is brand new. So drop your baggage. Move on. Life has new

things and new moments. Let go of that pain, instead of giving that

hurting part of yourself more energy and making it, what may in time

become a black hole. 

Save yourself!

The love of giving.

Volunteering is an activity intended to promote good or improve the quality of life on Earth. People also volunteer for their own skill development, to meet others, to have fun, and a variety of other reasons that could be considered self-serving. Volunteerism is the act of selflessly giving your life to something you believe free of pay.
The world today is a big cluttered jigsaw of money, power, greed and some more, greed. We as human being have forgotten our duties towards our self and most importantly our soul. The soul is not impressed by things: superficial or materialistic. It only grows with love and giving. This is not being a dreamer or an idealist. There can be a beautiful sync and balance between the two.

My personal experiences have taught me one very crucial lesson: Life is a journey. Love the journey.
Sure, its important to know where or what you are moving towards, but simultaneously have a open heart, mind and spirit. Open to Change. There is no good and bad. One is void without the other. There is no right and wrong similarly. It’s all relative. Even a criminal in the eyes of 'society' has someone back home, praying for his long life. Everything is situational and really, it all comes down to perspective.

There are often times in life when things do not go as planned. We ponder and question and bitter and batter!
But truth be told, it's really not such a big deal. However grave the matter. It’s all a cosmic balance. There are lesson to be learnt and journeys to be taken and unknown paths to be walked upon. This keeps us alive and distinctively separates the merely existing.

For me, one of the most endearing times spent within this world and with myself is whenever I have volunteered. In whatever form. Whether it is giving my seat to a weary traveller in the crowded Local trains of Mumbai, or working with sex-workers and their children to move towards a richer and more fulfilled life.
There are uncountable people around who do the same and more or less in their very own special ways. This helps keep the world alive.

Today, at work I watched the very first Volunteer Awards in India, an initiation by Apeejay Surrendra Group. The categories in this award were many. Starting from Individual to youth to corporate to Ngos. The thought behind this event deeply moved me.

People who love giving selflessly very rarely expect anything in return. They do it just for the love and passion and warm feeling it generates in their hearts, when they know they have made a difference. It's almost like soul food. Having said that, it's unexpectedly overwhelming when suddenly you are acknowledged and encouraged further for the wonderful work being doing.

It’s such a boostful re-affirmation. Watching the event on tape today was extremely heartfelt and pure. The basic essence remained humble and focused on growth towards this world we live in as a whole. It is our primary duty to respect Mother Earth and everything that lives and grows on her.
Watching the video made me feel very proudly connected to the Apeejay Surrendera Group. It was focused and encouraging to know, that there are some people around who understand this synced balance!

"Service to others is the rent you pay for your room here on Earth." - Muhammad Ali

Welcome to the world of Macarons

In the 1970s, it was Jell-O molds.

In the 1980s, it was frozen yogurt.

And for the past decade? 

Cupcakes, cupcakes, cupcakes. 

Trendy desserts have come and gone, and some foodies predict another treat is poised to be this decade's defining sweet:

Bonjour, Macaron! ♥

The Macaron cookie was born in Italy, introduced by the chef of Catherine de Medicis in 1533 at the time of her marriage to the Duc d'Orleans who became king of France in 1547 as Henry II. 

The first Macarons were simple cookies, made of almond powder, sugar and egg whites. Many towns throughout France have their own prized tale surrounding this delicacy.

Since then, French Macaron cookies have been nationally acclaimed in France and remain the best-selling cookie in pastry retail stores.

A macaron is a sweet confectionery made with egg whites, icing sugar, granulated sugar, almond powder or ground almond, and food coloring. The macaron is commonly filled with buttercream or jam filling sandwiched between two cookies. Its name is derived from an Italian word "maccarone" or "maccherone". It is meringue-based: made from a mixture of egg whites, almond flour.

They are fun and technical to make. Lots of colours and flavours and a variety of spices.

My personal favourite macarons are from  Pierre Hermé, but Laduree closely follows.

Pierre Hermé, Paris

In Switzerland the Luxemburgerli is similar to a French macaron but is said to be lighter and more airy in consistency.

A MUST-GO Pâtisserie  in Switzerland

The most fascinating thing about these little parcels of joy are the way you can play with the colours and flavours. You can combine offbeat and compatible flavours and make wondrous discoveries with textures and flavour profiles for one. Making macarons is highly therapeutic and a very spiritual journey at that for me. Everytime I make a batch, I discover a new destination in my culinary journey. Even though there are highly specialised and skill-fully trained experienced Macaron Chefs, the world has to offer, do not let the stories of hardships deter you from visiting this beautiful world of macaron making. You may not get it right the first time, but a couple of earnest tries, and you would get closer. I promise!

"Life is uncertain, eat dessert first."

Bon Appetite!
xoxo 

The carrot, the egg, and the coffee bean!

I read this earlier this year. Definitely worth a read.

A young woman went to her mother and told her about her life and how things were so hard for her. She did not know how she was going to make it and wanted to give up. She was tired of fighting and struggling.
It seemed that, as one problem was solved, a new one arose. Her mother took her to the kitchen. She filled three pots with water and placed each on a high fire. Soon the pots came to a boil. In the first, she placed carrots, in the second she placed eggs, and in the last she placed ground coffee beans.
She let them sit and boil, without saying a word. In about twenty minutes, she turned off the burners. She fished the carrots out and placed them in a bowl. She pulled the eggs out and placed them in a bowl. Then she ladled the coffee out and placed it in a bowl. Turning to her daughter, she asked, "Tell me, what do you see?"
"Carrots, eggs, and coffee," the young woman replied. The mother brought her closer and asked her to feel the carrots. She did and noted that they were soft. She then asked her to take an egg and break it. After pulling off the shell, she observed the hard-boiled egg. Finally, she asked her to sip the coffee. The daughter smiled as she tasted its rich aroma. The daughter then asked, "What does it mean, mother?"
Her mother explained that each of these objects had faced the same adversity - boiling water - but each reacted differently. The carrot went in strong, hard and unrelenting. However, after being subjected to the boiling water, it softened and became weak.
The egg had been fragile. Its thin outer shell had protected its liquid interior. But, after sitting through the boiling water, its inside became hardened! The ground coffee beans were unique, however. After they were in the boiling water, they had changed the water.
"Which are you?" the mother asked her daughter. "When adversity knocks on your door, how do you respond? Are you a carrot, an egg, or a coffee bean?" Think of this: Which am I? Am I the carrot that seems strong but, with pain and adversity, do I wilt and become soft and lose my strength? Am I the egg that starts with a malleable heart, but changes with the heat? Did I have a fluid spirit but, after a death, a breakup, or a financial hardship, does my shell look the same, but on the inside am I bitter and tough with a stiff spirit and a hardened heart? Or am I like the coffee bean? The bean actually changes the hot water, the very circumstance that brings the pain. When the water gets hot, it releases the fragrance and flavour.
If you are like the bean, when things are at their worst, you get better and change the situation around you. When the hours are the darkest and trials are their greatest, do you elevate to another level? How do you handle adversity? Are you a carrot, an egg, or a coffee bean?

Food for thought!
Bon Appetite.
xoxo

Pastry anecdotes and Frozen Desserts!

Genius, as Thomas A. Edison said, is 1 percent inspiration and 99 percent perspiration. If the idea is good but the execution is not, there goes the idea. Here, execution translates to technique. Knowing how things are done, the ingredients you will use, and the necessary equipment is key to a successful result.
It is at this point that many pastry chefs and pastry cooks can fail. The importance of execution and technique cannot be stressed enough. (Techinique Execution Techinique Execution Techinique Execution Techinique!)
The simplest things, which we take for granted, such as whipping heavy cream properly, are just as important as the most complcated tasks, like making a properly balanced ice-cream.

Personally as far as taste goes, I like to work with flavours that appeal to my tastebuds, but its important to make things you dont like to eat, because, who knows!
Personal taste is something that begins in childhood, from the first smell of your mother's cooking, and is aquired through many years, and never ends. It never should. It is a continuous process.
It should evolve and you should be open to new flaovurs, techniques, ideas and experiences.
Flavour profiles do not always have to be traditional, like chocolate, but there are some out there that are, for a lack of a better word, unusual. There is a big difference between innovation and shock value. For example calling melted ice cream "hot ice cream" (it did happen!).
It is essential to have fun whilst cooking. And its alright to make mistakes to learn and make the next one better and so on.

The following points are general guidelines that have worked for me, though they are by no means carved on stone.


Flavours first, visual appeal close behind. Keep temperature, texture andd compostion in mind.

Be aware of your enviornment and commit to using seasonal ingredients as often as possible.
Try to support local farmers as long as their produce have high quality standards. (Im a huge supporter of 'slow food')

Know the ingredients and how the interact with each other.

Always use the highest quality ingredient possible. DON'T forget that you have a tremendous responsibilty towards your customers.

Understand both Culinary and Pastry Techniques. It will give you a vaster field to play in!

A sound knowledge of technique and execution are crucial for successful results.

Bells and Snowman don't make the desserts, they only distract. Streamline your food.

Simple, clean and polished desserts are hard to achieve, but are often the best.

The less you manipulate ingredients, the better. You can always tell when too many fingers have touched your food.

Work clean, work fast and work efficient. CLEAN AS YOU GO! *A messy kitchen reflects a messy mind*

Learn from the Masters first and creat your own styles there after. Imitation is not very well reguarded. Plagerism is a crime!

Desserts are typically served at the end of a meal, and mostly people are not hungry.
Stick to smaller portions. customers should leave feeling satisfied and not stuffed and sick!

Always be willing to learn. There is always room for more knowledge. I am the first to admit that I dont know everything. If i did, why would I go on?

Keep in mind the tongue on an average can identify only three to four flavours at a time.

Respect your customers. Don't serve anything you wouldnt eat yourself.


Most importantly, have fun while cooking. When we cook our energies get transferred into our foods. Enjoy yourselves. cooking isnt Rocekt Science. It is a creative expression. Enjoy the process.



Talking about sweet nothings: I love ice-creams. Way more than chocolates!

We all love ice-cream. Infact some say our favourite flavours are almost synonymous to our personal charecteristic traits. After all, we are what we eat!

Ever wondered where this frozen piece of ecstasy comes from?

I hear, in 3000 B.C. (approximately) the Chinese made the first frozen dessert, a flavoured ice (whether it was snow with fruit juice or milk and sugar churned in a rudimentary machine that emplyed ice and salt to freeze, its unknown. There are further tales and theories that Marco Polo was responsible for taking this discovery to Europe in the 13th Century. In 1533 Catherine de Medici arrived in France, in marriage to Henry II, and brought her cadre of Italian chefs, who introduced the frozen delicacies of sorbets and ice-creams to Frnech nobility during their month long celebration. Legend has it they served a different flavour everyday!

In 1672 the English term 'ice-creams'appears in a document from the court of Charles II in England.

The first recored recipe for a sorbet appeared in Paris in the late 1600s.(ofocrse!)

The first recipe for ice cream (named " Snow of orange flowers") is recorded in a book titled 

'Nouveau Confiturier'.

Unfortunately, there is no solid evidence as to when or where man began to employ ice or freezing temperature or machines to produce frozen desserts. It is my personal opnion that the very first frozen desserts had to be flavoured snow. (seems most natural and elementary)


Some of our very favourite ice-cream leagues started close to the mid of the 1900s.

1940: Dairy Queen

1945: Baskin Robbins

1961: Häagen-Dazs

1978: Ben & Jerry's

The Basic ingredients for making Frozen desserts 

DAIRY PRODUCTS:

Milk

Heavy cream

Heavy cream is usually mixed with milk to reduce the fat content in an ice-cream or gelato base, because using only cream will produce a base with a very high fat content. Though heavy cream is used in its entirety when it comes to areated still-frozen desserts. It is one of the ingredients that is 'aerated' meaning that air is incorporated into it through whipping and it is directly responsible for the desserts' light texture and smooth mouth feel.
The other ingredients that is aerated, depending on the type of frozen dessert will be the egg (tolks, whites or both)
P.S. heavy cream needs to be very cold (ideally 4 degree celsius) to whip properly, otherwise the structure will not hold. In countries with warmer climates, one may use an ice tray on the base of the bowl, to keep the temperature low and constant.



Butter

Butter is used sporadically in some recipes mainly for flavour purposes and no so much for its contribution to the chemistry of ice cream making.

EGGS

All said about eggs, nothing is enough. What would the patiserrie world be without eggs. The thought alone is disturbing.
They are used widely from binding liquids into a moist-tender solid, to thickening sauces or custards, to emulsifying sauces and ice creams or even delaying the crystallization in ice creams due to their fat content, or as a mere coating or glazing which makes the final product so much more appealing to all our senses. And this is only the beginning.

Egg yolks are used in certain ice creams and gelatos whilst the whites are not. The whole eggs are used primarily in some varieties of still-frozen and aerated-frozen desserts, such as frozen soufflé, parfaits, semifreddos and some frozen mousses.


SUGARS
The most common sweetners used to make frozen desserts are:
Granulated or crystalline sugar
Powdered glucose
Dextrose
Invert sugar or trimoline
Honey
Lactose (found in milk)

STABILIZERS

This is the ingredient that contributes to the uniformity and consistency of a product throughout its different stages, from manufacture through its frozen storage.
Stabilizers aren't chemicals at all, they are extracted from natural sources. They help to promote air incorporation and even air bubble distribution throughout the frozen product as well as prevent the collapse of such air bubbles, which is responsible for the product's texture and mouth feel.

Some of the stabalizers used vastly are: Agar-agar, guar gum, locust bean gum, gellan gum, xanthan gum, pectin, gelatin & sodium alginate.


In the ice cream business, these are all known as “stabilizers”, and they mainly help with two things: reducing iciness, and extending shelf life.  The first time I made strawberry ice cream it came out really icy and cold because of all the extra water in the fruit.  I tried it again with a packet of powdered gelatin and it made a huge improvement.  That’s when I realized that there might be something to this stabilizer business, even in homemade ice cream.  As for the part about extending shelf life, that’s especially true when you take a pint of ice cream out of the freezer and put it back after a few minutes.  Each time it warms up a little and then re-freezes, it re-freezes at a much slower rate than when you churned it in your ice cream machine.  When you freeze it quickly, you get smaller ice crystals that taste smooth.  But when it re-freezes slowly, you get larger crystals.  Stabilizers help with that re-freezing problem also.



Guar gum comes from guar beans, which are mainly grown in India.

Locust bean gum comes from the seeds of the Carob tree, which anyone unfortunate enough to be allergic to chocolate will be familiar with, because carob is often used as a chocolate substitute (eh, sort of, anyway).  It also has a nicer-sounding name: carob bean gum.

Carrageenan comes from seaweed.  Yep, that’s right.

Xanthan gum comes from glucose or sucrose that’s been fermented with a bacteria.

Mono- and diglycerides come from either animals (cows and pigs) or vegetables (soy beans and canola oil).

Gelatin, which is found in homemade ice cream recipes more often than the ingredients above, comes from animal collagen.  I think that’s enough said on that topic

EMULSIFIERS

Emulsifiers are used to prevent the seperation of fat-in-water emulsions. Emulsifiers are molecules that are composed of a hydrophilic (water-loving) part & a lipophilic (fat-loving) part. When these molecules combine, they make it possible for water and fat droplets to become finely dispersed in each other, creating a stable emulsion. This is what gives ice-cream a smooth texture, slower melt down, and better freeze-thaw stability.
One of the most common emulsifiers is egg yolk, which makes things like mayonnaise and Hollandaise sauce possible.


Fresh fruits and vegetables, flavours, chocolates, zest, vanilla beans, nuts, herbs, spices, alcoholic beverages are some of the most common ingredients added in frozen desserts to enhance their flavours, texztures, colours and moods.
It is always STRONGLY advised to stick with all the natural produce and not artificial flavours or colouring.


Frozen Desserts can be categorised into 3 main types:

Dairy based Frozen Desserts

Icecreams, Custard based ice creams, Gelato, Sherbet & Frozen Yoghurt.

Strawberry Balsamic Ice cream

Blue Cheese & Shallot Ice cream

Candied bacon Ice cream

Carrot & Curry Ice cream

Fig & Goat Cheese Ice cream

Non-dairy Frozen Desserts

Sorbet, Frappé, Granite

Pomegranate & Mint Sorbet

Aerated Frozen Desserts

Frozen Parfait, Frozen soufflé, Frozen mousse, Semifreddo

Raspberry & Avocado Semifreddo 

Frozen Chocolate Parfait

Try this easy Vanilla Ice-cream at home:
http://www.lcbathome.com/2011/07/french-vanilla-ice-cream-ice-cream.html


"I doubt whether the world holds for any one a more soul-stirring surprise than the first adventure with ice-cream."

Have a wonderful weekend. Stock up on ice creams and lots of delish goodies. Less than a month to go for Christmas, and I still haven't decided my plans for Christmas day in sunny Maharashtra.
Anywho, see you next week. Happy therapeutic weekend cooking, and don't forget to experiment with your favourite flavours in a frozen scoop of heaven!

Bon Appetite!

xoxo 

Questions to no one, answers to all.

ITHAKA

As you set out for Ithaka

hope the voyage is a long one,

full of adventure, full of discovery.

Laistrygonians and Cyclops,

angry Poseidon-don't be afraid of them:

you'll never find things like that on your way

as long as you keep your thoughts raised high,

as long as a rare excitement

stirs your spirit and your body.

Laistrygonians and Cyclops,

wild Poseidon-you won't encounter them

unless you bring them along inside your soul,

unless your soul sets them up in front of you.

Hope the voyage is a long one.

May there be many a summer morning when,

with what pleasure, what joy,

you come into harbors seen for the first time;

may you stop at Phoenician trading stations

to buy fine things,

mother of pearl and coral, amber and ebony,

sensual perfume of every kind-

as many sensual perfumes as you can;

and may you visit many Egyptian cities

to gather stores of knowledge from their scholars.

Keep Ithaka always in your mind.

Arriving there is what you are destined for.

But do not hurry the journey at all.

Better if it lasts for years,

so you are old by the time you reach the island,

wealthy with all you have gained on the way,

not expecting Ithaka to make you rich.

Ithaka gave you the marvelous journey.

Without her you would not have set out.

She has nothing left to give you now.

And if you find her poor, Ithaka won't have fooled you.

Wise as you will have become, so full of experience,

you will have understood by then what these Ithakas mean.

- Constantine Cavafy

P.S. A recommendation from a loved one. You know who you are. Thank you! :0)

xoxo

Star Tales

Enroute Dubai. 22nd May 2011. Local time: 11.01 pm.

I'm somewhere before Dubai, above deserted lands. I can't sleep. I'm tired. Nervous. I glance out of my little seat window, at the night skies. And do you know what I see? I see a neverending, everlasting cluster of stars.

This is not just a cluster. There are clusters and clusters. New to my eyes, but familiar to my soul. I feel stronger. I feel calmer. Its like they have all come out, to love me, to inspire me.

You have to be here, to see what I'm seeing. You know, if you were watching a cartoon, or a star treck movie, its more. Much more. This is surreal. Some are brighter. Some are bright. This is what heaven must feel like. And I know now, pixie land does exist. This wonder I see in front of me. I've seen this before. My skin has been touched by these lights before, rolling down those lush meadows. Alive is what I feel.

I try to close my eyes, and open it. Stare out. Take it all in. Click a mental picture. I try to save it in the deepest cores of my soul. Capture an element for all the sereton in my body. But everytime I close my eyes to recreate the picture in my head, it's beautiful, but when I open my eyes, there are more, much more sparkles. Maybe my human logic/experiences/stories blind me from accepting that my stars and night skies are real. I can go over this in my head a thousand times. But I wonder, nothing can be this beautiful. Not because I'm a pessimist. But because I've been told, Pixie land is a fantasy land. And you know what, fantasy is reality. Sometimes seeing is not believing, but believeing is seeing. And here I am, totally unexpectedly, experiencing one of the most divine moments of my life. And am taking it all in. Writing it down simultaneously. Just for the need to share this with you, and feel you closer to me in this watch of peace.

The Milky Way, shot from the North Sea coast.

I'm flying with the stars. Shooting.

If you watched this spectacular glow tonight, you would believe fairytales came from a very real place. 

A simple love, in a very complicated life.

P.S. Musings of a very dear friend. Tara* Nirula

“Pain, loss and separation are inevitable on the path of love, and the only way of avoiding them is by deciding not to take that path at all. In order not to suffer, you have to renounce love.It was like putting out your own eyes in order not to see the bad things in life.” - Paulo Coelho (Brida)

*Tara Nirula was an exceptional young woman whose vitality lit up International Students House and her kindness touched everyone’s hearts. Tara’s life was sadly cut short but her passion for the arts can survive through the opportunity this scholarship will give to other young people. 

The Tara Nirula ISH/LCF Graduate scholarship is a combined tuition fee and residential scholarship offered to international students from India with the ability and potential to make an exceptional contribution to the worlds of art, design, communication and performance. Applications are encouraged from those who feel they will benefit from further study to realise their full potential.

http://www.arts.ac.uk/fees-funding/funding/postgraduatestudents/mafunding/thetaranirulainternationalstudentshouseish/

The Tara Nirula ISH/LCF Graduate Scholarship will be offered annually and is the product of a partnership between International Students House and London College of Fashion, one of the UK's leading institutions for fashion studies.

Her favourite food was pizza. Don't we all absolutely love 'em!

Once my oven is up and working, hopefully by the end of the week, lets do some delish crispy home-made ones. Till then, Happy mid-week cooking!

Bon Appetite!

xoxo