I Don't Want Nirvana! I Want Great Food, Always! -- Part III -- Building Gastronomical Bridges

A couple of months back, Neeti visited Pali Village Cafe and came back gushing on the food and the ambience.

Since we were in Bandra last night, Neeti suggested that we go there. And I had to agree. Located in a quintessential East Indian bungalow, the Cafe has a rustic charm to it, with traditional furniture, antique lamps and bare walls! The place gave a Meditteranean "tavern-ous" look.

The fare was artisanal, with rustic breads on display. We ordered our meal and Neeti asked me "Aren't pasta, spaghetti similar to noodles we have in China?"

Indeed that's an exciting question. I replied that perhaps pasta in some form traveled with the legendary Marco Polo from China to medieval Italy.

After devouring our pasta, on the way back, I started Googling the query Neeti had posed.

There is indeed a theory that Ancient Rome did have something like the lasagne that we know of today. However, it were the Arabs, intrepid travelers and traders of the Silk Route that existed ub the Middle Ages who adapted the fresh Oriental noodles, dried them and carried them on their dhows from China to the Middle East and onwards to North Africa and then to South Europe! 

The Arabs used to stop by at Serendip (modern Sri Lanka), the Malaccas and the Malabar coast! Perhaps the noodles that originated in China inspired the Malay noodles and string hoppers (idiyappam) of the Malabar coast and modern Sri Lanka before settling in an alien land far away, in Italy!

Some believe that noodles existed in Asia much before Marco Polo’s trip to China. Archaeologists believe that central Asia is most likely the first area to have produced noodles thousands of years ago. From Asia, it traveled westward, perhaps through nomadic Arabs to Europe.

Once it reached the Mediterranean, the pasta / noodle making process was refined, and durum wheat became the ingredient of choice for pasta flour because of its high gluten content and long shelf life. When durum wheat pasta is dried, it lasts indefinitely, making it a very convenient food to store. Over time, because of pasta’s affordability, shelf life, and versatility, it became firmly rooted in Italian culture. The warm Mediterranean climate of Italy is suited to growing fresh vegetables and herbs, which meant that Italians could get creative with a delicious variety of pasta sauces.

Later, Italy became the centre of culinary innovation - tomatoes came in from the New World of the Americas, spinach and aubergines came in from North Africa. These new ingredients along with local delights like basil, olives, capers, cheeses, cured meats and wines resulted in a delectable cuisine that we call Italian! 

Is it also possible that the perishable, soft Chinese dumplings had been made since 1700 BC spawned off the concept of stuffed pasta. Today the “dumpling” style of pasta is manifested in ravioli, gnocchi and other preparations using regular wheat flour, eggs and water. 

Whether pasta is a part of Marco Polo’s legacy may be questionable, it is indeed true that gastronomical bridges between distant lands and civilisations may have existed for times immemorial, without us, modern people, knowing of them!

And talking of recent gastronomical bridges, I recently read of Sikhs who moved to California to work on farms in the late 1800s and early 1900s, who ended up marrying Mexican women because Californian laws prevented emigration of Sikh women for marriage. These Punjabi men chose Mexican women in marriage for a number of reasons. Physically, Mexican women at the time were thought to resemble Punjabis. They shared a rural way of life. Mexican women were also preferred for one important reason - their tortillas were somewhat like the makki ki roti that the Punjabis so missed in the Californian farmlands! So came about a melange of langars and chicken curry enchiladas!

Gastronomical bridges like these will continue to be built as people travel the world, we have already see that happening over the centuries, but today the pace of inter-cultural intercourse has only accelerated.
That's why one full year after I first wrote two editions of "I Don't Want Nirvana! I Want Great Food, Always!", I still believe in it, even more strongly than I ever did! 

Una Serata Italiana!

Of all 'alien' food, I enjoy Italian food the most for simplicity in cooking and richness of flavour.

It was time take out the rigatoni from the larder, which was cooked al dente for two dishes - pasta al forno and rigatoni pesto di verdure.

The pasta al forno was adapted from recipe section on David Rocco's website, with the freshest melanzana (aubergine) available downstairs.

The rigatoni pesto di verdure was my creation - onions sauteed with a few chunks of lardon to which pepper slivers were added. Then went in the rigatoni followed two tablespoons of red wine.

What an amazing evening it was - Una Serata Italiana!
Buon appetito!

Be Healthy, Be Earthy - Eat Italian!

Great food need not be complicated at all.

That's what I realised when I saw David Rocco's Dolce Vita on television that other weekend. David Rocco, a Canadian actor and producer of Italian descent, very nicely brings out the treasures that his native Italy has to offer.

On this particular show, David Rocco made an exciting, yet simple pasta - spaghetti al limone, a side dish - zucchine alla scapece and a lemony tiramisu.

That particular show left me inspired enough to rush to Lokhandwala market, the next morning, to immediately buy the ingredients. Barely able to control my excitement and anticipation that had clouded my attention span all that while, the tingle in my tummy grew intense with each passing moment till dinner time.

The spaghetti went in for a boil till done, al dente! 

Garlic cloves were pounded into a thick paste, lime juice was extracted and extra virgin olive oil was mixed in. Then lime zest was mixed in.

While my spaghetti was getting done, I shallow fried up slices of zucchini. That's when I remembered that David had mentioned that scapece can be made with aubergines as well - aubergines is the vegetable that  both Neeti and I equally and absolutely adore. So melanzane zucchine alla scapece it had to be, my variant of David Rocco's! After the zucchini slices were fried, went in the aubergines! 

By then the pasta was done. To stop the intense heat from seering through the spaghetti threads, I put in a generous 20-odd ice cubes into the spaghetti.

By then my lovely aubergines had turned marvelously golden (Man, the aroma was something!) and they too were put into the dish alongwith the fried zucchinis. I mixed in pounded garlic, mint leaves with the fried aubergines and zucchinis, sprinkled a dash of salt and then went in a tablespoon of white vinegar!

Now, the spaghetti was done - the water was drained. The spaghetti was then mixed with the garlic-olive oil-lime juice-lime zest emulsion. A vigorous mixing ensured every single strand was coated with the aromatic emulsion. A good measure of parmigiano or grated parmesan was sprinkled, alongwith freshly chopped parsley leaves.

And we were good to go, the spaghetti al limone was good to eat!

To be honest, Neeti devoured the scapece, but found the spaghetti a bit blandish - perhaps thinly sliced peppers would have given it an exciting crunch! That's a version I have to try next!

But undoubtedly, with the goodness of lime, garlic and olive oil, the spaghetti al limone and scapece made for healthy, earthy Italian dinner!

La Dolce Vita, Viva Italiano!!!!

Today, a Facebook contact posted an interesting fact on his wall. The post said "Pizza Margherita was named after Queen Margherita of Italy, by chefs of Naples to commemorate her visit to the city in 1889. Red tomatoes, white cheese and green Basil represent colors of the Italian flag."
Interesting facts like these are little known but they do give an interesting twist to whole experience of having the preparation.
Of all foods, I find Italian food the most gratifying. My first brush with Italian food was early in the 1980s, when my Mom's friend, an Italian nun, Sister Vitelina, invited us for a meal of cheese and macaroni, spaghetti and roast rabbit. That was amazing!
As years went by, off and on, Mom used to make amazing pasta in tomato sauce, typically for New Year eve dinners.
Then came in Pizzas. My first experience with the baked concoction was at the Sector 17 outlet of Hot Millions (or HMs as we used to call it) in Chandigarh!
Then Dominos came to India. My favourite was their Pepperoni Pizza - the melted globules of fat from the pepperoni gives a unique meaty taste.
In Delhi, I discovered the Slice of Italy which delivered gourmet pizzas and pastas, that was a welcome break from the mass produced Dominos crusts.
Another exciting find was Flavors, a trattoria under the Defence Colony flyover - I got the chance of visiting the place twice, once with colleagues and the next time, it was a date with Neeti. The place had an amazing artisanal pastas and hand-tossed, wood-fired pizzas! I haven't visited the trattoria for years now and would love to go there again.
In Bombay, despite all the glitz surrounding the city, attitudes towards food are defined by what the Gujjus want. That makes a lot of restaurants go vegetarian with a vengeance. Little Italy is one such trattoria - there used to be an outlet on New Link Road, where Neeti and I went a couple of times. The pizzas were crisp and flaky, the pastas and risottos had an earthy flavour. Then tragically the outlet shut shop - the half life of restaurants in Bombay is really short, you can safely blame that on artificially elevated real estate prices, which these outlets unviable. The closest Little Italy is now in Juhu, but finding time is a big issue. I lately heard about Ristorante Don Giovanni on Juhu Tara Road which is now undergoing a renovation. But hope it stays long enough - the Chef, Giovanni Federico, had been upset with the real estate prices for a long time.

I started experimenting with pizzas and pastas at home. Into the kitchen, came bottles of olive oil, pasta sauces, olives and capers, with fresh herbs - oregano and basil, from Godrej Nature's Basket.

Neeti came up with her version of tangy pizza sauce which came in very handy for rainy Monsoon dinners when the cook played truant.
The latest concoction we evolved is earthy pasta sauce - chargrilled tomatoes with herbs and spices which made for a delicious pasta.
What I like about Italian cuisine is the earthiness and healthy, crunchy vegetables. Tomatoes are rich in antioxidants, olives are rich in vitamins and healthy fats. Sadly, we have to rely on packaged olives and capers here.

There's lot more than the bastardised Italian that we know of from the likes of Dominos - it would be grave injustice to bucket all genres into one. One really needs to experience the various regional cuisines- Tuscan, Tyrolian, Veneto, Ligurian, Campanian, Puglian, etc. Artisanal stuff like lardo, South Tyrol speck make my tongue tingle with anticipation. Experiencing all this can only happen on a culinary tour of the country.

Till then I will eat my way to health and cry aloud "La Dolce Vita, Viva Italiano!!!!"