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Manju Malhi's 'Classic Indian Recipes'
Monday May 14th, 2012Manju's fifth book comes in a small, neat volume- rather like the author herself. As dependable as expected from such a down-to-earth voice, 'Classic Indian Recipes' is one to keep on the kitchen shelves, it's enticing photographs destined to be embellished with stains and spatters.
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Goan, Try This Grub
Tuesday May 8th, 2012Having held colonial status for nigh-on half a millenium, Goan cuisine is a melting pot in the truest sense of the word- indeed, so fiery it's in danger of burning through the toughest cooking vessel. As Gregg Wallace might phrase it, 'cooking doesn't get hotter than this'.
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The Sweet, Sweet Pleasures of Indian Mithai
Tuesday May 1st, 2012Rasgulla. Balushahi. Rajbhog. Jalebi. Gulab jamun. Halwa. Barfi. Malpua. Ladycanny. Chum chum. Kalakand. Laddoo. Imarti. Pinni. Mohanthal. Sandesh. Pera... Even the names are enough to send me into a sugar-fuelled revelry. The draw of the old fashioned 'by the quarter' sweetshops on every corner bear nothing of the lure of the Indian mithai wallah- whose counters are a haphazard rainbow at the end of which lies the ultimate pot of gold- a selection box, size large.
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Curries In A Hurry
Tuesday May 1st, 2012A particularly noxious Indian takeaway lubricated with copious amounts of cheap cooking oil and redolent with raw spices left me feeling somewhat dirty and used. Heck, they didn't even throw in a couple of poppadoms. So it was with due trepidation I took delivery of a large box of curry ready meals from Donald Russell- akin, if you will, to Superman handling a polystyrene crate of Kryptonite.
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Stories, Sea Shanties And A Wee Dram of the Surreal
Monday April 30th, 2012I've fallen down the rabbit hole. This is pure Alice in Wonderland stuff. In fact, our surly guide is called Alice- although she's less wide-eyed innocent, more mad-eyed schoolmarm. She barks a bit about Bowmore's 15 year-old 'Darkest' whisky at us, then dramatically throws open a door demanding we enter 'the chocolate room'. Yes, ma'am!
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There's A Guest Chef At Cinnamon Kitchen, What Am I Gonna Do?
Thursday April 26th, 2012I'm gonna check out that chef, that's what I'm gonna do- by heading to Cinnamon Kitchen on selected dates between now and June, when a trio of diverse chefs from across the UK will be taking on a one-night-only residency at the restaurant's tandoor grill.
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Magic Happens on the Darkest Nights with Bowmore
Friday April 20th, 2012Tired of city life and craving the rugged wilds of bonnie Scotland? Next week, purveyors of that top-drawer dram, Bowmore, will host an interactive event promising to transport guests to a galaxy far, far away... well, the island of Islay, found off the West coast and home to Bowmore's distillery.
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Java Palaver
Friday April 20th, 2012We're seated in a silk-lined 'pod' with a small group of strangers, with a piped soundtrack featuring the slippery strains of modern jazz, low lighting, and a troupe of scantily-clad burlesque dancers. A honed, toned male model draws the curtains closed behind him. The stage seems set for some wholly unwholesome nefarious behaviour.
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Holy Cow! Blessed Delicious Food & An Encounter With The Gods
Monday April 2nd, 2012The incongruous splendour of the Neasden temple rising up from a nondescript London street is a sight to behold. Consecrated in 1995, the building covers 1.5 acres and is the largest outside India. By sheer serendipity, we're here on a thoroughly auspicious day- it's the birthday of both the temple's namesake Swaminarayam, and Lord Rama. Celebration is in the air, along with the odd tantalising whiff from the mandir's Shayona restaurant just across the bustling car park.
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Macaron, And On, And On...
Thursday March 29th, 2012Macarons? Really? You sure? Been there, done that, had the sugar rush. Yet, judging by the chattering classes clamouring for the candy-coloured confections, it seems the appetite for the whimsical, bijou mouthfuls remains unsated. And, when they're so deceptively insubstantial, how could it be?
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In The Mood For Street Food
Thursday March 29th, 2012A clear blue sky, shirt sleeves and a well-poured pint of Dorset Nectar are hardly conducive to the Great Indoors. But that indeed is where I find myself, struggling to be heard by my mate over the thumping Afrobeat constrained and concentrated by the bare brick interior of Village Underground in Shoreditch.
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Happy Easter, Happy Eating With Carluccio's
Wednesday March 28th, 2012The gargantuan glass jar of mini eggs is emptying worryingly rapidly. Conveniently situated in the prime real estate just to the left of my keyboard, as an estate agent would have it, the tiny foil-wrapped ovoids are tantalisingly close- and the perfect reward for finishing an article. A paragraph. A line. Oh, let's be frank: a word.
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Cinnamon Soho- Third Restaurant for Vivek Singh
Wednesday March 21st, 2012'All Balls!' screams the menu. But it's not. In fact, it never is with Vivek Singh, whose culinary rambles from continent to continent deliver time after time. Cinnamon Soho is his shiny new venue- bringing Singh's trademark collision of Indian flavours and European sensibilities to West End diners.
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Carom at Meza
Friday March 16th, 2012We're treated like so many Shahs from the off, which is always nice. A table laden with cocktails greets us- with the appropriately-monikered Maharaja Fizz amongst their number. More often than not, 'fusion' and 'cocktail' are two words that have no business being in the same room, let alone sharing glass space. Curry leaves? Fruit chutney? You sure?
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Colourful Festive Frippery As Dishoom Celebrates Holi
Monday March 5th, 2012'Hooray, hooray, it's a Holi, holiday!'... For the uninitiated, Holi is one of India's maddest, most colourful festivals- a chance for mad March hares to fling brightly coloured powders at one another, eat copiously and brilliantly, and in general, just have a rum old time. And 'Bombay cafe' Dishoom is celebrating in style.
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Namaaste Kitchen: Goan... Give It A Try
Friday March 2nd, 2012The regional menus at Namaaste Kitchen and Salaam Namaste March on to Goa this month- and Zoe Perrett gets all fired up about the tiny state's utterly searing sensations.
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Currying Favour In Banglatown
Tuesday February 28th, 2012A new photographic exhibition brings chefs from the vibrant Brick Lane Bangladeshi community firmly into focus. Zoe Perrett samples their finest wares copiously at the private view... and learns a little about the art of juggling.
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Yo Ho Ho And A Bottle Of Whisky
Monday February 27th, 2012The jewel in Mersea Island's crown is arguably The Company Shed, the Haward family's delightfully, wilfully eccentric restaurant. Prices are low, decor is stark and the conviviality is second-to-none. Especially when pared with some rather large measures of Talisker's finest, a bracing trip on an oyster dredger and the tales of a seventh-generation oysterman.
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The Bombay Brasserie
Tuesday February 21st, 2012As Quilon's Sriram Aylur steps in to oversee the kitchen, Bombay Brasserie diners are primed to experience a little of that Michelin magic. The verdict? A bit of a Bombay mix...
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Pleasure, potted
Wednesday February 15th, 2012For a certain writer, a super-sized tub of yogurt evokes messy memories of a childhood thoroughly well spent. An ample delivery from Rachel's Organic takes her on a somewhat Proustian journey- grab a spoon and dig in.