BEST FOOD EVER !!!

I have a theory I would like to test out. Think of the best 'anything' you've ever had. It could be - the 'best' black forest cake, the 'best' tandoori chicken, the 'best' karela (bitter gourd) curry or the best silken tofu (yucks!!) you've ever tasted. Got that 'anything' in mind? Now try and remember the time when you had that 'best' 'anything' and recollect the situation under which tasted it. Who was with you, how was the weather, what had you done before that, when was the last time you had that 'anything' - All such things. You will realize that there were many other memorable things from that experience which all contributed to making that 'anything' the best 'anything' you ever had.
Case in point - a few years ago I had the opportunity to travel to Waldorf in Bundesrepublik Deutschland - the land of automobiles, autobahns and oktoberfests. Being one of my first visits outside India for a extended period, after a few weeks I started getting homesick. And I can't say the boiled / baked / fried / mashed potatoes and the cold meats helped the situation. With this background, over one of the weekends a few of my work friends and I decided to take a roadtrip to Munich which was about 550 kms south of Waldorf . So there we were 4 guys with no experience of driving on an autobahn, in the snow, in Germany taking a 550 kms trip. Safe to say we made it without getting anyone bodily injured.
Having reached the Munich in one peice and in good spirits, we decided to head off to Hofbrauhaus am Platzl - the place we were directed by well-meaning, jolly hearted locals to taste the best beer in Munich / Germany. The setting could not have been more rustic - picnic benches and tables, plates full of food and strangers rubbing shoulders over the flowing cold brew served by spirited Bavarian women in their traditional costumes. And the brass band was playing in full flow and everyone was singing in unison. The atmosphere was so infectious that even thought the song was in german, we felt we should sing along. And then there was the the Weissbier - smooth, sweet, smokey, truly a masterpiece. Those two mugs of beer I had there were surely among the best BEER I have ever had. But it was the whole experience of being in a new place, with friends and friendly strangers and a road trip which made the experience truly worth remembering as the BEST BEER I EVER HAD.
The point I am trying to make is food and drink in itself is only a part of the experience. Its the totality of the experience that makes it so unique, so amazing, so memorable. And all that is then attributed wrongly, thought without malaise or mal-intent, to the food itself. The joy of tasting that truly delectable 'anything' is a combination of the 'anything' itself, the time, the place, the company and the circumstances under which one experiences the moment. That how you get the 'Best' food you have ever eaten.

American Chow I - Buffalo Wingsssss

Love them or hate them - but can't ignore them. That's the story with Chicken Wings in most parts of the US. This snack is mostly known as 'buffalo wings' - and yes I am about to answer your question. As any god fearing, peace loving, Indian I too wondered why is this name - 'Buffalo' - does it have buffalo meat? Does the reddish sauce have buffalo blood? Yikes !!! Not that I mind - I'd eat anything as long as it does not crawl down my throat. People who have qualms about eating cakes with eggs but not boiled eggs, eggs but not chicken, chicken but not red meat ... 'Hypocrites' - I tell you. My philosophy is simple - 'Cook it and i'll eat it' (Sushi being an exception - that I love just the way the Japs made it).
Bottom line - I dont discriminate between animals which are cooked. I eat - indiscriminately.

Back to wings - So whilst I was on one of my eating binges I asked the waitress with a smirk on my face - So why's this called 'Buffalo' wings - does it have buffalo meat. She gave me a 'blonde'- look pat came a reply - what's a Buffalo? So another revelation - Americans dont know what buffalos are.

Anyway - Google to the rescue (as always). It turns out - this snack was 'invented' in a place called Anchor Bar in Buffalo, NY and hence the name. Ahhhhhh - Unagi, I was aware!!!!

So while in the US I have had wings almost every week -come on I mean - Deep fried meaty goodness with some tangy, spicy sauce - what's there not to like. In the mid west - its practically there on every menu along with ribs (I suspect there's a law which warrants it :).

So for the greater good of mankind, I have been since eating wings as and when I find them on the menu, looking for the best of the best. My journey has taken me from the wings @ fast food chains (yucks) to speciality joints like Dave's. One chain and its sauces deserve special mention here - Buffalo Wild Wings (not too much ingenuity with the names eh ??). Their Mango Habenaro sause wings really make you go yippieeeee!! Finally I needed to go to the place where it all began ... Anchor Bar @ Buffalo, NY.

So very much against sane judgement and many reviews warning me that Anchor Bar was too touristy to serve anything worth eating, I dragged my wife to this 'historic' watering hole while on a trip to Niagara Falls. But one step in there and I was sold - the ceiling was covered with BIKES - life-size vintage bikes. All the walls were covered with autographed letters of appreciation from who's-who of American folklore, articles from every newspaper ever that published even a line mentioning Anchor Bar and pictures of celebrities who wet their beaks here. Now that what I call - 'IN YOUR FACE'.

And then came the Wings - succlent, spicy and hottt.. And a glass of icy cold Honey Brown to wash it all down. I swear I could hear bells going off in my head and angels singing Hallelujah Hallelujah !!!

As the guys @ 'Highway on my plate' with say - Food Quote of the day -

During the day Mother Nature played the game,

To go on the Hurricane Deck - were We Insane ??

But after Anchor Bar

Chicken Wings would never be the same ...

Does Microsoft REALLY increase productivity??

This post is actually an extension of my comments on Vinni Mirchandani's thought that i-Pad could become the next big thing in an enterprise - http://dealarchitect.typepad.com/deal_architect/2010/03/how-liberating-the-ipad-will-be.html
So here are my 2 cents ...
How many presentations do we make in a day - now I don't mean 'Presentations' as in how many times we present an idea or a thought to a group of people. I mean how many .ppt / .pptx documents do we churn out in a day? How many .doc do we fill and how many .xls do we save on our laptops? Don't really keep a count do we? And how many of them do we recycle and reuse and rework in to newer versions? Ohh come on - We just care about the environment and that's why we recycle and reuse - don't We?
Just give it a thought - Microsoft has sold over 70 million copies of Office till 2007 and thats on top of some 60 million copies of vista. And I am not even speaking of the countless computers running on pirated copies.
How much value do we really add by creating documents after documents which anyone seldom reads let alone uses?
That gets me back to the iPad blog by Vinnie. In part I agree that maybe ipad or any tablet PC or any other such contraption may help in expressing ourselves more creatively / easily. After all - all one does on it is 'touch'.
But (yes, yes there is always a but) - what if we go the other way. Pundits had envisaged a paperless office with the advent of email and omnipresence of computers in offices - but what happened. Printing went out of the roof thanks cheaper printing options at the touch of a button.
What if we end out 'touching' a bit too much. And the 'touchy' species we have become - may be its not such a good idea. What happened to the good ol' whiteboard and markers I say ??

PS - Microsoft should start charging people on a 'pay-per-use' model. Then only one of the two things would happen - Microsoft will become bigger and more profitable than ever before or we would stop this nonsense of churning out garbage and wasting our company's money and get to work!!!

The modern torture machines

So who in his sane mind goes about paying people to strap oneself to a seat, listen to instructions like 'Don't let go of the safety guards' followed by insanely loud and incoherent music and then get violently thrown around at breakneck speed for a minute until one feels that his life should end there and then. Well many people do - last estimates some 3 million idiots - yearly. And I was one of those 3 million idiots today when I thought I was brave enough to ride a roller coaster. The monster in question - The 'Giant Dipper' in Santa Cruz, Ca.

But wait, this was not the stupidest thing I did. When someone wants to subject himself to such torture the least he / she does is make sure he is getting into a relatively new, technologically advanced and hence safer contraption. But no, what's the fun in that. Lets get in to a relic built in 1924 by a nut job in a mere 47 days and $50,000. ONLY 47 days - my god !!! And the US National Park Service has recognized this roller coaster as a National Historic Landmark status in 1987. Its the 6Th oldest roller coaster in the US, for heavens sake!!! Why then, I ask, are people still allowed to ride it. Why not just stand by the serene sea-shore and watch this monster in this complete glory. Light it up in the evenings maybe, throw in a couple of empty carriages rolling up and down. But we humans, we are funny creatures. We like to torture and torment and inflict excruciating pain on ourselves from time to time by subjecting ourselves to such monstrosities.

So there I was, a ticket in my hand, my knees barely able to hold the weight of my body, sweat oozing out of every pore, as the sweet lady (I swear, I could see her devil's horns and a striking resemblance to Cruella DeVille in her smile) monitoring the console signalled me to take a seat in one of the pods.
And then it started, and so did my palpitation. It said 1.52 minutes of run-time; but it felt like hours to me. Up and down, round and round, left and right, it just would not stop. And just about when I thought it was all over, the 'Grand Finale', the last slump, the final act (how fitting eh??), my rear side lost contact with my pod and that was it - I gave up. I don't know if I was unconscious or I was just reaching the gates of heaven. I don't really remember the next 3 - 4 or may be 10 minutes; all I could think of was - why the hell did I think I could do this?

Wiki Answers Says - There is 1 in 300 million chance of dying in a roller coaster accident. You have better chance of dying from from crossing the street. You know what - I'll take my chances on a street, when I don't have to pay and walk into a death trap.

Cha-Cha-Cha'ing in San Francisco

The forecast said dull, moist, cloudy and rainy - and rainy it was. But free spirits that we were, a 'forecast' would not deter us. The plan was a drive through Half moon bay and have lunch at Cha Cha Cha on Haight Street in San Francisco. But as we got stuck on the north-bound freeway 101 we started having second thoughts. Until finally, we saw a sign on the road-side 'fresh strawberries and artichokes'. And fresh they were. The juiciest, sweetest strawberries freshly picked from the farms nearby were just perfect as the rains drizzled down on the country side roads.
And as we reached Cha Cha Cha on Haight street the heavens had opened up and it was raining quite briskly. As luck would have it, we got free parking - It was a good day.
The ambience was pretty rustic with tables arranged amongst large pots with tropical plants. But then just about the time when one may be tempted to write this off, the Sangria started flowing; and the table was filled with tapas plates - sauteed mushrooms with garlic, sherry and olive oil, fresh potatoes with chipotle sauce and Jamaican jerk chicken.

And we understood what the big deal about this place was. The food was awesome, the service was courteous and most of all the Sangria was great. The day was made. The Cha Cha Cha had us dancing to its tunes from the first sip.
All in all - had a great 'rainy' day in San Francisco.

Life As A Rubix Cube

A while ago I was obsessed with the Rubix Cube - like many, I'm sure, have been at some point of time in their lives.

I read that it was actually called the 'Magic Cube' invented by some Hungarian inventor in the early 1970's. Over the years it has tormented many in the pursuit of getting the perfect alignment where all the six faces match up with the same coloured nine squares.

I tried my hand at it and I quickly realised that this was not something within my limited intellectual capacity. The 'Zen' path - 'Enjoy the journey and you will reach the destination sooner that you think' does not work - not for me at least. So I did the next best thing - Googled / Youtube'd on understanding the method to solve the puzzle. It seems that there are hunderds of ways solve the rubix cube and each one is unique - but the easiest method amongst these is to follow the same repetative algorithm, a series of twists and turns which have to be carried out at again and again to solve it.

Further it came in my readings that one needs to solve one face first (called the top - which could be any one of the six depending on how you held the cube) and then proceed to solving the four side faces of simultenously. At the end - the last one would fall in place all by it self.

Hmmm... solving four sides at once - there's a thought. I realised that this was one approach to life - a solving a Rubix cube. Assume the different sides represent one aspect of life - Family, Friends, Career, Money, Health and Happiness.

Most of us - especially of the current generation (defn - those who have seen the mobile rates drop from Rs 16 per minute to nothingness), driven by the urge to rise above the 'middle class' mentality and be 'something' have adoped the following approach towards life - solve one side of the cube at one time, make one aspect of life perfect - before moving on to the next. Let me make enough money to be happy, then I will have plenty of time for friends, family and being happy. Or let me excel in my career now and I will then have time for family and friends, Sounds familar?? And how does that work out for most of us. Over worked, over paid (at least in some cases) and Over stressed (read unhappy).

Now how about this - keep the most important aspect of life at the centre - on the top - Your Family. Get that right. And then get to working on the next four - my choice - Friends, Career, Happiness and Health. And Money will follow - always.

Think about it ....

Konkan Delight - Madhuram Paryatan

Having driven down to Belgaum from Bangalore - which by the way is about 500 kms along the NH4, we took a halt there. Now Belgaum is my hometown and I have as many relatives as are streets there. A quaint lil' town which was once known for its lovely winters and mild summers is now a busy city. Its now has its share of the urban curse - noise, pollution and people everywhere. But I'll tell you about that sometime later.
From Belgaum we drove down via Savantwadi to reach 'Madhuram Parayatan' - a small homestay run by Mrs and Mr Samant. Its in a small village called Parule - the nearest 'known' village is Kudal. The road from Belgaum to Kudal winds through Amboli (which is also a hill station in its own right). Along the ghats near Amboli we stopped by Nangarthas Falls. Its not a very big waterfall but the unique thing about it is the fall is a straight 80 feet down in to a narrow chasm which makes the whole view dangerously beautiful.
Along the way there are quite a few brooks running down the hills that make the drive quite enjoyable. And throw in a hot cup of coffee and 'vada-pavs' at the road side eateries and your day is made.
We reached Madhuram Parayatan at lunch time and Mr. Samant greeted us as though we were his long lost friends. After the pleasantries, we were served lunch - and a grand affiar it was. Surmai Fry, Fish Curry, Prawns roasted with Ginger paste and spices, rice, dal, veg curry, salads, and of course a bucket-ful (yes a bucket) of Sol-kadi. For the uninitiated - here's what sol-kadi is --- http://www.syvum.com/cgi/online/serve.cgi/recipes/srcpm10.tdf?0.
A foodie that I am, I fell in love with this place at first sight. Fresh, authentic spicy konkani sea food served with love in the cool shade of swaying coconut and arecanut trees. That was one of the happiest moments of my life (dont judge me please). And the best part is that these wonderful meals continued for the rest of the stay - just as wholesome, just as authentic, just as tasty.
Over the next 3 days Mr. Samant became our personal guide and took us to the most pristine, untouched beaches in and around Parule. Every 10 - 15 kms we experienced some of the more beautiful beaches I have ever seen. And the best part of at all was that there was not even a soul on any of the beaches. Have a look at the pics
http://picasaweb.google.com/deepakjoshi19/KonkanBeaches?authkey=Gv1sRgCIaxkPW8pLyG3wE#
Mrs and Mr Samant plan to have 8 cottages and help people experience that 'Konkan' which is hidden from the rest of the world and I wish them the best of luck. I hope more people can see and experience what we did in those 2 wonderful days. We left Madhuram with our minds refreshed and souls nourished - thanks to Madhuram Parayatan and the Samants.

The Perfect Omelette

I Love to eat and I Love to cook ... I look at these two acts as 'stress-busters' and they sure make you feel good.

10 years or so and some 15 kgs ago I read a piece by Dileep Padgaonkar in the Times of India with a identical title. And though I had enjoyed the article - I thought why go through such painstaking detail about how the mundane Omelet is made. But after years of wondering why every small time 'omelet - walli - gadi' makes omelets that make you say 'Mmmmmm' and why the omelets in 5 star hotels suck I realised was wrong ... Making something as simple as an omelet - magical is truly an art.

So what is the magical ingredient, that secret technique, that exact instance where the stars and planets come in to a formation to create the perfect Omelet ??

Well this is how I make MY 'Perfect Omelet' -

SO lets start with the ingredients - wholesome eggs (brown, white does not really matter - fresher the better), Red onions as finely chopped as possible, 1 or 2 green chillies - to pack that punch, Red tomatoes again finely chopped and a cube of cheese - grated and finally loads of fresh coriander. You could throw in some mushrooms or potato slices; but keep it simple I say.

Now for the technique -

Most often than now we tend to throw in all these in to a bowl and whip them together, throw them on a oiled pan and leave the rest up to fate. That's a perfect way - to RUIN an omelet. The magic is to saute the chills and onions with a pinch of sugar (yes, SUGAR - it helps caramelize the onions and gives it a crispiness). And once they are turning brown, throw in the tomatoes and continue the saute for another 2 mins before letting the beaten eggs find their way through this melange. And once the upper surface of the omelet begins to dry - comes the Pièce de résistance - flipping the omelet to let it simmer for a minute more. Easier said than done this is something I too have been trying to achieve flawlessly but have met with little success.

And finally we have the timing - when is the best time to 'create' an omelet

Not on a busy Monday morning when you have one eye on the stove and the other is picking out what to wear that day. Neither is it an evening thing to have with a glass of juice and a slice of toast.

The perfect time is a lazy winter Sunday morning, when even the sun seems to be fighting against it own nature of heating the day up, when the clouds are just fluffy enough to give a hint of whiteness in a clear azure background and when the world seem to have slowed down just for you and you alone to celebrate this wonderful art form

Try this and believe you me, the end result will be like nothing you have tasted before.

And be fore-warned, if you miss any of the above mentioned tenets the experience will always be incomplete.

Cheers

Konkan Delight - The 'PLAN'

Ahhh ... Come december and there is a spring in my step. Vacation Time!!! For all of us who work for the evil cruel capitilist imperilist western world (and get paid good money for that :D ) December is the time when the world slowly comes to a grinding halt and everyone heads off to spend some 'quality' time with their families.
This year, like every preceding one, Arch and I began planning for 15 days of blissful solace way back in October. And believe you me, we gave a fair chance to East India (Shillong, Darjelling, Gangtok) - only to realise that traveling in India is far more expensive that going to Malaysia. Having said that we as fate would have it - we settled for a road trip along the western coast of Maharashtra - KONKAN. Today in hindsight, my belief in the adage 'whatever happens happens for a reason and for your good', is even more strongly reaffirmed.
The idea was to drive to the coast and then halt every 100 - 120 kms along the beach and relax for 2 - 3 days and finally reach Pune before heading back to Namma Bengeluru.
Now this is easier said than done. For one - every known beach along the coast were booked well in advance and the rates touched the sahyadris as we move towards Mumbai.
Finally after 100 or so phone calls and spending close to 10 hrs reading reviews of home-stays (yes, they are cheap, homely and give you an experience that no resort can) we finalized the grand route ---- 2850 Kms of 'unchartered' roads -----
Bangalore - Belgaum - Kudal - Malvan - Devrukh - Guhagar - Pune - Bangalore.
At each of these places we booked our selves in to homestays that were recommended by fellow travellers.

Now the only thing to do was --- Head off !!!