| THE REAL PAGE | |
|
MOVERS & SHAKERS | ||||
| Spiceboat Down The Blue Arabian | ||||
| The next time you eat their tisryachi sukhe or kachhe kele ka kofta, remember the trio dishing it out at the Taj Konkan Cafe are homegrown master chefs | ||||
| Lalitha Suhasini | ||||
|
Mumbai, March 20: SIXTY-FIVE-YEAR-OLD Vasanti Mai is the only one not in uniform.
With pearls set into a flower on her ears, she wears a thin, white cotton sari the traditional Maharashtrian way, and a plastic shower cap�a must in Taj kitchens everywhere.
Six years ago when the Konkan Cafe�s boss, Chef Ananda Solomon, chose her for his coastal speciality restaurant, she left hometown Ponda, Goa, and settled down in Mumbai.
The Konkan Cafe is carving itself an identity cooking food ��the old fashioned Konkan way.��
And so as Mai�s hand churns out the Hind Goan cuisine�its essence is the spicy-sour mango curry, Naveen Hegde is master of the Mangalorean gassis (curries) and Biju Thomas rustles up the perfected form of Kerala delicacies like the Allepey fish curry.
None of them has a degree in hotel management; they simply possess a delightful instinct for food of the Arabian Sea. ��These people go by the weather�they know that coconut will taste different in summer, winter and the monsoons,�� says Solomon, about the most important ingredient in Konkan cuisine.
Ask Pune local Chandra Pai (40), who swears by the cafe�s prawn balchao and Nilgiri vegetable korma. ��Any trip to Mumbai is incomplete without a stop here,�� says the musician. ��My mother would be proud to lay out something like this on her table.��
Mai�s mother would be proud too. ��My mother taught me to cook. I used to cook for a handful of people at home, here I do it for at least 200 a day.�� Her tisryachi sukhe (clams in red masala) is one of the most popular items at the cafe.
Hegde (43) is the least shy of the trio . ��You know, in Mangalore it rains for three months and people don�t step out of their houses. Now what better pastime than cooking at home and eating?��
Hegde too studied in his mother�s kitchen, helping her at home since age 15, later moving on to catering for outdoor parties. ��You eat at different homes and festivals in the village and pick up new cooking methods and tastes,�� he adds.
Biju Thomas (31) is the latest addition. Drawn out of his home in Kasargod�bordering coastal Kerala and south Mangalore�he�s been here two months. The thalis here are incomplete without his mildly spicy avial and killer pachadis.
��He knows the best of both cuisines�Keralite and Mangalorean,�� says Solomon.
Take a day off, book a table. The sorcerers of the Konkan coast know of three different stairways to heaven.
http://cities.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=121980 Link articles on 'Tisryachi sukhe.....': | ||||
|
| ||||
Do you Yahoo!?
Yahoo! Mail - Find what you need with new enhanced search. Learn more.
http://www.goa-world.com
http://www.live365.com/stations/61664 Live Konkani Music
http://www.mahableshwar.com/
Addresses:
Post message: [email protected]
Subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
List owner: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
URL to this page:
http://www.yahoogroups.com/group/gulf-goans
| Yahoo! Groups Sponsor | |
|
|
Yahoo! Groups Links
- To visit your group on the web, go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/gulf-goans/
- To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
- Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.
