Meeting George.

Time for full disclosure: Yes, I do go weak in the knees when I get to meet my Culinary Gods.

For some of you it may be a film star you’ve grown up watching, for another a sportsperson you NEED  to watch play live, perhaps a singer you’ve tried imitating when alone (imaginary mike included) or an author whose have every written word is in your library. For me, they are the chefs and cookbook authors who I not only watch completely awe struck on TV but who I also imagine are there with me in my kitchen each time I am looking for any kind of inspiration when it comes to food.

And this Saturday I was all smiles.

So when a little birdie told me that George was coming down to Dubai and was holding a master class and was also signing books, I was on a triple high. With me, there was an equally delirious 3 feet something who was ready to jump off the walls. So I did what all mature and sensible mothers do, requested the organizers to put Sara, Age 4 on the guest list. Ah..me too, please.

Master Chef Australia and George need no introduction and the times that he has not been a part of a particular episode, he has been missed by my little chefling, No George today, mamma? She would be really disappointed.

The show was aired weeknights back in India and my schedule was planned around it. 9’o clock movie on a weekday? You’ve got to be kidding! Thank you, but I am going to be sitting cosy in my pyjamas with a three year old sitting right there (with the entire contents of her toy kitchen on the floor and behaving as if she was one of the contestants). The poor husband had no choice but to join the duo.

So two starstruck ladies, with DH in row, who was babysitting the younger one till the time the masterclass was on, went off to meet George Calombaris.

The masterclass was lovely and George and his enthusiastic and very witty team had the audience completely engrossed. 

George spoke about food, his mum’s cooking, and ingredients he likes to work with, the two episodes that were recently shot here at Dubai and asked us to imagine Matt Preston in his three piece pink suit and a cravat which went from pink to purple in the Dubai heat in minutes! He was at his entertaining best. 

He also took questions from the audience. Truly an afternoon to remember.

We were taught a sweet and a savoury dish; sushi rice pudding (risogalo) with date puree and a short crust pastry and an almost too pretty to touch recipe comprising poached baby turnip, artichokes, golden beets with a celeriac puree and zucchini flowers. Sublime.

Ofcourse I got his cookbook signed and Sara took her little notepad for the same. 

Yes, I know I am grinning and let me tell you it stayed right there, all day. 

The little girl has a “what did you do over the weekend” kind of thing every Sunday at school and I believe she started with, “I met GEORGE!”

Her mum was saying the same words to anyone who asked her, so what did you do over the weekend, “I met GEORGE!”

David, Heston, Jamie, Nigella, Ottolenghi…are you listening? Two girls are waiting.

Images: Personal Album.While you enjoy reading this post with visuals.Please do not use them without asking. They belong to Orange Kitchens unless otherwise stated

Meeting Chef Vikas Khanna.

So I have another story to tell you today (A lot of you who have been reading my other blog purplehomes may have read this one before).

Almost a year and a half back, my sister conned me into going for the MasterChef Auditions (season 2). I obviously wanted to strangle her but then to amuse her, my family and friends I went for the first round. Before I knew it, it got way too serious and I was at Mumbai as part of the Top 100 for another round. Top 50 happened. And then I withdrew my name from the contest.

The time I was away at Mumbai was very hard for little Sara. And for me to be able to continue there meant being away for months which wasn't going to be easy for her and for me.  

But I came back happy and with many many beautiful memories.We talked, read, cooked and dreamt food. I met so many wonderful people and made two beautiful friends; Ruchira & Amrita.

But why am I telling you all this today.Because there was one thing that I missed being a part of. Meeting Chef Vikas Khanna (Since I withdrew my name from the show I didn't get the chance to meet him then).

And last week, I did exactly that.

All thanks to Karthik from the Indiblogger team. His team invited me for the launch of Vikas Khanna's book "Khanna Sutra : Food lessons in Love". This book is all about love and is a "book of recipes celebrating the tradition of sensuous eating". I loved the section "Aphrodisiacs" which is very well written and talks about in detail about the ingredients  that have wonderful scents, interesting flavors and textures.

The book was launched at the Shangri-La's Eros Hotel at Delhi.

For those of you who are not familiar with Vikas Khanna. Let me introduce you to him. He hails from Amritsar. Vikas dons several hats; he is an award winning Michelin starred Indian Chef,  a restaurateur, food writer and has hosted MasterChef India season 2 (Currently shooting season 3).

I haven't had a chance to cook my way through his book so the review is for another day. But today, I'd like to talk about what I got back with me after the launch. 

So the week after the launch I met my friends Ruchira & Amrita and Ruchira asked me so now that you have met Vikas what do you think about him. The first words that came to my mind were "humble and polite".

And humble and polite he was. 

I reached the venue a little early and there he was. He stood out and introduced himself! What a gracious man I thought. 

Later with nothing really to do I saw him talking to the staff there and he was pleasant.

Much later I saw him interacting with who I think were his relatives from Amritsar (I may be wrong though). He touched the feet of the elderly, backslapped those of his age and complained why they hadn't called him in ages and indulged the little ones by filling up their slam books.

Much much later during the bloggers interaction session he spoke about his journey from Amritsar to New York. From creating culinary masterpieces to writing about food. From hosting TV Shows to winning his Michelin star. From how putting Amritsar on the world map to eating dal chawal each night on the steps of Junoon. 

All this straight from the heart and without any trace of arrogance.

He also had beautiful stories to tell. 

He inspiration in life has been has grandmum. And he narrated a beautiful and touching story about how he is always the busiest at Diwali but last year for Diwali his grandmum asked him to come home. It took a lot of juggling at work to make that possible and that was the last time he saw her. She passed away a little later.

And I began to see tears form at the corners of his eye.

So I came back thinking being humble is way more cooler than being famous:) 

And remembering where you came from and the people who helped you get there is what truly famous people do.

Big thank you to Karthik and the Indiblogger team for inviting me. 

I can't end this review without telling you what Sara thought about the book and him. Here are her thoughts:

1. Why is that uncle's hand covered in chocolate? Well...

2. And how come I am getting to eat his face? Before you draw any conclusions I came back from the launch with chocolates that had Vikas's face printed on it.

3. After going through the cookbook she selected ALL the fish recipes to try and also the "Broccoli romanesco and mushroom black pepper soup". Now though she is a big fan of fish and boiled broccoli she has never ever shown any inclination to try both soups and mushrooms.So Vikas if she does warm up to both if I will definitely let you know:)

p.s. Well, I am not sure why I am looking completely zapped in that last snap, but who cares Mr. Khanna & Miss Grover are in the same frame.

Images : Personal Album 
While you enjoy reading this post with visuals.Please do not use them without asking. 
They belong to Orange Kitchens unless otherwise stated.