![]() This was a nod to the food of the Kashmiri Pandits and the cuisine of the Dogras from Jammu, often overlooked in favour of the celebrated wazwan. The distinctive achaar tastes nothing like any accompaniment at a Mumbai restaurant but has been a staple on the menu of Noon, which launched last year. The plant would be foraged in the Poonch district of Jammu and Kashmir, and pickled using cold-pressed mustard oil and spices. Kashmir native Vanika Choudhary, who heads Noon in Mumbai’s Bandra-Kurla Complex, turned to her community to devise a pickle based on kasrod, the fiddlehead fern. We might be a while away from such experimentation, but chefs closer home are forging new paths. ![]() Diners at Fat Duck would be provided with an iPod that they were supposed to plug into their ears and listen to sea waves while eating the dish. Remember the story of legendary chef and culinary icon Heston Blumenthal’s seafood dish at his London restaurant, Fat Duck? It was inspired by his time on a beach. In turn, these dishes serve not only as an experiment but a canvas for chefs to venture beyond what is commercially acceptable. Or a savoury version of the roshogolla, an ode to Bengal’s chhana’r kofta and the state’s cheese-making skills. You might stumble upon Bengal’s bitter-sweet shukto, reimagined and served like a Spanish gazpacho. Today, as he and his team craft a menu that veers away from traditional cafe fare, he uses his restaurant’s menu in quite the same way a novelist would use a typewriter or a painter their canvas. Growing up, Mookerjee learnt how to eat “strange” vegetables via this dish. It is a ball of rice, with a hidden, flavour-packed stuffing, often neem-begun (a stir fry of neem leaves and aubergines). Take for instance, 34-year-old Auroni Mookerjee, who helms the kitchen at Kolkata’s eclectic Sienna Café, and his pop-up favourite, bhaat’er golla. In what is a growing trend, chefs across the country are increasingly turning to their childhood, their travels and experiences to tell stories through their dishes. No wonder then that chefs and restaurant owners have to periodically scour for new inspiration and new stories. We look for reinventions of the format, a touch of the familiar in the new, and we consume the story around the food as much as the dish on the plate in front of us. As our tastes, culinary habits, and disposable income evolve, we now think hard about the “buzz” surrounding a new restaurant, verify its Zomato and Swiggy ratings, follow chefs on social media, and stay beady-eyed for pop-ups and specials. Until a few years ago, you figured if you were feeling like a pizza or Indian, picked out one of three restaurants, ordered your usuals, and returned home a happy camper. Volunteers are also needed to make phone calls to the many seniors.įor more information, contact Sines at 1-80.Eating out is no longer a simple affair. Meals are delivered one day a week, with five meals presented to each participant. “And sometimes they are the only face that person sees all day.” ![]() ![]() “Not only are you delivering a meal, you are checking on the well-being of that person,” Sines said. A background check must also be performed. Volunteers can be paid 42 cents per mile for reimbursement, but neither volunteer in southern Aroostook County has asked to be compensated, she said. To be eligible to become a Meals on Wheels volunteer, individuals must have a valid Maine driver’s license and a reliable vehicle. “Because the seniors were also feeling the economic pinch with cuts to food stamps, increased heating expenses, our donations went from $250,000 per year to about $140,000,” Sines said. However, because of the cuts to funding, and the switch to frozen meals. Sines explained she used to contract with Houlton Regional Hospital for meals in southern Aroostook County because they had a registered dietician on staff and could provide fresh, hot meals on a daily basis.
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