A-Z

I keep thinking what I’ve been doing with this food blog. I want this one to be like no other. Not just praising or ripping apart any restaurant or some chef.

It’s going to be more analytical in terms of where we as a community have reached in exploring the cuisine culture. Since, I keep comparing all the experiences with my past and benchmark anything I like with the best I’ve had. I’ve decided to make a souvenir of all those memories and post this:

A– Avocados, ground with garlic and olive oil or in soup or salad. Just for this fruit, I can go live in Mexico for a year.

B– Basil & Broccoli, fresh in a pizza or pasted in a soup, whichever form, the fresher the better. I wanna try the Basil pizza in Italy soon. By the way I am happy to announce that I now have it growing in my very own terrace.

C– Chickpeas- anytime, in any form. Caviar- the Beluga; tiny, homogenous, bursting in mouth one after another. Oh Churros starts from C too. The best is street side. Outside Tate Modern, during Spanish festivals. And Chocolate of course only if its Belgian or French. Swiss will do too, but they add too much milk!

D– Dumplings, delicate ones, with all kinds of mushrooms, the best ones I had was at Tamarai in Covent Garden, London- which is closed now. Yauatcha is a close match or perhaps even better.

E– Eggs, except when its raw, I can almost devour it any other form. Even better with some Endive, chopped onions n lime squeeze with rock salt n pepper sprinkles. Go Give it a try over boiled eggs.

F– Fenugreek to temper anything. Fajitas, made fresh and warm only.

G– Garlic in Guacamole. I know I mentioned Avocado before, but I had to repeat it. Thats how much I like this!

H– Honey, Im home! ’nuff said.

I– Ai.. ai… ai. Thats ‘love’ in japanese. Guppy by Ai my friends is all i can think of, may be coz right now am having the leftovers from my meal there last night.

J– Jams, homemade from either chillies, pepper or off beat vegetables, served with savoury pancakes,, Oh yeah.. you’ve gotta try these once!

K– Kafir Lime-leaf is an all time favourite. Kale is another one. And so is Khichdi, be it gujurati, punjabi, bihari or bengali style. All it needs is a dollop of butter and some tangy chutney n papad to go with it. Monsoons special meal- to be had hot and steaming.

L– Love, and lots of it. Nothing says it like LaDuree Macaroons!

M– Maple Walnut from Movenpick icecream. Its been over a decade i’d first tried it and still remains my favourite!

N– Nuts, even more if it’s peeled and candied a la caramel-ito.

O– Orange Juice- Oh so juicy with the bits. freshly squeezed, with no sugar or ice, best found in Goan breakfast places during winters.

P– Parathé, stuffed with gobhi/aloo/mooli/cheese/paneer/onion. Either all or exclusive, street side even better. Best from the streets of Ludhiana,Punjab.

Q– Quinoa or a Quiche- fruitty-nutty freshly baked out of oven on a rainy day in the midst of mountains.. yes!

R– Raspberries- frozen! Romanesco, in caesar salad. Ratatouille in Morocco is  still a dream.

S– Soyabeans with Spinach. Yes.. it can be quite a delish main course, obviously home-made.

T– Truffles of all kinds! Truffles’ Oil, Trifles, and Tangy Tamarind sprinkles of chutney can make any Tostadas tempting!

U– Upma, for the lack of a better ingredient/dish that I could think of. Made in some south-indian home.

V– Vanilla, the most expensive herb is a mind-blowing essence even when it’s in natural form in a pod.

W– W has a Wealth of Words that are my favourite. To start with Water of course; followed by Walnut, Watercress, and Watermelon.

X– Xinomavro Grapes that’s used to make red wine, which in turn along with some Sherry and Port Wine, makes my favourite drink: the Mülled Vino

Y– Yoghurt in any flavours after a meal is a good digestive for me.

Z– Zatar, perhaps with some Zucchini pancakes, or salad or within a croissant. Yum!

Voila! There you go. Am sure there’s at least one thing that you haven’t tried yet. I’d love to know what your favourite ingredients are. Do leave in comments if I ‘ve missed any star ingredient or dish that comes to your mind while you read this.

Now even BBC didn’t flaunt such a list of awesome ingredients. Please feel free to thank me in ‘likes’, ‘shares’ and ‘follows’. ❤