Launching 'The FoodPorn Diaries'

After pondering over many moons, I've decided to separate my recipe and restaurant reviews.

Food for Swaps has always been about documenting the recipes that are dear to me and work in my kitchen. Or the ones that have failed miserably and I never want to try again. Photographing my escapades in the kitchen and sharing them with you, so that you can have tried and tested recipes to fall back on! And i'd like to keep it that way. Fair? ... I think so  :P

So I'm moving all my restaurant reviews to my other blog - 'The FoodPorn Diaries'. This will be an exclusive place to share my experiences of eating out - whether they be in Bangalore or outside. I'm on a quest for lust worthy food! 

And to give you a preview of what’s in store, here’s an excerpt from the latest entry:

Conversations over Coffee

When The Serai invited eight bloggers to celebrate Woman’s Day at their lovely resort in Chickmagalur I did a double take. Really? I was swamped with work that week. I quickly asked for the names of the rest of the bloggers. I didn’t know anybody. (My interest was fading). They wanted me to come and spend two days getting fawned over and pampered. (Interest awakened). Have a look at the website, they insisted. I peeked into it reluctantly. (Wow, Desire generated). They called me back. There was a spa treatment involved, Will I be able to make it? (Resolve weakened). I cancelled my meeting. I was going to the Serai!

We met at the Café Coffee Day Square on Lavelle road. (Serai and CCD are owned by the same parent company). After introducing ourselves and tucking into the breakfast at CCD, we got ourselves into a minivan and drove out of the city. It’s amazing how ten women who have never met before can talk till their jaws drop. No need for introductions, thank you very much!

If that peaked your interest and you want to read more…here's the link to the new blog. Bless it by visiting it! :)

http://thefoodporndiaries.blogspot.in/

You can also ‘Like’ the Facebook page to get regular updates on What's hot ... in the food world obviously!

http://www.facebook.com/#!/thefoodporndiaries

Thanks for stopping by … love as always ... FoodforSwaps J

DELIZIOSO - Italian Food Festival @ Bene, Sheraton Bangalore

I was invited by the Sheraton for a preview of their Italian Food Festival – ‘Delizioso’ last Friday. Their signature Italian restaurant Bene, was playing host to celebrity Chef Enrico Fiorentini from 9^th -18^th Nov. (That’s the duration of the festival by the way!). Last year Bene did a Truffles festival, but this year because of the weather in Italy (No good rains), availability of good quality truffles was a dicey affair. Hence they decided to showcase ‘Lombardy’ cuisine. Now when we say Italian food, the two things that immediately spring to mind are Pasta and Pizza. But that’s not all Italian food, is about. (Same as Indian cuisine is not equal to Garlic Naan and Chicken Tikka Masala!).

Milan is the major city of the Lombard region and is bordered by Switzerland to the north. Lombardy cuisine primarily consists of hearty fare with rice being a foundation. (South Indians rejoice!). Apart from being famous for its fashion, gastronomically the region is associated with Risotto. Now does Risotto ‘Milan’ese, ring a bell?  Dairy products also rule the roost (close to Switzerland darlings) and you can find the best Gorgonzola cheese here as well.

I made a mental note to myself that the acid test of the festival would be whether Chef Enrico could turn out a perfect risotto. If the executive chef from the award winning Sheraton Milan can’t do it, then who could, right?

Chinese Food Festival at Feast, Sheraton Bangalore

Monday was an eventful day. I finally drove all the way to the other side of town to experience authentic Chinese delicacies. Now this would have never been done, if not for a blogger friend of mine who invited me to come along with him to Sheraton. He was invited as part of the Chef’s table and I was going to be his happy sidekick.

Feast, which is the all-day dining restaurant at the Sheraton Hotel, Bangalore was playing host to visiting Chinese Master Chef Thi Gang. Chef Thi Gang is from their award winning restaurant Li Bai at the Sheraton Saigon, Vietnam and was here to showcase the rich and diverse culinary heritage of China. Like India, China is vast country with unique regional cuisines and showcasing all of it can be a gargantuan task. So the Chef had handpicked some interesting dishes to help us savour a taste of China, if you will. The chef is a tiny man with a big smile and speaks very little English but his mastery was evident as we tasted the food. Anyway, we had Executive Chef Bela Rieck who was happy to indulge us with some fun conversation and cuisine facts. 

French Macarons and Amande Patisserie

There has been a flurry of activity around the Macaron in Bangalore. Suddenly home bakers have taken to trying their hand at churning these pretty treats out, Taj Vivanta has a Macaron festival, patisseries are selling them hot off the mint and  there has even been serious discussions on a popular food group around their spelling! Adding to this is Masterchef Australia – I don’t think there’s been one season where the contestants have not tried their hand at impressing the judges with a fancy macaron. I guess we’ve reached critical mass for the Macaron in Bangalore and Amande Patisserie has come in at the right moment!

Before you read any further, I have a few things to profess. When I first came across Amande, I was just a happy customer. Being a click crazy person, of course I had to take pretty pictures of the Macarons and cry out to all and sundry on Facebook on how much I loved them. Owing to this evangelist behavior Amande’s customer list included people from my friend list as well! Amande’s owner was tickled pink that a few pictures could get him a larger fan following. (They don’t have a retail outlet yet..only home delivery by ordering online.) So he asked me to click a couple of more pictures for his website – to showcase new flavors. I happily obliged (which food photography obsessed geek wouldn’t?). So now that Amande is a photography client, (P.S. As of now, none of my pics are updated on the website yet. Will let you'll know when they are) Would it be wrong of me to write about them?  I did think of this for a long time and finally decided – I love their macarons irrespective of shooting for them and it would be a great disservice to you guys if I didn’t talk about it here. Besides, if I’m telling you upfront about the circumstances, so I'm sure you guys would understand. (P.S. I got paid in kind in Macarons and wine, so that lessens the promotional angle :P)

Veggie Chic Menu at Caperberry, Bangalore

I like my chicken and my bacon and my pork and mutton and prawns and …you get the drift. So when I excitedly signed up for the Veggie Chic menu created by Chef Abhijit Saha of Caperberry, many eyebrows were raised. Is she turning vegetarian? Is she just coming there to mock us with terms like Ghas Phoos? And finally has she not read the menu? My answer to all the dear veggies – I just thought the Veggie menu looked exciting and why should I pass up an opportunity to be entertained by a culinary genius just because the menu didn’t have anything that walks, swims or clucks! Now that we have resolved the mystery of my presence at the dinner, let’s move on to important bits – the restaurant and the food!

Caperberry means provocation of desire in Hebrew. It’s also really a berry as well – green and tart… but the earlier definition is more in tune with what the restaurant wants to achieve. Caperberry is located at the Tanishq building on Dickenson Road. You have to literally search for the name board before you enter, but a restaurant of such repute hardly needs to shout out from the mountain top! The restaurant is know as much for its food (molecular gastronomy), if not more so for its celebrity chef Abhijit. After this experience, I think he deserves the adulation!

We're all going on a Summer Holiday....

Away in Barcelona... Catch up with you soon!

P.S. This place is a foodie delight!!