I guess the only Indian who could be happy that Vijendar Kumar didn’t bag the Gold medal must be – John Abraham! In case you hadn’t heard, Bipasha Basu had offered to go on a “hot” date with Vijendar if he brought home the glittering medal. Clearly, humility is not Bip’s claim to fame.

But one just wonders if her offer rattled poor Vijendar enough to be satisfied with the Bronze one ;-)

Continuing my posts on my favorite food shows on Discovery Travel and Living Channel...........

Anthony Bourdain – No Reservations

The next one has to be Anthony Bourdain – No Reservations. I really envy this guy. He roams all around the globe, eats all kinds of food and still manages to remain as thin as a reed. Could it be the result of his non-stop smoking? For someone like me who is a die-hard anti-smoking advocate it was disturbing at first to see him light up at the drop of a hat. But my love for food overcame my anti-smoking stance.

Despite being a chef Anthony Bourdain hardly ever cooks on this show but he visits different places and doesn’t shy away from eating things - like sheep’s eye and bull’s testicles - which would drive some of us up the wall. Really, No Reservations!

So everytime I watch his show I am 50% jealous at his metabolic rate and 50% hungry at the veritable feast that’s on menu all over the globe. :-)

Madhur Jaffrey - Flavors of India

The next show on my list of favorites is Madhur Jaffrey’s Flavors of India. The first thing I really love about this show is that this lady will always tell you the exact measure of the ingredients she is adding to the dish. This is of immense value to someone like me for whom availability or lack of such measures means the thin line between a culinary triumph and a kitchen catastrophe! Eggs taste good but none of us wants it in our face, do we? :-)

And Madhur Jaffrey takes her own time cooking so you are not torn between wanting to watch how’s cooking going on the screen and writing down the recipe at the same time. :-)

She also tells you why she is using particular ingredients or what substitutes can be used. That goes a step further than cooking merely for gastronomic delight. It’s almost scientific if I can dare to use that word in the culinary world. Such knowledge is essential for healthy cooking.

Oh and BTW, I just love the elegant salwar kameezes and sarees that she wears. Wonder where she sources them from.

P.S. after I wrote the last line, I thought that if any male reads this post he will shake his head muttering “Women!” under his breath. :-)

Hey Aart! thanks for that link on Paulo Coelho :-)

I am going to dedicate a few posts to one of my favorite TV channels – Discovery Travel and Living. I have become sort of addicted to this channel because it airs some of the best programs on – Food!

Kylie Kwong

My most favorite food show on this channel is the one hosted by Kylie Kwong. I loved her earlier show – Simply Magic and the current one – Cooking with heart and soul. Both these titles tell a lot about Kylie’s cooking style. For an Indian like me who is used to a variety of spices and pastes, Kylie’s dizzying array of dishes cooked only out of a few sauces - vinegar, light and dark soya sauce, fish sauce, Oyster sauce, Chinese cooking wine and chilli sauce – and spices – ginger, garlic, star anise and Schezwan pepper salt – is nothing short of magic! And when you watch her cook you can see that she is putting her very soul into it because cooking is her passion.

I must confess that at the beginning I used to get annoyed at her describing everything from Shallots to Fish as “beautiful”, “lovely” or “Gorgeous”. But lateron I either got used to it or simply assumed that it could be because she might be speaking impromptu. :-) Of course my meat eating is limited to chicken and seafood only so I have to look the other way when she cooks things like squid and octopus :-) Despite that, I am can happily watch this show any time and any number of times.

I have promised myself that whenever I go to Sydney I will be sure to drop in at her restaurant – even though doing so might drill a hole big enough for an entire herd of Kangaroos to walk through in my pocket :-)

Nigella Lawson

Then there is the show hosted by Nigella Lawson. I missed quite a few episodes of one of her earlier shows because its name “Nigella Express” sounded as if it was about traveling. And that’s surprising because I love the channel’s travel shows like “Globe Trekker” with equal fervor.

If watching dishes cooked with ingredients like cheese, chocolate, sugar and cream could add calories by now I would have been as heavy as that Mexican man who had to be lifted with cranes. Initially I was shocked at Nigella’s heavy use of these ingredients in her cooking but now I rather enjoy watching the show because that doesn’t add an ounce to my weight. I didn’t bat an eyelid when she prepared a dessert using – hold your breath – cocoa, chocolate chips, chocolate sauce, castor sugar and heavy cream :-) She makes equally liberal use of cheese in her cooking. So this show is not for the faint-hearted.

This is the only chef I have seen so far who is rather on a heavy side herself as far as the weighing scale goes. And so I was amused when I came across an article which described the show as “gastro-porn” with a chef who has a “great figure”.

Oh, and at the end of every episode you will invariably see her raiding her fridge in the dead of the night to snack on her creations. Calories and flab – go take a hike!

A friend forwarded this SMS to me:

Mayawati comes to Laloo’s house with a cow.
Laloo: Bhaisawa ko kyun laayi ho?
Mayawati: Dikhata nahi gau-mata hai?
Laloo: Ham gau-mata se hi to pucch raha hu :-)

It was a tough choice at the library once again. All the books I want to read seemed to be overflowing from the shelves – The Secret, A Thousand Splendid Suns, and Brida. I finally brought home Paulo Coelho’s Brida :-)

I got a great gift from my brother this RakshaBandhan. A set of DVDs containing all 1st season episodes of Stra Trek – the original series! :-) I am a huge fan of the crew of the USS Enterprise and their voyage across the galaxy to all the places where no man has gone before :-) I just can’t wait to meet all my old buddies - Captain Kirk, Spock, Bones, Scotty. Thanks Bro!