Let’s be honest, cheese and Japanese food aren’t the most obvious bedfellows. But horseradish and cheese are a actually match made in heaven, so why not wasabi and cheese? I spied this cheese in the dairy section of my local Lulu Hypermarket already sliced (it was the last of the lot apparently). Not the prettiest cheese to photograph, being green and sliced and all. Not actually from Japan, this wasabi cheese hails from Holland. Made by Basiron it claims to be extra strong, but is actually kinda mild. I like my wasabi to blow my head off and cure the sinus allergy caused by our regular dust storms. This gouda was actually quite mild.…
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Rubing it In – Eating Cheese in China
Chinese food and cheese are not necessarily happy bedfellows. Asian flavors do not lend themselves to cheesiness and for good reason. My main experience of cheese in China consisted of hotel cheese platters on their buffets. But I had heard that some regions in China, namely Yunnan, used goat cheese in their cooking. There will be a longer exposition of my recent trip to Shanghai in future posts (you have been warned) but I was determined to find this elusive fusion. Actually I didn’t have to search too far. One of the best known restaurants in Shanghai, Lost Heaven specializes in Yunnan cuisine. I found one item on the menu – a…
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Kofta-esque Fantasy – Show Me the Curry!
I will go to great lengths to get my hands on a cheese dish, regardless of its availability. This is what happened on my recent trip to Mumbai. I had been craving Malai Kofta, a vegetable and cheese dumpling in a creamy curry sauce, from the minute I booked my ticket to Mumbai. What I didn’t count on was this amazing dish being from a different part of India. And we all know how justly parochial Indians are about their cuisine. Luckily for me, the chef at the Grand Hyatt Mumbai where I was staying knew how it make it. And the results didn’t disappoint. Kofta are balls made from…
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Paneer But So Far…
Cheese and India are not two words synonymous with eachother. But paneer has to be one of my favorite milk products. Firm and actually without flavor, it absorbs the herbs and spices it is cooked with. The perfect vehicle. The cheese itself dates back 6000 years and is a curd, made by curdling heated milk with lemon juice, or vinegar. It is then left to set. It is served either in a curry (or gravy as it is called in India), fried or made into fritters. Indian food is in abundance in the city where I live. So when my friend Carlotta demanded we try a legendary Indian restaurant…