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…
-
-
Melting Moments – Fondue and Raclette Festival Hits Doha
Who doesn’t love melted cheese? In all it’s ooziness… For those cheese lovers living in and visiting Doha, head to the Grand Hyatt Doha later this month for a Swiss Gastronomy Festival – ie lots of melted things, sticks and a Swiss band. What’s not to love? For more information on the Swiss Food Festival click here: Swiss Gastronomic Week
-
The Italian Job
In honor of the looming Papal Conclave, this post is dedicated to those two great Italian staples – Mozzarella and Parmesan. Mozzarella has to be one of the most abuse cheeses in the world – how many of us have had bad mozza on a pizza or in a ubiquitous “Caprese Salad” (usually served at a Baltic temperature). I like my Mozzarella white and of the Buffalo kind and I found this fairly good interpretation in the dairy cabinet at my local supermarket. While not exactly fresh, it was creamy and the perfect addition to my grand Italian plan. Friends know that I have somehow rediscovered or unearthed my latent…
-
Shake, Ricotta and Roll – Or Why Ricotta is the Yanni of Cheeses
In a couple of weeks, Yanni is coming to the city that I live in for a concert. You know, Yanni. The Greek composer born Yiannis Hryssomallis and the architect of such memorable ditties as ummmm…quickly looking up Wikipedia….Keys to the Imagination…allegedly. He calls himself “new age”. Look, Yanni’s most interesting claim to fame is that he was in a relationship with Linda (Khrystal Carrington) from Dynasty – she of the shoulderpads and the fight with Joan Collins that ended in a pond. Stick with me, there is a point. Yanni remains popular for all his NEw Age metrosexuality in spite of his blandness. Ricotta is the Yanni of Italian…
-
The Loving Spoonful
It had been a tough start to the week in the vineyard of truth. I was having technology problems, clients were being demanding and well, it was Tuesday. And it was March. When I heard about the new Grapes and Cheese night at Gordon Ramsay’s Opal at St Regis Doha, I am not one to pass up the opportunity to sample up to different types of wine and matching cheeses. After all, it was Tuesday. And it was March. The wines took center stage with a selection prepared by Sommelier Ashwin Tillousing who took us through wines from France, South Africa, Spain, Chile and New Zealand. Bearing in mind it…
-
Everything is Better With Burrata
I’m putting this out there – I have only just discovered the wonder that is Burrata. I mean seriously, where has this creamy wonder been all my life? And to my eternal shame, Burrata means “buttered”, and you KNOW how I feel about butter. This folks, is a cheese so great that it even has its’ own Facebook page Burrata Fan Page Apparently, Burrata is “poor man’s Mozzarella”, something I seriously can’t fathom given its lushness. Again, it owes its origin to buffalo milk, which I discovered in my research this week, is actually richer and higher in protein than cow’s milk, making it a perfect candidate for creamy cheese…
-
Get Your Frico On
In view of the upcoming Papal Conclave to elect a new Il Papa, and because the eyes of the world will soon be trained on Rome, I thought I would spend a couple of posts exploring the rich and tasty world of Italian cheese. Dean & Delcua in Doha is very helpful when it comes to identifying its’ cheeses, with little national flags printed on the name and price tags. This was recommended by the cheese counter guy, who later admitted he was actually the deli counter guy moonlighting because cheese guy was “working late” “This one looks good,” he said, pointing at the large round on Montasio, a cheese…
-
Cheesed Off – Food Snobs Show True Colors
Cheesed Off – Food Snobs Show True Colors A quick survey of my fridge will tell you I am not a food snob of any description. I am also quite partial to a wedge of supermarket bought cheese. Which is why this article made me giggle. People take food so seriously, especially in Australia, that it appears unless you have the right pedigree (think milk gently caressed from the udders of cows who have grazed in organic pastures and listen only to Chopin), then it must be low class, or not legitimate. Good for Aldi for keeping it real and affordable.
-
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…
-
Expert? Just add water…
Someone whose opinion I care a lot about questioned my claim to being an proper “expert” in the field of cheese because I lacked any formal qualifications in the area. At the time I was stung by the comment (in hindsight it was perhaps their blunt delivery) but it did make me think about the millions who blog about food and any other subject. Just by writing about the subject, immersing ourselves in it, does that make us an expert? As a journalist for a daily newspaper in a previous life, I was an “instant expert” on the issue I was writing about that day. This was pre internet and…