Thai Street Food Festival At J W Marriott

What I like best about Thai street food is that it is cooked fresh in your presence; it is spicy, fresh and contains exotic vegetables. The dishes are less likely to be spoilt by cheap meat like in other restaurants.

 Some years ago, during my visit to Bangkok, I had an opportunity to attend Thai food workshop. I learnt few tricks there and that has benefited me a lot. It is easy to prepare, convenient, very beneficial especially when the unexpected guest arrive and the meal has be prepared in a jiffy. I had developed the taste for Thai food then and presently, it is my preferred and favorite cuisine.

So, when the street Thai food festival comes to my town, how could I miss it?

I had the pleasure of meeting Chef Suriya Phus irimongkhonchai at Spice, J W Marriott. I asked him how Thai food was different from Chinese cuisine. He said that it was less oily, contained more fresh exotic vegetables and he preferred to use roasted meat. Thai cuisine also contains fresh herbs like holy basil, lemon grass, kaffir leaves, that gives it that peculiar taste, other tropical ingredients like coconut milk and fresh fruits bring out its rich flavors.

Almost all Thai dishes are balanced in flavor; they are spicy, sour, salty and have sweet after taste. All the taste buds are aroused with every bite.

 Thai cooking is not only about the right amount of ingredients but also about correct levels of heat and the method of preparation. For instance, papaya salad has to be prepared on the spot, stir-fries tastes good only when served immediately; grinding chilies and garlic with a mortar and pestle really makes a difference in bringing out the flavor of the ingredients.

 Spice at J W Marriott was all set for the festival with different live counters in buffet style serving authentic Thai cuisine.  There were fruits and vegetable carving showcased at different cooking stations. Tuesday, being my strictly veg day, I only ogled at exotic veg food but silently drooled over non-veg dishes.

 I started with Mango salad. Perfectly prepared, (sweet and sour) it transported me back to the narrow lanes of Bangkok. Normally peanuts are used for crunchiness, but cashew nuts lent a richer taste.

Evening passed, trying out the various vegetarian dishes. There was great variety to choose from. Curries, soups, pastas, BBQ, stir fries, exotic salads There was a bigger variety of non-veg food, but I am glad there was limited selection for me or I would have over eaten.

 My favorite was Pad Thai. I stood at the cooking station and watched him prepare, directing him on the quantity of sauces and ingredients as per my taste.

This is how he prepared.

On a huge flat pan he stir-fried the soaked rice noodles, kept them aside

Fried par-boiled vegetables like broccoli, onions, cauliflower, bean sprouts, green beans, and carrots.

Added Pad thai sauce to it

Mixed vegetables with fried noodles

Added peanuts and chili flakes

Squeezed lime-juice on it.

The authentic taste is in pad thai sauce that contains tamarind paste, fish sauce, soy sauce, chili sauce, cayenne pepper, white pepper and brown sugar.

 And finally the plate of exotic fruits with traditional Raum Mith

Worth a visit!! Thai food festival is on from 15^th November to 1^st December at Spice, J W Marriott, Juhu.

Italian Food Festival at ‘Mezzo Mezzo’

During my stay in Rome, few years ago, I spend the days exploring the city but late evenings were spend eating pizzas and pastas on the tables that overflowed on the streets outside the restaurants.

Eating pastas and pizzas are fun food and most of us think that Italian cuisine means just that. But there is more to it. Every region has its own specialty, its’ own distinct set of flavors. When you live in the city for longer stay, you begin to see the difference in taste.

The northern Italians love their rich cream sauces and stuffed meat, but people in the south prefer tangy, spicy flavors, olive oil and fresh steamed seafood. Northern Italy runs on butter, southern Italy make the most of its abundance of olive oils.

This week, an invite to Southern Italian food festival at ‘Mezzo Mezzo’ at J. W Marriott brought back many of those memories.

I would like to make a special mention on the Calamari salad that I relished a lot.

Calamari is tricky meat, if not treated properly, it could become rubbery and hard.

I enjoyed the flavors and asked chef Davide the trick behind such a delicious salad. Was surprised to learn that marinating of calamari was just olive oil, saffron, red chilies powder and white wine. A lime is slit; not squeezing out the juice, just kept inside the bowl to lend its flavor.

For vegetarian there was sprout beans salad too.

In Italy, if you were to ask to be directed to salad dressing aisle at the grocery store, be ready for blank stares because there isn’t one. Italians use authentic olio e aceto (oil and vinegar) in a perfect balance as salad dressing. Preferred choice would be cloudy green oil and aged, balsamic vinegar.

There were Pizzas of course, thin crusted and oven fresh.

Fresh tomatoes, creamy mozzarella and few leaves of peppery sweet basil made it delicious feast. There were also traditional pizzas with anchovies, black olives, diced peppers, onions, etc. Splashing a tobacco or chilly sauce over the pizza is not a good idea; just sprinkling red chilly flakes should do the trick. Condiments should be added to enhance the taste, not to cover the flavors.

Breads occupied the center stage of the bar counter with cheese on one side and olives and cold cuts on other side.

Visitors to Italy often complain about the flavor of plain Tuscan bread, because it is made without salt. It is because they do not know that Italians don’t use it as eat-alone bread. It is often used to mop off the deliciousness left on your plate after a meal, or whatever your fork can’t pick up during one.

Southern Cheeses are also worth mentioning; they tend to be firm though Mozzarella is a wonderful exception, soft and stringy.

Chef Davide was proud of his Italian cuisine and was eager to please. He shared with us many stories of Southern Italian taste, while we enjoyed the sit—down-meals of great varieties of pastas and risottos that was prepared with utmost care.

Italian Food Festival at Mezzo Mezzo (at J W Marriotte) is on till 3^rd November 2013