I had the honour of being interviewed in my capacity as a food blogger for The Saturday Post – here is the full feature.
My Guest Post for ‘Indian Simmer’- Chicken Kebab Sliders in the Pakistani Manner
Friday, April 20, 2012 By 12 Comments
This week I had the honour of guest blogging for someone who has become a close friend of mine through the blogging world- Prerna of Indian Simmer. Prerna is a phenomenal cook and food writer from India who takes beautiful and poetic photos of food; some of the best in the food photography – let alone food blogging – world. You can see these photos for yourself in her post on nankhatai; eggless spiced biscuits or the one on jalebis; sweet, crackly fritters which are washed down with a cup of hot, milky tea.
Prerna is currently working on her first cookery book, the arrival of which we are all eagerly anticipating.
My post on Chicken Kebab Sliders in the Pakistani Manner is here on her lovely blog.
Elaichi Chai- Cardamom Tea in the Pakistani Manner
Sunday, April 8, 2012 By 35 Comments
If you were friendly with one of the House Prefects, you were always guaranteed a thick stack of those buttery, crumbly biscuits for dipping into your milky tea. At 10am, as the bell rang, all of us would push past the Assembly Hall’s heavy doors and greedily reach for the blue and orange rectangular biscuit tins. The Prefects had control over the tins and if you weren’t on good terms with them, you’d have to ask your mates to share some of their goodies with you, which they always did, but rather reluctantly. It was all about survival of the fittest in that Assembly Hall. No one really wanted to share their elevenses with you. Not even your best friend. Everyone huddled together, with their plastic teacup of fragrant Kenyan tea in their hand, dipping the thin sliver of a biscuit with the frilled edges into the hot liquid till it turned just a tad bit soggy and melted in your mouth with each bite. [Read more...]
Guest Post by Kulsum of Journey Kitchen- Mom’s Zarda, Sweetened Saffron Rice in the Indian Manner
Sunday, April 1, 2012 By 27 Comments
Kulsum of Journey Kitchen takes poetic, dreamy photographs of Indian-food-with-a-modern-twist, reminding you of that picnic you plan to have with your friends nestled under a 700-year-old olive tree, when the weather warms up and everyone starts wearing linen and flowing dresses. Your plaid blanket is laid out on the grass, and as everyone chatters, from the wicker basket emerge Kulsum’s home-cooked snackettes- slices of wobbly saffron and almond custard, savoury bites of bruschetta with her homemade paneer, crowned with sweet cherry tomatoes; and small tins of her chocolate cinnamon date truffles, which she made for her family on Eid.
These are the scrumptious treats Kulsum prepares from her kitchen in Kuwait- inspired by her Mom’s cookery style- where she lives with her husband, affectionately referred to as ‘M’ on her blog. I am always in awe of the innovative recipes she creates on her blog week after week. Over time, Kulsum and I have become close friends through Twitter – that may sound odd to many of you- but these days so many of us connect with each other through social media channels.
Kulsoom- which dish or food item reminds you of one of the women in your family; someone you love? My Mom’s Zarda, she said. [Read more...]
Zarreen’s Khagina- Scrambled Eggs with Potatoes in the Pakistani Manner
Tuesday, March 20, 2012 By 21 Comments
Aglio, olio, peperoncino. Tossed with some spaghetti and it’s a full meal for the five friends who end up at your place after a night of hearing the legendary jazz pianist Chucho Valdés perform at the Villa Celimontana. There isn’t much in your fridge or pantry, but you are all hungry, and you do have that holy trinity of garlic, olive oil and red pepper chilli flakes in your pantry. Add a bottle or two of Morellino to the late-dinner mix, even if it may be a bit too tannic for a spicy pasta dish, but it is all you have in the house that night and besides, everyone loves a good bottle from the Maremma. To cleanse the palette after the pasta course, there is a packet of rughetta; arugula- in the fridge, and some tomatoes you bought from the Testaccio market that very morning- tiny, china-red orbs, which your friend slices and tosses with the peppery leaves, adding a drop or two of musky, tart, sweet balsamic vinegar and splashes of fruity, grassy olive oil, from your favourite casale in Umbria. [Read more...]
Aloo Keema Bun- Sloppy Joes (Yousefs) in the Pakistan Manner
Monday, March 5, 2012 By 30 Comments
I cannot take credit for the Sloppy Yousefs witty title, my friend MAR suggested it- many thanks to him.
My Nani Ami used to make a humble ‘meat and potatoes’ dish- fragranced with notes of spicy ginger and black cardamom, it was cooked slowly, over a low flame. It wasn’t like that posh ‘meat and potatoes’ dish you have at Sassafraz- that perfectly scarlet-from-the-inside beef tenderloin you eat alongside a rectangular tower of a crispy, butter-slicked potato galette. The dish in which you glide your knife through the galette, sweep it through that glob of Dijon mustard and then impale a slice of beef on your fork, before washing it all down with a deep, earthy Malbec. [Read more...]
Chana Dal- Lentil Soup in the Pakistan Manner
Monday, February 20, 2012 By 38 Comments
There is a tiny panificio on the corner of Via Galvani and Via Mastro Giorgio in Testaccio where they sell wee rose-shaped hollow bread rolls called rosette. If you’re going to pop in to buy their rosette, make sure you go on a Thursday, because on that particular day, they prepare a fresh ciambella; ring-cake, which you buy thick slices of by the gram, warm in your oven for breakfast, slather with yoghurt and wash down with a caffè latte made with your favourite Palombini coffee beans. [Read more...]
Happy 2012 & My Workshop
Monday, January 2, 2012 By 19 Comments
Dear Lovely Readers, Thank you for your readership over the past few years and for all the support.
I wanted to wish you all a Happy New Year- I hope that you had a fun and relaxing holiday.
Many of you have kindly written, asking if I have stopped blogging- oh dear, that is most definitely not the case. I am still going to blog- to cook, to write, to photograph- do all things which I adore; I hope to resume blogging again in a few weeks.
x shayma
MY COOKERY WORKSHOP- FOOD IS LOVE:
For my Canadian readers- I will be teaching a ‘cocktail party workshop’ at Evergreen Brickworks on February 9th, entitled: FOOD IS LOVE- based on my childhood memories. I’ll be teaching you how to create small Persian- and Pakistani-spiced plates, (a mix of vegetarian and non-vegetarian) influenced by the recipes I have inherited from the women in my family, while giving them a modern twist. Preparing Persian or Pakistani dishes can seem time-consuming and challenging, but they are not. Come and join us to prepare small plates using ingredients from our farmer’s market. I will also be preparing a fancy-coloured cocktail to pair with the treats.
On the cocktail menu, there will be the following, for example:
Pomegranate & Rosewater Essence Sparkling Wine Cocktail
Saffron Chicken and Roasted Red Bell Pepper Brochette with a Cucumber Yoghurt Dip
Farmer’s Cheese, Dried Cranberry, Walnut and Tarragon Tartine
This is the link to sign up for my workshop.
Prawn Masala in the Pakistani Manner
Wednesday, November 16, 2011 By 31 Comments
Lahore. The city of my birth. The city of the humble samosa. That flaky, deep-fried triangular parcel stuffed with cumin-laced, spicy potatoes you buy from the dhaba; kiosk, from that little alley behind Liberty Market, where they sell glass bangles, twirled and twisted organza scarves and sparkly rhinestone-studded sandals. Greasy and stuffed into a khaki paper bag, you bring the samosas home and eat them hot, dipping them in a red, tangy-tart chili garlic sauce which comes out of that famous Mitchell’s glass bottle. And after that first bite, you slip your finger tips into the handle of your teacup and take a sip of cardamom-fragranced milky tea, to wash it all down. With each sip, the tannins burn your mouth even more. [Read more...]
Montreal Birthday Weekend
Wednesday, October 19, 2011 By 34 Comments
Honestly, I understand the sentiment, but what was the hotel thinking when they put a 20cm sparkler on my birthday cake? At midnight on Friday, my husband almost set the bed on fire, and no, I am not talking dirty on my blog. I mean literally, as in potential flames with smoke. Just back in our hotel room after a lovely bistro dinner, he lit the sparkler and it started spitting out sparks (erm, that’s what it is supposed to do, we realise that). Thankfully, Z quickly moved it to the table, averting a fire. Since we were too busy laughing our arses off, I forgot to make a wish, but the important bit is that we both ate a large chunk of that sludgy, dark chocolate cake with sweet, tart raspberry compote on the side. And that’s how our less-than-48hour-weekend began. [Read more...]
