Click here for the winning recipe, and here for my interview, (above).

I am pleased and honoured to share with my readers that my recipe for Borani Esfanaaj won the Food52 competition for ‘Your Best Spinach Recipe’ this week and will be published in a crowdsourced cookbook entitled ‘Food52′ by HarperStudio. (Here is my recipe and the story of inspiration behind it, on my blog). (more…)

Wonders of Pakistan Part V: Glass bangle shopping in Chooriyon wali gali; the Alley of Bangles, Lahore, December 2009.

La vita è bella

“It’s your last night here, what would you like to eat, Baba?,” I ask my father.
I know he likes the straccetti alla rughetta at Da Francesco in Piazza del Fico.
“A home-cooked meal. Dal and chawal,” he answers. (more…)

Wonders of Pakistan IV: my husband. It’s his birthday today, on St. Patty’s Day.

My own recipe for a chocolate cake with fleur de sel chocolate ganache, for his birthday dinner tonight.

This recipe won the competition on Food 52 for “Your Best Spinach Recipe”. It will be published in the Food 52 book by HarperStudio. Here is the link.

In Memoriam- for Mader and the innocent victims who died on Friday, March 12th in Lahore…

Asked what one thing he wanted from the outside world before being hanged, a prisoner once said, “Bring me a bottle of Shalimar, to remind me of the best things in life.”

Feeling a little flat all day, after hearing about the 10 suicide bombings which took place in my hometown of Lahore, I took a little walk after work to our local department store. I went to the Chanel counter to apply Chanel No. 19 to my wrists. Bergamot and sweet cut grass, the scents of my grandmother, Mader, who left us 20 years ago this March. (more…)

Yassi’s As-Moist-As-a-Pudding Date Cake

Yassi sits on her stool in the kitchen kneading the glossy détrempe for la pâte feuilletée; puff pastry. There is no beurre sec, but Lurpak will do. Her silver and black hair is in short waves and immaculate as always; her pastel kurta is starched. Yassi’s slender, milky fingers are bare as they push the dough back and forth, like a potter with her clay. Her mother’s vintage ring bearing three overlapping leaves in rose, yellow and white gold removed and placed in the porcelain Wedgewood jewelry jar given to her by her daughter-in-law. She looks at the granite counter, “It would be lovely to have a cup of champagne resting there for small sips while the dough rests,” she thinks. But she is no longer in her Paris kitchen, she is in Karachi. (more…)

I am most honoured to have been interviewed by Qype, London, a Hamburg-based web 2.0 company centred around social networking and local reviews. In it, I talk about ladyfingers, Raoul’s in London and how I came to start this blog. Thank you for your readership, as always, Shayma

You can read it by clicking on this link.

Wonders of Pakistan Part III: A midnight run to the fruit-wallah, with my Uncle, Lahore, December 2009.

Currying Favour with the Portuguese

The great Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan, King of the World (1592-1666), died in confinement, in Agra Fort, imprisoned by his son, Aurangzeb. As he lay dying, he looked down from the balcony of the Musamman Burj tower at the pearlescent dome of the Taj Mahal he created for his beloved wife. (more…)

I have been tagged for un même by a dear friend in Real Life, the gorgeous Mrs T.

Mrs Trefusis, an Important Person in the Glossy Magazine World, writes a lyrical blog called Mrs Trefusis Takes A Taxi, (”because she eschews sensible shoes”). She can write eloquently and beautifully about any subject, which is the reason why I am addicted to her blog, be it on A Working Woman’s Dilemma to On Beauty and Looking Younger to writing about life at home with her Trefusis Clan. She is self-effacing, beautiful and witty. Here is the link to her blog.

In “My blogs to watch in 2010“, Mrs Trefusis has tagged me to write 10 things about myself. In true Pakistani tradition, I shall go with Eleven- we always make it an odd number- which is auspicious and symbolises continuity.

So, my Eleven:

(more…)