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. Read More
Archives for March 2010
posted on March 21, 2010 by
Dal- Lentils in the Pakistani / Afghan Manner
posted on March 17, 2010 by
Wordless Wednesday
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.
posted on March 14, 2010 by
Borani Esfanaaj-Yoghurt and Spinach Dip in the Persian Manner
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.Read More
posted on March 9, 2010 by
Date Cake
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. Read More