F&F Abroad!

I'm still not over KKR's final win. Wow. What an amazing moment. God bless Kolkata and God bless Shahrukh. Okay, now back to business. I've written a lot about local food and local fashion in my previous blog posts but now, time for something different! The Food & Fashion Blog goes abroad! 

Where? You'll just have to wait till I get there, dress up for you guys and show you how to dress when you're in particular places abroad. Also, I'll post about the amazing food there and the best places to gorge. This is going to be really fun and I hope you're looking forward to it as much as I am!

Yep... That's pretty much all I want to say. Has to be my shortest post ever but you must forgive me. Cheering at the top of my voice at KKR's last four and shedding happy tears at their win has certainly taken a lot out of me. So now I'm just gonna haul myself to bed and the next time I post it'll be from S... Oh no! I almost spilled the beans there! Oh well, at least you have a clue to go by now ;)

Stay Hungry and Foolish till next time guys!

xoxo

D  

Masterchef Australia

Here and now and I'm feeling fine! Hang on cause it's a crazy riiiiide!

Masterchef Australia has to be my favourite culinary show on television. There's something pure and genuine about it which no other culinary show has.Masterchef USA was a major disappointment according to me and Gordon Ramsey just made it another Hell's Kitchen. He was everything that Masterchef isn't. Normally, the American versions of most of the shows are the most popular but I'm gonna have to disagree strongly when it comes to Masterchef.

Masterchef Australia was the 1st of the Masterchefs to be aired in India and all of us, I'm sure developed an immediate liking towards George and Gary. Their jolly and fun personalities are really hard to hate. Matt Preston got his credibility to this show, being a world famous food critic. His fashion, though, really has no credibility and often gives me the impression of a gay giant. The 2nd season, which they aired in India had no adverts in the beginning! But then as its popularity grew, so did the ads. Masterchef Australia stands out because of many outstanding qualities- Firstly, I think that it is the only culinary show which concentrates so much on the food and the content in each episode. Each episode is just so wholesome that it never feels like a waste of time. The amazing Australian produce just gets me excited beyond words and I'd give anything to enter that Masterchef pantry. Yes, definitely on my list of fantasies. Secondly, like most shows are, Masterchef Australia never tries to encourage backbiting and badmouthing amongst the contestants. This is such a relief, because after watching shows like The Bachelor and Keeping Up with the Kardashians (don't judge me, it's hilarious) a gold old diplomatic stance is all we need.

GARY 

Yes, I love Gary. He's one of the main reasons I love Masterchef Australia SO much. I love how sarcastic and snide he is and I just love him and George together. It would be my ultimate dream to cook in a kitchen with Gary Mehigan. My absolute favourite Masterchef judge! He's always there to help anyone with any food emergency and I just adore him. Without him, Masterchef would be a lot less beautiful.

GEORGE

The cute, bald and always jumpy George Calombaris! He's the perfect company for Gary and both of them together can just bring any house, in this case, kitchen down! One of the things we didn't know about dear old Georgie is that he was once Gary's apprentice! Yes. Wow.

MATT PRESTON

Will have to be my least favourite Masterchef judge. His size is almost unattractive, his superiority complex is annoying and his dressing sense is just stupid. Don't get me wrong, he's one of the best food critics and stuff but when I look at him I feel like he really shouldn't be eating anymore :P



All in all, I love this show and if you have a real passion for food, this is the only show that fulfills that passion completely. Other shows that aren't half bad are, Come Dine with Me on BBC ENTERTAINMENT but be prepared for a lot of badmouthing and other such reality tv-ish qualities. Nigella on TLC, if you don't mind her annoying way of talking seductively about food and just MAYBE Masterchef USA, which according to me has completely ruined the Masterchef tradition. So watch it if you wanna hear Gordan Ramsey get unnecessarily angry over food and abusing it and its chefs.

Until then, I hope you'll are watching and enjoying Junior Masterchef Australia as much as I am! My fav is Pierre. Who's yours?

xoxo
D

Inside...

Yes. I'm sure many of you are jealous. But don't be too hard on yourself, I'm gonna spill everything I saw and learned in the Le 15 Patisserie kitchen! Owner, Pooja Dhingra, so young and still so amazing showed us around and also told us a few things we didn't know. 

The Le15 story started two years ago and has become an increasingly popular patisserie in such a short time. If you remember, I posted under Binge Eating about the amazing cupcakes and macaroons from this place. But that's not all. Pooja makes almost everything dessert! Tarts, Birthday Cakes, Wedding Cakes and a lot more. I took my friend ChicChick♥ along to share my excitement! We tied our hair before we entered the sacred kitchen and saw Pooja's elves at work. The Paan Macaroons were in the making! Wow, they looked SO pretty. So pretty, that I forced Pooja to show how she makes them herself :P

That's right, Paan Macaroons in the making!

The Master showing us how it's done

SMILE!

Owning and managing a patisserie when you're so young isn't that easy. We asked Pooja about how hard it was to start it but she said she dove straight into it without thinking. She works 12 hours a day and 7 days a week. Oh my god. How does she do it? She does take a 5 day holiday after about 4 months of this stressful schedule when she just can't take it anymore. Her mum takes care of the business when she's chilling. Awww.. Don't you just love mothers? 

As an eater, Pooja isn't very fussy but her favourites are cheesecake from The Tasting Room and Panacotta from Pali Village Cafe. She also loves Asian cuisine. Le 15 uses all the basic ingredients from Mumbai but imports the chocolate. Everything in this little workshop is made by Santa and her little helpers by hand. Le 15 makes about 1000 cupcakes a day. Phew! Imagine that! It hardly takes us a second to devour them though ;) just like we did our Red Velvet Cupcakes that you gave us. Yummmmmmm! 

Doing what I do best, EAT!

5 Things You Don't Know About Being A Pastry Chef 

- by Pooja Dhingra

• Being a pastry chef isn't easy. You're on your feet all day, it isn't always fun and you don't get any weekends off!
• It's an extremely creative occupation. You have to keep coming up with newer recipes, packaging and variety to keep your clients happy.
• Occupational Hazard: You eat A LOT, so obviously put on a few unwanted kilos.
• Holidays like Christmas, New Year's, etc. are no time to sit back and relax. Infact, they're your busiest periods!
• Everybody loves you. Yes, I can live with that! 

Awww :)

Apart from making the most amazing desserts, Le15 also has the most stylish packaging which I think adds to its Parisian feel. Cute pink boxes with satin and pictures of painted cupcakes, who wouldn't like that?

Today was a REALLY fun day and I just loved poking my nose into Pooja's business and annoying her with questions. I hope she found it at least half as fun as I did ;) 

Wishing her all the best from The Food & Fashion Blog ♥

xoxo

D

What Went Wrong?

Over a certain period of time, we develop a certain affection for certain characters, actors and singers on screen. They start out as heart throbs and gorgeous looking people known for their style but suddenly lose their way. My question is WHY? Why don't they just continue to be the way they are and dress as well as they used to. But I'm not a celeb and I really don't know what secrets lie beneath those curls. They suddenly have mid-life crises and completely change their look. In these posts, we discuss those fashion turnovers.

Like any girl my age, I have had many on-screen loves and many of them have faded away as well. One of them is the Gossip Girl star, Penn Badgley who plays Dan Humphrey on the show. He was my favourite guy in that show and I just loved him. Until recently, in the 5th season, he seems to have lost his way. The same hot bod, amazing personality but absolutely disgusting hair! What Went Wrong? I really do not know. Let's have a look.

Lonely Boy in Season 1

Not so lonely in Season 5

Again, my question is, What Went Wrong? Weren't Blair's snide comments about your hair enough to make you realize your new hair is downright disgusting? All I wanna say is Dan, we did love you when you looked yourself in Season 1. Right until Season 4, your hair was tolerable. But Season 5 just takes the cake. The greasy and overgrown look really isn't appealing. I hope you get a new stylist for Season 6. Until then, we pray for Blair.

More What Went Wrongs coming up!

xoxo

D

Summer Fragrance No. 1

When summer starts, all the stores get busy coming up with their new line of things that compliment the summer. Sunglasses, swimsuits, sundresses, etc. But perfumes that inspire the summer are my favourite!

Not everyone gets it right though. What I look for in summer fragrances is a fresh and citrus tone in it. Even sweet and flowery might do it. What I really hate are the really strong ones that are almost screaming out, "Try us! We smell like summer!" The first summer fragrance I tried this season is from The Body Shop. They have 3 new summer fragrances but the one I liked best is called Dreams Unlimited. In a pretty blue and yellow bottle, the perfume is what summer is all about. The other two fragrances are also pretty decent, but not as great as DU. The bottles look pretty and summery and have a very cocktailish look about them.

Trust me, Dreams Unlimited should be your fragrance this summer. It's the first one I've tried and already it's competing for the first spot. I liked it so much that I squirted half the bottle on myself this afternoon after making sure there was no salesperson around. Oh come on, don't tell me you haven't done that!

So, keep checking this space as I go looking out for more fragrances that will make your summer sexier than it already is. Until then, sip on smoothies and gorge on mangoes!

xoxo
D

My SRK Moment.

Okay, a little off topic but can't not blog about it. I mean, meeting Shah Rukh Khan isn't something you can keep under wraps for long, no matter how 'cool' you try to be. I couldn't have asked for a better time and place to meet him. It was as if the gods had finally put their everything into this meeting. Too dramatic? Get used to it cause I MET  SHAH RUKH KHAN!

I'm not usually the crazy-after-celebs types but there are some people who definitely do this to me and Shahrukh's definitely part of this list. Who else is a part of it? Matthew Perry cause he played the legendary Chandler Bing without whom I can't imagine my life, Daniel Radcliffe for playing Harry Potter, my first love and Leonardo Dicaprio for being Jack Dawson. I'd be definitely as excited if I met either of these beautiful people. But my SRK moment, oh my god. Everyone who's on my speed dial knows what this meant to me and has also heard my narration of this blessed event (some more than once).

I was in Jaipur and accompanying my dad for the IPL. I'm not that much into cricket myself but the IPL does get me excited. I know many cricket lovers will loathe me for saying this cause the Test matches are the real cricket and one-days are the real nail biters and blah blah blah! But I'm going to have to disagree. For a teenager who didn't know what an inning was till the 7th standard, who has very little patience and who loves movies, the IPL is JUST right. 20 overs- Manageable. Bright coloured jerseys- Enjoyable. Music at every 4, 6, catch, run out and end of over- Fun. And the prospect of meeting Shah Rukh at a KKR game- Exhilarating. So in short, if you haven't guessed it already, I love the IPL and have been supporting the Kolkata Knight Riders since the 1st season. Okay, it MIGHT have started out just for the King who's knights they are but now I honestly love the team and know the players. For real.

Getting back to my moment. There was a KKR match when I was in Jaipur, couldn't have been luckier!
So there I was, at the game, proudly sporting my KKR jersey at an away game, cheering for my team at the top of my voice and a little conflicted when Rajasthan lost a wicket due to my affection for Rahul Dravid. When suddenly, out of nowhere, people silently entered our box and waited. They were waiting for someone else to enter and there just like that out of nowhere, SHAHRUKH KHAN entered our box!!! My heart literally skipped a beat. He came in, giving his acquaintances his typical hugs and kisses and turned around for a moment. At that moment I looked into his sunglasses and Ajab Si started playing in my head. Then he looked in front again and in a swift movement, climbed into the stand ahead to watch his team play more closely. Cricket fans might pelt stones at me for this statement but I had no idea what was happening in the match from then on. All I could think about was Don, Rahul, Om, Veer and G.One so close to me. Then eventually I was introduced and we got a picture together. He expressed his happiness at me supported Kolkata and I retorted saying that everyone around me wasn't too happy and he gave me a thumbs up for it.
After that I went crazy bombarding all the social networking sites I was a part of with my picture and my joy.

Shah Rukh was dressed in a navy KKR tee which looked SO good on him with his Tag Heur Glasses hung on the neck of the tee. He also wore aviators and his hair looked just like in the movies. I was wearing Forever 21 shorts, my KKR jersey and Tommy Hilfiger chappals- the perfect outfit for a match. More about that in my next post for sure :) Till then, feast your eyes on this picture. I sure have.

xoxo

D

Ratatouille.

Pronunciation: (rat-a-too-ee)

I know. I loved the movie as well. Everything about it, the setup being in Paris, beautiful French music playing throughout and mainly, it was about FOOD. 

The movie is about a rat who wants to become a chef. I can SO relate to that! Because I wanna become a chef too, not because I'm a rat. Which I'm not. So anyway, he does become a chef in the end and everyone's happy. The movie was Oscar nominated and it really deserved it.

This post is about the actual dish. So everyone finally knows what it actually is, besides being a very famous Pixar movie. Ratatouille is a dish made with vegetables likes zuchini, bell peppers, tomatoes, aubergines, etc. You make a kind of stew with the tomatoes, place the veggies on top if it very neatly an pop it in the oven for 2 hours.You can also make a kind of vinaigrette to dress it with after it's done. 

So that's what ratatouille is. 

Why did I blog about it? No reason in particular! Just a sudden bout of affection for this wholesome and colourful dish which isn't always given the credit it deserves. The best Ratatouille I've had? I'm still kinda on the quest and will get back to you as soon as I find a winner!

Until then, remember,"Anyone Can Cook!"

xoxo
D