Thanet is special!

Taking Thanet produce to Earls court in London.

It is a matter of great pride to show case produce from our area at National forums. The Real Food festival at Earls court in London was great fun. Quex Rapeseed oil was our star product. There is a buzz around Rapeseed oil . It seems as if it is the cooking oil of the future.Cold pressed oil from our fields produced using environment friendly farming clearly stood out in the crowd for the most distinct flavours. Its the fertile soil of Thanet after all!

The sky is the limit!

A big thank you to dearest dada (Big brother).Thursday was one of the greatest escapes I had since months. Flying is addictive. It is a strange sense of freedom...almost as if it is intrinsic human nature to be air borne. May be the exhilaration comes from being able to challenge your intrinsic natural capabilities. I do not know as yet .Perspectives change in the cockpit and you realise how insignificant our day to day pursuits are in the bigger scheme of things. The most mind blowing sight is our coast. Its pristine. It looks like a perfect piece of art by the greatest artist in the universe.Canterbury looks like a chess board with the mighty cathedral as the centre piece. The most amazing sight is the landing at Headcorn . You feel transformed back in time landing amongst sheep in the flat lush green meadows of Kent.

Promoting Quex Park , Thanet and specially Margate at Kent 2020

Hi everybody.


Kent 2020 was an interesting experience. I am not an early bird. In fact sometimes I forget what the wee hours of the day looks like. Anyways this was a exceptionally early start. Nick Hewer the man from the TV series The Apprentice was our special guest of honour. His speech started with a comment on Margate and how the challenge of reviving our town was extremely difficult. The rest of his speech was the story of The Apprentice and Sir Alan Sugar. A few of the other speakers indulged in some more Margate bashing .I felt some how the isle of Thanet had the status of an unknown and uninhabitated island in the agenda of most speakers.Anyways, I believe any publicity is good publicity and Margate got a fair share of it! I was lucky enough to introduce myself to one of the speakers later on in the day. I said we are a michelin recommended restaurant and we serve fine food and draw people from all over the county. "So where are you based?" he asked. "We are in MARGATE sir" I said with mixed feelings of pride and humility.

Air travel chaos,No Nile Perch, Kent 2020 , Lambs heart etc

Hi
The day started with no supply of my favourite Nile perch from Tanzania. I love the fish for its firm texture and subtle flavour. Its also fully traceable and reduces pressure on demands of local fish some of which are overfished. So the Icelanding Volcano Eyjafjallajokull (God knows how its pronounced!) is hitting us hard in sunny Margate. Anil is still stuck in New Delhi. I was glad to see an email from him today. The highlight of the day was the return of a full alcohol license for the restaurant. I would personally extend a heartiest "Thank You " to our licensing manager and his team in Thanet district council. I spent most of the day at Detling preparing for the Kent 2020 with the team from Quex Park. I am looking forward to be a part of the event tomorrow.

Travel chaos, Sugar free fig pudding

The chaos in air travel is taking its toll. Its amazing how events happening in remote corners of our planet touches lives across borders and continenents. A small splinter has a domino effect and ends up in a conflageration somewhere else. Anil my head chef is stuck in India. Work load compelled me to cancel a charity dinner with students of King Ethelbert school. We were trying to raise money for an aids orphanage in Goa ,Western India. Any ways, its an opportunity to get back to the stove and indulge... I have been working on refreshing the dessert menu since the past few days. I stumbled upon this simple but amazingly tasty pudding in my search for a new dessert. The most important thing is its sugarfree! Let me share the recipe.

Sugar free Fig pudding.

Cook 200Gms of dry figs in boiling water for about five minutes. Drain and puree them in a food processor. Keep aside. Heat three tablespoons of ghee or clarified butter in a heavy bottomed pan,add half a cup of powdered almond and saute over medium flame for about two minutes.Add the pureed figs, 1/3 cup milk powder with 1/2 cup of water and cook for about fifteen minutes stirring continuously.Sprinkle 1/4 teaspoon green cardamom powder and mix well. Serve hot.

Its as simple as that! Enjoy.

Its time to fall in love again.

Hi everybody

I am sure all of us go through this. I am not the only one. You do something regularly for a certain time and then the joy goes out of it. We all crave for inspiration from time to time. Moments of love in what we do are rare sparks in life. In my case these are bursts of intense creativity with ingredients, textures and flavours . Ideas about food and new culinary experiences fire me up. I am experimenting with some new flavours for a new spring menu. We are working on ways to cook rabbit in three different ways. I have never had more respect for the beautiful animal in my entire life. I have found a way of using every part of the animal. Spices such as cinnamon and nutmeg lift the sweet gamey flavour of the meat to divine proportions. A sugar free fig pudding is also turning out well. I have plans to serve this with an unique betel leaf ice cream. I feel its time to fall in love again...

Dev ,the Michelin dilemma and Thanet

Hi friends! The Indian Princess finally got recommended in the Michelin guide this year. However the excitement was shortlived as the initial jubilation was drowned in a series of events that followed. First it was rumors of The Indian Princess closing down followed by a follow up visit by an anonymous Michelin inspector who wasnt happy with the building and location of the restaurant. The final blow came as an enforcement by the local licensing authorities on the alcohol license. I had a taste of local bureaucracy neat on the rocks. Life all of a sudden turned very dramatic. I remember waking up one morning and thinking "Why is it so difficult? What is going to hit me today? My heart goes out to all the people who came out to stand by us during these turbulent times. I received help from unexpected corners. Genuine people and real friends who follow section 27 of "The Common sense Act". Thank you Mariette, Tim, Liam Louise and all other friends and well wishers in TDC. The story of The Indian Princess is getting more and more interesting as months go by. My determination to stay and serve customers in Margate is also getting stronger.