Yes. Yes. Over here. My oh my. I have been absent haven't I? Well from here, not from life nor kitchen. Two months have rolled on by. Needless to say I am becoming consistently absent. How do people do this whole thing while holding down a full time job? Is anyone else managing a team? a line of business? holding down a bit of a social calendar?! Enough whining!
More or less what's passed since I was last here is that that issue #2 of Traveler has been released. We affectionately call this issue Hula Baby! Isn't that just the most adorable photo? Before I get those comments that seem to follow when people see this cover is that issue #3 will not feature a back side. Over 32-pages Hawaii, Costa Rica, a Kenyan safari and volunteering while on vacation are all vividly illustrated. Each issue--3 and 4 are closing or in development as I write--keeps getting better and better. Although the process has gotten easier each issue is an endeavor. I really like the work as it is rewarding and challenging in equal weight.
So all this marketing of travel has pushed me to make a decision about my summer vacation. So being of sound culinary mind and desire I have decided to journey to Kerala for a culinary tour. India. Lash Pash eh?! My interest in the culture of India started a few years ago with the discovery of Bollywood at the annual SF Asian Film Festival. This moved into a natural and growing interest and exploration of the food of India. I love Bollywood. There I've said it. At this year's festival the Bollywood film Om Shanti Om directed by Farah Khan and starring Shahrukh Khan was shown. If you haven't experienced Bollywood you are missing something special. I spent 9 plus hours watching three films on one day during this year's festival. The third film of the day began at 8:45 pm and at 12:30 am, on a Sunday, the sidewalk outside the Castro was alive with laughing and impromtu dancing. This film is lash pash (fantastic). Drama, comedy, singing, dancing---it has everything.
Now it's a masala of blogs, cookbooks, travel guides and podcasts related to the language, food, music and movies as I prepare for the trip in August. Three weeks in Southern India. Visiting a coconut farm, a tea plantation, home cooking lessons, a spice auction and somewhere along the way I hope to end up on a beach somewhere. But now there's so much to learn, to taste, to understand. So over the next few months as Iaccelerate and build my fundamentals I will share those posts with you. There's quite a few good books that I'm mid-way through including Curry - A Tale of Cooks & Conquerors and Eating India that are not only excellent primers on Indian cuisine but also of a crash course in political history. If anyone has tips, suggestions related to understanding the food of Southern India or places not to be missed please--do let me know.
Me too! I love Bollywood movies. One of the entries in this years Taste of Yellow has blogged about the symbolism in them. There are a lot of entries from Indian women so check it out on 13th May when I post. I'm doing the round up at the moment.
Posted by: barbara | April 14, 2008 at 12:03 AM
the things you learn! I missed Taste of Yellow this year thanks for the heads up!
Posted by: jeanne bee | April 14, 2008 at 06:42 PM
Jeanne - you have until 19th April to enter if you have time and I will probably extend that by a week for those not entering the photo competition.
Posted by: barbara | April 15, 2008 at 11:48 PM
I also am simply addicted to Bollywood movies ever since I saw the award winning film Masala - which depicts and the plight of women living in rural villages in India. I think it came out some 15 years ago.
Having been to India 30+ time and many times to Kerela I'll gladly make some suggestions about the gentler India, Kerela. The history of the area is indeed fascinating.
Kerela is 1/3 Muslim, 1/3 Christian 1/3 Hindu with an elected communist government. Oh and did I mention it has a 98% literacy rate?
Seafood is sweet and wonderful in Kerela. The number one industry is shrimp and number two is the coir industry (my field). From the spice auctions to the tea terraces to the Maharaja’s Hunting Lodge to the peaceful backwaters to the coconut richness of curries…………….ahhh………..Kerela is an amazing and diverse state.
The cuisine of Kerela is quite different from the rest of India. Amma’s Cookbook is a treasure on this. If you want some suggestions us email me.
Shanti
Posted by: shantihhh | April 16, 2008 at 07:35 PM
I love bollywood films - they are so charming
Posted by: littlem | June 28, 2008 at 09:27 PM
On your recommendation, I rented "Om Shanti Om." Although the story-telling was a bit sloppy, I enjoyed it. The badminton sequence in an early musical number (the one from Shanti's film) was especially amazing -- I loved how they synced the racket swings with the music.
And some great lyrics: "My heart is full of the pain of disco / the pain of disco!" (perhaps something was lost in translation).
Posted by: Marc | August 24, 2008 at 09:26 AM
I saw that lyric as since Om lost his arms and legs in the movie he was filming, he wants to dance disco but can't because of that. Or it just is lost in translation.
I have to agree that the Dhoom Tana song (badminton song) is one of my favorite song and dance sequences in the movie.
Posted by: Neena | March 06, 2009 at 11:16 AM