For the love of chocolate

Gentle readers, while you swoon with desire over the offerings above, let me say that the pic was taken over 3 years ago. I only have a 1kg slab of Dairy Milk and a monster bar of Toblerone in my 'fridge.

Honest!

Anyway, here's some seasonal cheer for all my readers....

Chocolate is actually good for you!!!

Many thanks to Medscape and my friend Dujeepa for this heart warming compilation.

Perspective (the small print)

In a commentary on Medscape,[35] Henry Black said, "What does that mean to us? Does it mean that we should start eating chocolate? Does it mean that we should prefer dark chocolate instead of milk chocolate or white chocolate? Perhaps. If we are going to recommend eating chocolate, we would like to be sure that we get the right kind. It is possible that there's something here that we actually like to do. We have to make sure that we watch the calories, that we don't gain too much weight, because we're pretty sure that eating too much isn't good for you either."

As for the Nobel Prize-winning chocolate eaters, Dr. Black added, "This is a bit tongue-in-cheek, and I want to congratulate the New England Journal of Medicine for having a sense of humor."

1. Flammer AJ, Sudano I, Wolfrum M, Thomas R, et al. Cardiovascular effects of flavanol-rich chocolate in patients with heart failure. Eur Heart J. 2012;33:2172-2180. http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/770473 Accessed November 19, 2012.
2. Golomb BA, Koperski S, White HL Association between more frequent chocolate consumption and lower body mass index. Arch Intern Med. 2012;172:519-521.
3. Brown T. Frequent chocolate consumption linked to lower BMI. Medscape Medical News. March 26, 2012. http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/760920Accessed November 19, 2012.
4. Zomer E, Owen A, Magliano DJ, Liew D, Reid CM. The effectiveness and cost effectiveness of dark chocolate consumption as prevention therapy in people at high risk of cardiovascular disease: best case scenario analysis using a Markov model. BMJ. 2012;344:e3657.
5. Grassi D, Desideri G, Necozione S, et al. Protective effects of flavanol-rich dark chocolate on endothelial function and wave reflection during acute hyperglycemia. Hypertension. 2012;60:827-832.
6. Messerli FH. Chocolate consumption, cognitive function, and Nobel laureates. N Engl J Med. 2012;367:1562-1564.

Happy Holidays Everyone!

Waffling around

Does anyone remember Waffler's? That place down Duplication Road just before you reach the British Council? They used to serve delicious savoury waffles and had an open kitchen so you could see all the yumminess in the making. No? Oh well....

So yes, I had a great birthday, and thank you to all my friends who commented and wished me!

Yes, there was cake, the absolutely scrumptious type made by Mrs. G at Carlville Place... all soft and moist and slathered in chocolate icing. The Bumtrinket couldn't take her eyes off it, and I swear she was drooling all over her little shirt because I was too mean to share it with her! :) Some of my dearest friends popped over, and we had a great time talking about the "good old days". Better yet, Darling remembered how much I love cheese eclairs, and ordered some from Sponge, so my cup was full and overflowing.

Throughout the day, I was craving waffles. I loooo...ove waffles, the savoury ones for preference and used to be a devoted client of Waffler's. Perhaps they went bankrupt after I failed to drop by on a weekly basis. I make nice waffles too... used to, anyway. It seems too much of a hassle these days to clean out the waffle iron, search for the hand mixer, measure out the ingredients etc.

Colombo has many places that offer up waffles, but few that meet up to what I truly desire.Coffee Stop does an ok one, but it's very thick and only has sweet toppings. Thaprobane also offers up waffles during their Sunday Brunch, and these are much thinner and crispier and you have the option of walking around the buffet in search of creative toppings. But this would mean springing Rs.2000/- for the whole buffet and a bit of a waste if you're only interested in waffles.

Coco Varendah serves up a savoury waffle topped with sausages, bell pepper and cheese which is just awful! The dough is heavy and the waffle is hard so you have to chew through it untill your jaw aches. Sensal (Nawala) has freshly prepared waffles which are very nice, but also only have the sweet toppings. Oh, and avoid the caramel sauce at all costs. The Commons also had nice waffles, but the quality has gone down as of late. Waffles etc. at ODEL was also a bit of a let down. I mean, these aren't too bad, but a waffle is basically flour, butter milk and eggs. if you're dishing out Rs. 300-500/- for a waffle, there has to be some value for money.

After much... er... waffling, I decided to give harpo's another chance and try Park Street Mews.

ZOMG!!! Their ham, mushroom and cheese waffle is the best I've tasted... ever! It's quite large and filling, the waffle is crisp around the edges and soft in the middle. The cheese oozes over everything. In the words of Elizabeth Gilbert, I love that waffle so much, I believe it loves me in return. Waffles are only available from 3-7pm, BUT they were nice enough to make a couple from us "after hours".

If you like waffles, then this is a must try!

Back in hospital...

... the Dutch hospital, that is!

Took a leaf off Indi's book for this image, as all others I found were copyright

After weeks and weeks of hearing, reading and looking at pictures, I finally managed to go and check it out for myself. First impressions were like "wow, Colombo cleans up nice!" as I made Darling drive round and round the environs with me hanging out of the window in true Banda (Bandi?) Kolamba giya style.

The Dutch hospital was simply breathtaking, with the tall pillars and the massive wooden beams. With Bubs firmly strapped on to my chest, we proceeded to walk around, drinking in the colours (especially at Odel and Barefoot) and the smells (not such a fan of the cigarette smoke, though).

My second impression was an eerie flash back to the days spent in training at the Angoda mental hospital, now the National Institute of Mental Health. The same high vaulted ceilings, the same inner courtyard, the same massive walls and large windows, albeit with stout iron bars across them. I could just imagine how it was, centuries ago as pallid seamen and other patients lay on mats against the walls.

I loved the decor at the Hilton run restaurant ... and decided to order from their somewhat limited menu. All I can say was that I was really disappointed with the chicken schnitzel, the meat had been pounded so thin it resembled not so much a fillet than a slice of salami and the accompaniments were kinda meh. It compares very poorly with the one served at Urban Kitchen (Arpico, Hyde Park), which is not only nice and meaty, but comes with delicious hummus, grilled tomatoes, mushrooms and cheese. Dee has a review of other foods here.

We then went to check out the Heladiv tea club, which was charmingly decorated (a blue chandelier, I kid you not!) and smelled amazing. We decided to skip the tea and just take some dessert home as the Bumtrinket was going all kolavery di. The death by chocolate cake made a serious attempt to live up to its name. Although slathered in nice gooey icing, the cake itself was unbelievably thick and heavy (helloooo, baking powder?) and I swear I could feel it sitting like a rock in my stomach a good hour later. The chocolate eclair was slightly dry and an absolute rip off at Rs. 190/-., even though it had a fresh chocolate cream filling. Galle Face Hotel does a larger eclair with fresh chocolate cream for Rs. 50/- which is heavenly as long as it is fresh (choux pastry is nasty when stale). CJ sampled some other stuff on their menu, and his views can be found here.

On the way back we popped into Chocoluv, which had opened an outlet at Gregory's road. The ambiance was marvelous with shiny piles of frerro roche chocolate, fresh flowers, lots of mirrors and butterfly cutouts suspended from the ceiling. We had a frerro milkshake and a kinder milkshake, which were absolutely scrummy, and at Rs.250/- value for money.

Yup, that was a pretty good day! :D

A Seasonal wish...

Whew!

I, gentle readers, am having a whirlwind of a festive season and that whirlwind is taking both Darling and the Bumtrinket along with it.

Best of all, is that my Mum is home for the holidays, though only for a week. It's great to have her around and be able to lie next to her and talk to my heart's content. We're both having so much fun with Baby... loads of hugs and kisses and silly songs involved... Hopefully she'll be back again next month, so that's something to look forward to!

Of course, no celebration is complete without literary fare, so during the past couple of days, I have been digging into these...

Yup, 15 of Roald Dahl's finest titles. The collection was a gift from me to Darling... but it's actually a gift for myself! :)

The Phizwizzing Collection

Now, one cannot live on love, books and fresh air. For the Bumtrinket's first Christmas, we went to a celebration at her great grandfather's place (D's grandfather). I have no pictures of the scrumptious lunch we ate, simply because no one wanted to wait long enough for pictures! However, I need to place on record that Darling's grandma makes THE BEST pork curry I have ever tasted! My humble contribution was a peaches and cream cheesecake, adapted from my secret recipe. Happily, pictures are available!

Yummy!

Scrummy!

And you know what else made my day? My biggest cousin got me my most favourite chocolate ever, because he heard I was hankering after it...

Yes, that is ONE KILOGRAM of chocolate, and no, I am not sharing!

Naturally, the little pipsqueak had to be garbed in a suitably festive manner. Last week, I went a little crazy at baby shops, visiting about half a dozen (accompanied by Baby and the nanny). The stuff cost the better part of Rs. 3000/-, baby clothes seeming to follow the same trend as lingerie, i.e. the smaller it is, the more it costs... You have to admit though, my purchases are oozing with cuteness and the baby was a picture to behold when she was all dolled up to my heart's content!

Finally, Darling and I watched the Hogfather, punctuated in between by feedings, burpings and rockings to sleep.. .

Gentle readers, may you have a festive season full of joy love and good cheer... and wishes for the very best from myself, Darling and Baby!

Easy no-egg, no-bake cheesecake

It's been ages since I had a foodie post... and since WikiLeaks has been planning to release my secret recipie, I decided to put this up as a pre-emptive strike.

Note to self: when tall blonde Australian dudes try to hit you up, go easy on the alcohol, since it is desirable to have some secrets remain so.

You will need

150g marie biscuit crumbs (a little less than 2 packets)
80g unsalted butter, melted
250ml whipping cream
250g cream cheese (room temperature)
1/4 cup of sugar (not sure how much that is in grams)
1 tsp vanilla


Method

Mix the butter and the biscuit crumbs. Grease the bottom and the sides of a 8-9 inch cake tray and press the crumb mixture onto the bottom and about an inch up the sides. Put it in the fridge to chill.

Beat the cream cheese, sugar and vanilla until smooth, then set aside. Beating at the lowest speed gives better results as less air is beaten in and the cake is less likely to go "poof" and collapse.

Beat the cream until the legendary "soft peaks" form. Again, beat it on low speed and keep an eye out for the texture... if you beat it too much it will start to granulate and turn into butter!

Fold in the cheese mixture to the cream bit by bit and beat until the mixture has a thick pouring quantity. Pour carefully into the chilled cake tin, making sure you don't dislodge the biscuit crumbs on the sides.

Put it in the fridge for 2-3 hours, cover with a topping of your choice. This time I used the Jagro strawberry topping available in supermarkets, but have also used stewed fresh strawberries and strawberry jam. Put back in the fridge for another couple of hours or overnight.



Serve in generous slices, and enjoy!

Took this to a friend's place a couple of weeks ago... and from the gasps, moans and cries of "I think I just 'gasmed!", could only conclude that the cheesecake exceeded expectations! :)

Meh...

Image from here

So yeah... nothing much more to say...

Fat-cat Angel!

Hawkers' street and spicy foods

So yes, I regret to announce that there has been a relapse, triggered by 5 star hotels masquerading as street food sellers and the 50% discount afforded by access to a HSBC credit card.

I must say I had no idea there were so many frikkin' cars in Colombo... even though Darling and I meandered towards Greenpath fairly early, finding a spot to park required near superhuman effort. I also underestimated the interest shown by the Colombo crowd, who were there in full force... and it was a little annoying as well - for every person to go "hi meya" at me, there were a dozen going "ma-chaaang!!" or "hi...iiii (simper giggle giggle)" at Darling. Chaarmax was also there, Cindy on tow, heading determinedly towards the food - but didn't see any other bloggers. There was also an over-representation of skinny girls with sunglasses carefully holding hair in place (honestly, dudettes, it's night time), slathered on makeup, sky high skirts and jingly jangly earrings.

Don't mind me, I'm just jealous.

The food... hmmmm... I won't say I was overwhelmed since most stalls were going in for rice with a variation of curries and slapping on the label "South African" (yellow rice, chicken curry, beans and potato curry), "Indonesian" (nasi goreng), "Phillipino" (yellow rice, kebabs), "Malaysian" (nasi goreng).

My favourite was the stall by Mount Lavinia Hotel that was hawking Italian food - the indomitable Chef Lal was having everyone in stitches while yelling "enna enna apeng kema ganna" in a thick Italian accent. The ricotta cheese ravioli with potato wedges was simply to die for, and I'm seriously considering going there again today, simply to have another go at it. They very kindly allowed me to go round the back and take pics, amidst furious whispers from the other people standing around "Who is she ah?" "Why is she allowed to go there?" Darling reports that one long suffering dude kept insisting "no no, she's from Hi magazine men, don't fuss".

MLH display

Chef Lal

Chicken penne pasta on the make

We initially avoided the Mango Tree stall because of huge queues, but were tempted back by the sizzling chicken tikka kebabs on the coals, and the peni berena jalebi. The majority of the crowd was composed of a large Indian contingent, who were having a fantastic time bidding for the eats and treats. Darling very rudely told an Indian friend to go sample something from a different country, before jostling him out of the way and taking his place. Hmm... I might go back and check out the paneer puri today.

Handling the crowds

Chicken kebabs - yummeh!

Making jalebi


More jalebi

Almost....

OMG, this was so delicious!

Ramada was doing the Mughlai Indian stall, with this dude seen madly swishing the roti around.

Roti dude

The Phillipino food stall by GOH looked good, sizzling chicken kebabs, grilled fish, and banana fritters with mango cream. I must say the fritters were an utter disappointment, since they were made of raw alu kesel and the batter was the same type usually found coating chinese rolls.

Kebabs

Taj Samura had gone all crazy with the "Madagascar" theme, and had genuine South African food, cunningly disguised as burgers, yellow rice and miscellaneous curries.

The display

Reaction by the clientele

Genuine South African cuisine

Raja Bojun had risen to the occasion and had a flavoursome stall replete with hoppers, kottu, crab curry, polos curry etc.

Kottu

Curry world

'Oppers

The indomitable Tushar Amalean was there in person at the Sizzle stall, madly trying to direct a dozen operations at once. This was easily one of the most popular stalls... the sizzling smell kept leading me back by the nose!

Mr. Amalean

Sizzle....

Mmmmmmmmm......

The Mediterranean stall looked lovely, but I couldn't shoulder past the crowds to get a good look at the food. It sold out pretty soon, and a manager dude in a black tie was seen later on, regretfully turning away the hopefuls.

All I tasted of the Mediterranean cuisine

Live entertainment

Dessert courtesy of Elephant House

Actually, almost every stall was running low on supplies by about 10pm... but the more enterprising had sent for top ups to satisfy the hungry crowds instead of saying "sowwy, we is closed". All in all, I give the whole thing a thumbs up and will be definitely heading thataway tonight as well. My advice to all you foodies, go check it out, take your HSBC CCs, go early, and take an umbrella, just in case!

____________________________________

Edit : so yes, we went the second time, just to see what we had missed. My fave was the butter chicken bunny chow (isn't it a lovely name?) which is a bread bun filled with succulent chicken chunks in gravy. A lovely South African sudda lady assured us that it was very popular and very South African, so it's got endorsement from the natives! Actually, she could have been from South London for all we know but still....

Butter chicken bunny chow

We couldn't resist going for the ravioli again, and the 2nd time was even better than the first.

Ricotta cheese ravioli

While Darling was fighting for life, limb and jalebi, I wandered over to the Arabian food stall, run by Galadari. This was extremely popular, possibly due to its halal status. (Even an aunt and cousin of mine were spotted vaguely hunting for halal food... I have no clue why). The chappie there asked me if I was from the media and when I went "mumble, mumble" in reply, told me that their Arabian cuisine promotion starts tomorrow, so I promised to give it some publicity. So people, check it out at the Sheherazade where as an added perk, the HSBC cardholder dines free.

Ahhh..... shawarmah....

I found the french fries a little incongruous

Chinese cuisine from the Emperor's Wok

Victim of the crab promo

All in all, I had a great time, ruined diet notwithstanding. And it didn't rain, so I was the only person carrying an umbrella. If you happened to notice a harassed looking someone clutching several bags of food while trying to swing a large umbrella in a nonchalant manner, that would have been me.

Well, tomorrow is another week. Have a happy Monday y'all!

Munching-munching I

For those of you who don't know... I lo--ove food. Specially stuff that is salty, fried and totally unhealthy. The only things I actively avoid are beef and seafood... so you can happily invite me for dinner and rest assured that I won't nick some of your hot butter cuttlefish. :)

Anyway, last month has been one of gastronomic delight as I've frantically tried to make up for a year of semi-starvation. Darling stifles sighs and images of being on the parental dole as he reaches again and again into his wallet... his credit card has melted around the edges from being swiped so many times... (cheesy grin - he thinks I love him more when well fed!)

Sunday Brunch at the Taprobane

This was Darling's "hurray you finished internship in one piece" treat. Did I mention that I *heart* buffets? This one certainly lives up to expectations and is a tad better than the same-old-same-old wedding buffets you usually get at the Cinnamon Grand. It goes on from 11.30 am till about 3.00 pm, which means you can nicely start with bacon, eggs, sausages and baked beans and then sashay your way through soup, salad and the main courses before turning to polish off the desserts.

So they have action stations with mutton kebabs, crab-and-seafoody stuff (greeted by Darling with cries of delight), a pizza oven where this guy in a tall hat would bake you a pizza of your choice and a pasta station, with a choice of toppings and sauces. The paneer pakoda was a real let down though... the pieces were too big and the batter on the bland side and the sauce sucked.

Soups on offer last Sunday were roast eggplant soup and hot and sour chicken soup... both really good. They were also The salad bar is very well stocked and once again heaven for seafood fans with shrimp cocktail, mussels, crab meat salad, smoked salmon, sushi and sashimi, seafood terrines and the like. People like me can happily ignore all of the above because of the mmmmm.... potato salad, pasta salad, vegetable terrine, honey glazed ham with pineapple (to die for), coleslaw and loads of cold cuts. They have this really good thousand island dressing as well, which was generously drizzled onto everything and then topped with bacon bits and freshly grated parmesan. Bliss!

We both unanimously decided to ignore the traditional main courses on offer - rice, noodles, chicken masala, brinjal pahi and the like. I'm sure they're really good, but we can have rice and curry any day no? Instead we tucked into roast turkey with cranberry sauce, roast pork (a tad on the tough side) with apple sauce and pasta. They also had yummy oven roasted potatoes and steamed vegies that were nicely done, colourful and crunchy and a good accompaniment to the meats.

Even though we were feeling full-ish, neither of us wanted to ignore the desserts. To my delight, they had waffles and these were much better than the ones at Coffee Stop - thinner and crispier and with great difficulty I limited myself to a single waffle drenched with chocolate topping and butterscotch sauce. Chocolate biscuit pudding, baked chocolate pudding, apple strudel, cheesecake, velvet tarts, fruit trifle, strawberry panna cotta, ice cream, fresh fruit salad, tiramisu - did I mention that we were spoiled for choice? The only thing I don't like is that they serve the trifles and panna cotta in those fancy little shot glass thingies... and the spoons are too wide to really dig in and finish the last remnants of dessert. Oooh, and I almost forgot... they also flambe fresh fruits in caramel sauce (it was pineapple this week, and banana last time) which is totally divine!

And for those of you who like to finish of in style, they have a decent cheeseboard. The Camembert was especially good.

The restaurant was quite packed when we got there, so it was a good thing we made reservations. The atmosphere was very Sunday-morning-laid-back with lots of people chilling with the sunday papers and families with little kids running about. Our seat had a good view of the goldfish pond and the pool beyond. Actually that's not much of an advantage as overweight suddas in abbreviated bathing costumes don't really promote a healthy appetite... :)

Not that it stopped us.

The tab was 1990/- net per person, which I think is a pretty good deal considering the choice and quality of food, and the fact that it's a five star joint.

Well - I'm off to have lunch... stay tuned for more!