For someone who loves food, the worst thing that can happen is to be placed on a strict diet of no oily/fried food, limited carbs and no sugar. In such a state, getting invites for food festivals is nothing less than torture but when I got one from Afraa for their Lebanese Legend festival, I heaved a sigh of relief. Why? Because middle-eastern food specially from Syria, Lebanon, Egypt and Jordan is one of the healthiest food that you can have. And this was endorsed by Chef Jameela Zakey, a Syrian now settled in India for the last 20 years who has come down from Bangalore to give us a taste of her delicious food.
Flavors of Burma at The Orient, City Centre New Town – Cooking Workshop & Recipes by Chanda Dutt
I first had the Burmese delicacy, Khauk Suey (Burmese Chicken Soup) nearly six years back at Chanda Dutt’s Beniapukur residence. She had still not started her extremely popular one day food festival Authentic Taste of Myanmar and we were a group of around seven very hungry men and women waiting to be initiated into the delightful world of Burmese cuisine. The Khauk Suey that day was lip smacking. I’ve had the privilege of tasting Chanda di’s food many times after that and I can say only one thing, when it comes to Burmese cuisine in Kolkata, she is ‘the boss’.
When i got an invite from The Orient to attend a Burmese Cooking Workshop to be conducted by ‘the boss’ herself, my joy knew no bounds. Why? Because it’s been quite some time since I had that Khauk Suey and I was also hoping she would make her signature red and golden pork with fish sauce (she did not but I’m waiting for the winter edition of Authentic Taste of Myanmar to gorge on it). I was also excited because till date, I’ve only eaten her food but now I would actually get to see her in action and learn how to cook these dishes.