I have had enough!
First there was the cholesterol scores scare. Then the rawas/ mushroom induced colitis/ food poisoning. It started with a 2 hour bout of fever and shivering in the wee hours of Monday, after Sunday’s dinner. The wife was up putting every sheet in the house on me before making me put on TWO pairs of socks and giving me some rum to warm me up.
As I lay home nursing my curd rice over the week I wondered is this the end of a budding food writer’s career. That too, even before I started. I mean I was having apples as desserts after all. Could I sink any lower? How can you love food and write about food if food keeps knocking you down? And it’s sad, if I can’t write. I’ve really enjoyed writing this blog and writing in Feastguru.com. What would my hero Anthony Bourdain do? Could he have ‘No Reservations’ if he folded in so easily? Or could you be a ‘Thirsty Traveller’ if you would drink only bottled water?
Well things have begun to look up. Today a friend had invited me over for lunch. At his place I had moong dal, mochaar ghonto, dhokaar daalna, 2 pieces of rui in mustard curry and mutton biriyani which he had ordered from Calcutta Club. The food was really good, ample and had good variety. The fish was very fresh and the mutton was quite tender. We then had some nolen gurer shondesh and mishit doi which I got from Sweet Bengal. (I had also got rasgollas from Sweet Bengal which turned sour and I had to return them). Anyway, what a heavenly way to end a week of curd rice and the odd Khaane Khaas bland chicken curry.
Actually, as they say, morning shows the day. I had picked sandwiches and coffee for the wife’s and my breakfast from Candies before I set out for lunch.
And when I returned from lunch one of my neighbours came up to me and asked me if I am a non vegetarian. And then came and gave us some awesome biriyani from his Muharram ceremony. The biriyani was really fragrant and the mutton melted in one’s mouth.
So I am slowly warming back for our trip to Goa, my favourite place in the world, next Wednesday. The wife and I look forward to meeting our old friends Mr Pork Chilly Fry, Missy Mussels chilly Fry, Mr Pork Sorpatel and Master Prawn Balchao at Infanteria and Sir Prawn Baffat and young Pork Chilly Fry at Brittos.
