Truffle hunting in Italy!!

Italian truffles are a well-known delicacy worldwide. With their pungent, almost sulphurous and sharp flavour, they are an acquired taste. Not every person can develop an affinity to them…unlike chocolates! These are found under the ground as opposed to other mushrooms that grow over ground and require special expertise for retrieval. They come in the white as well as the black variants. The white ones are the more pricier ones and are extremely delicate in their flavour. 

Having been exposed to a world of food and travel shows exploring Italy, I considered it an absolute sin to miss out on any truffle exploration during my debut visit to Italy.

I started planning for my truffle expedition about a month before I was scheduled to travel to Florence. Scouring through websites of truffle hunters, online reviews, discussion forums – I shortlisted one such hunter – Giulio and got it touch with him. A few email exchanges and the tour was finalised. He was good enough to offer us a good discount as well.

  

A one view chart on various truffles found in Italy

Florence was my base destination for my Italian sojourn. While it is most famously known for its art galleries and statuettes, my itinerary was principally aimed at exploring the food culture and specialities around. Visiting the vineyards in Chianti, exploring an Organic cheese farm, the local food markets were some of the other items on the to-do list. I hope to elaborate more of them in my forthcoming write-ups. I had my German friend for company who I sort of forced into sharing my food interests but I am happy to say, I did leave her in a happy state after our food trips.

Black Truffles - freshly hunted by us

Giulio – The Truffle Hunter, as so he is famously called resides in a small town on the outskirts of Florence. It is pretty easy to get there by bus, which takes barely a half hour. We had co-ordinated with him prior to leaving Florence and he was there at the other end to receive us. He comes across as a person extremely passionate about two things, first - truffles and second - his dog, Edna who is the principal character in the picture of truffle hunting with Gulio.

The Lovely Truffle hunting dog - EDNA

As the history of truffle hunting goes, pigs were traditionally trained and used by truffle hunters owing to their keen sense of smell for these smelly fungi. However, it turns out, the pigs were quite messy at their job and used to leave the woods in shambles when hunting. Norms were changed and dogs started featuring as truffle hunting animals. They could be better trained and were considerably well behaved. Edna is once such special dog. In fact, we were told that Truffle hunting trained dogs could almost be valued at anything between $20,000 – &30,000. Quite a price for a dog but then again, the price of a single truffle are such that the trained dogs would make quite a fruitful investment. Another fascinating fact about truffle hunting is that you need to be licensed to hunt and sell truffles.

Giulio accompanied us to a small hill where we were to understand more about these delicacies and hunt for them with Edna. Giulio left Edna to follow her instincts and her sense of smell. She wandered off in the woods with the rest of us following her slowly. She wasn’t to be disturbed. It wasn’t long before she stopped at a place covered with moss and started a digging movement. Swiftly, we saw Giulio pull her away from that spot and start digging with his spade. He dug out a small black charcoal like thing from the ground and behold – was the first ever Truffle hunted by us. He explained that if he had let Edna dig it out, she would have eaten it up as apparently, dogs and pigs like Truffles. Edna found 5 more truffles in succession and also ate up one of them in the process. Well, she did deserve the treat. After all, she did help us find the truffles.

After a couple of hours in the woods and understanding a bit more of the flora in the woods, we headed back to Gulio’s place where we were taught the intricacies of cleaning, storing and selling truffles. It may seem like a hobby to some but truffles is serious business. There are quite a few varieties and depending on the season, climate and location, these are found in the region. The inner veins when the truffles are sectioned help their identification. Gulio’s knowledge was like a Science lesson in truffles.

A section cut of the black truffle revealing the internal make-up

Lovely lunch of truffles and wine

As promised by Giulio, we were treated to lunch at his home with almost everything (except the wine) having truffles. We gobbled up warm, handmade bread with shavings of truffles followed by pasta with truffles. For dessert, we were offered Ice cream with shavings of truffles, something that I would not have even considered as a food pairing. I chose to try the rather conservative alternative of a wedge of Pecorino cheese drizzled with Truffle infused honey. The combination was an instant blast of flavours. The sweet honey combined with the strong truffle was something unimaginable but intensely flavoursome. I even bought a bottle from him to take back home.

Warm bread with shaved truffles

It was time for us to bid goodbye to Giulio, his wife, Edna and a cat that he had rescued. As a parting present, we were handed two small truffles as takeaway gifts, something that we were absolutely delighted about. 

While I am not sure when will I get to try my food experiments on truffles again (as they aren’t that commonly available in India), I do hope to taste them again soon maybe on my future travels.

Truffle infused honey - simply delightful

Truly, travel is one way of best ways of gaining a deep-rooted understanding of different cultures round the world.

Lewes Farmer Market..The market I fell in love with!!

The mere mention of the town of Lewes brings forth a string of memories of my time in England during my University days there. An emotion, that I am pretty sure would be shared by quite a few of my housemates and friends who used to frequent this market every month on a Saturday.

My housemate and a good friend in University who was from Thailand introduced me to the Lewes farmer market. She was a major food enthusiast and I believe still is. A random visit to this place on a Saturday morning when I had practically nothing to do struck a life-long interest in local culture and food and for which, I am heartily grateful to her.

Lewes – a quaint little town in Sussex and short train ride from Falmer village – near University of Sussex reminds you of the quintessential English Village with small cobbled streets, greens and houses. A short walk from the station and you end up in a street that for the better part of the morning has been taken over by locals to market their home grown, homemade produce. The street by itself isn’t long and its really a rather small market as compared to some of the other markets I have been to but this one has a charm that I have yet to experience in the other places. Its almost cosy and warm – if that term could be applied to a market. Not to forget the fact that it was my first ever experience of a local farmers market and first experiences are hardly ever forgotten.  

Lewes

The visuals filled my senses almost instantly. The colours, sights and smells – I can still remember as they were then. The shop selling fresh homemade preserves and marmalades,  to another selling homemade mustard and honey, to another gentleman selling fresh breads to another shop selling homemade aromatherapy soaps and similar paraphernalia – all of these had something memorable to offer. 

Handmade Preserves and Marmalades

My particular favourite was the Orange marmalade, Strawberry jam and the Lemon Curd being sold. These were to die for. Chunky bits of fruit made this a wholesome treat with no synthetic feel that would generally be found in the store bought jams and preserves. The lemon curd was a sweet and tart mix that I was completely ignorant of. It was on one of these trips that my Thai friend introduced me to it and got me addicted to this simple treat that subsequently used to find way in my bakery experiments and even do today. ( Of course, today - I make my own lemon curd but I learnt quite a lot form my experiences at these markets)

Handmade Aromatherapy Soaps

The smiles of the gentleman behind the honey counter or the talk with the lady selling potted plants and flowers – all of these imprinted my memory with a sense of being one of them and understanding what made them do what they did. It wasn’t always for the money. It was about meeting new people, making new friends or just catching up with the old ones already present.

   

Local fruits, vegetables and breads, toys and trinkets were some of the other stuff marketed. We usually went for the food part and occasionally for the potted plants. Strolling along the cobbled pathways, discovering new sights, understanding the people – all of these has contributed vastly to what my understanding is of local cultures across the world today.

Shop selling honey

It’s been almost 8 years since my first brush with the Lewes Farmer market but the visuals, sights and sounds of the market still thrive in my mind even today. These local markets sometimes are the best places to understand local culture, mindset and behaviour. The articles, food etc. made and marketed, the people selling them and their manner of approach – all add to the experience and understanding of the local culture of that place.

 

At the Lewes farmer market 

Having bit by the local market bug after the Lewes market, I usually make it a point to raid a local market any place I travel to. These are the best places to pick up local culture as opposed to merely travelling around the places and visiting the touristic monuments. 

Supper gatherings!!

Dinner parties with a close group of friends are always fun. Conversations, food and friendly banter – all make for a good gathering.

I recently came across an episode of Jamie Oliver’s cooking show shot in New York where is attended a supper club gathering and subsequently held one himself after drawing inspiration from this gathering.

Of course, it wasn’t just a simple supper gathering. Guests who attended had to pay up a fixed amount that would cover the food and drinks. It was a communal setting. People attended, they conversed and made new friends and dined at the common table.

To tell a bit more of the concept of supper clubs –These are restaurants or dining establishments that also serve as social clubs. Historically, the first Supper club is said to have commenced in the US. The concept is now prevalent in UK, US, Latin America and Europe and other regions. I believe they started the concept to protest against the rising restaurant prices. Believe it or not, there are Underground restaurants as well that make amazing supper clubs. These can go completely ignored if not mentioned of as only regular customers know of their whereabouts.

Watching Jamie Oliver’s show, I am inspired to hold my own supper club gathering - An evening with friends and new acquaintances with good food and conversation. Maybe other friends can then host such gatherings further. It will be interesting planning such an evening and I aim to keep mine restricted to friends and their friends. I don’t intend starting a professional supper club, but the idea is to keep a simple evening, trying to introduce new friends and enjoy food

There are variations in the theme – such as guests get involved and partake in the cooking process or even at times, raise a potluck. I however, prefer getting my own cooking done.

Ideally, the numbers of people are kept small at such gatherings. About 8 – 10 people are the norm. The meal is laid out on a common table and the host is as involved in the supper as the guests.

The food should ideally be simple and quick to serve lest the host ends up spending an entire evening in the kitchen without spending any time with the guests. I feel the dessert should be the highlight of the evening as no one forgets the dessert. On a precautionary note, it would be wiser to discuss the food preferences as Vegetarian or Non- vegetarian to avoid any of the guests going hungry.

It would also be helpful to monitor the conversation amidst the guests at such a gathering and refrain from any controversial topics such as politics, religion etc. lest the guests start feeling uncomfortable. Not a very pleasant scenario.

It is not usually a norm to charge for the meal, but it depends on the host. Best to check prior to the gathering. It could be a good idea to take along your drinks if attending the gathering and if the host is comfortable with a drinks scenario.

It is also a decent idea to initially discuss the menu if the guests are going to be involved in the cooking or if they are planning to bring some food to the event.

With Christmas round the corner, the festive spirit is in the air and everyone’s in a jolly frame of mind. I plan to have one such dinner probably around Christmas day and gauge everyone’s appeal towards it. Maybe one of the guests will take the chain forward.

Here’s looking to a good evening with old and new friends. 

Kite hunting and Midnight cravings: Part 1

  

The first instalment of my 2 part series on ‘The Kite Season’.

Ever experienced utter chaos? Having no idea of what is happening around, losing your way, finding it difficult to understand what the hype is all about – but in spite of all of the confusion, enjoying every moment of it. These were the exact feelings I experienced during my visit to “The Kite Market”, popularly known as “Kangshaal” in Gujarati – and only in Ahmedabad.

Every year, a night before 14^th January – the day celebrating “Uttarayan” or the Kite festival, massive markets are organized that sell only kites and everything related to kites. Kites in all shapes and sizes – ranging from small 1-inch baby kites to massive 5 footer ones are sold here. Of course, you cannot have kites without the glass powder coated “Manja” or “Phirkis”. Different hues, sizes of the manjas are available in the market for sale here and believe me, even small kids – hardly 5 year old ones know their kites and their manjas. It is quite embarrassing for a non-kite flyer like me facing these tiny people telling you which manjas are the best and the finer nuances of flying a kite.

Rows of Phirki's / Kite Manja

Transporting these kites is another story all together. There is barely any space to breathe in the market – even at midnight, leave alone finding space to walk. The kites are held high above the head and people walk through the crowds trying to weave their way across. It’s a sight. Sounds of whistles, blow-horns, people bargaining on the prices of the kites, vendors screaming the prices for the kites and accessories – its utter chaos. But in the midst of all the chaos – you see a reason to enjoy. It’s a common thread binding all the people in the market - kites. There is no social strata, no caste or religion that matters here. Everyone’s the same and they have one common aim – “Kites”.

Now as confessed, I am no kite-flyer but one part of the market experience that most interests me  - apart from spending time with all the relatives in Gujarat – is the love of my life “ Food”.

Visiting the kite market is a culinary experience by itself. Street food is found in abundance. Food you would probably have never even thought as being possible finds its way here and believe me or not – sells like hotcakes.

My last visit to the kite market in kite market in Ahmedabad left me speechless in terms of the kind of dishes that can be created. The food is all really simple made using day-to-day, easily accessed ingredients. Ingredients that can be picked up from the next-door food store but when the innovation takes over – it’s all chaos. The kind of chaos that although is maddening, you somehow end up enjoying every part of it.

Accompanied by relatives in Ahmedabad after the kite hunt, we ended up going to the Manekchowk food market located next to the kite market. There were brightly lit up stalls selling delicious chaat dishes like “Bhel” and “Sev puri” and the more warmed up versions of “Potato tikkies”. Another stall selling piping hot tea found its space there as well.

Manek Chowk market

What caught my attention, however, was the array of stalls creating and selling – sandwiches and pizzas. Now, you would probably question, what’s different about that? Every place has a sandwich and pizza place. True, but not every place has a “Chocolate sandwich” or a “ Chocolate pizza”. Yup, you read it right…it’s all chocolate!!

That’s a crazy combination you would think - Exactly as I did. Whoever has a chocolate sandwich?? But believe me, this was one dish that was raking in the cash. Never in my life have I seen a demand for such as weird concoction but I guess, that’s the way innovation works.

Am gonna share the recipe I picked up after having eaten the Chocolate sandwich. Much as I would like to shy away, I do admit – it wasn’t bad. In fact, quite interesting. Not many ingredients in there but very innovative piece of work.

 

Bread – 2 slices

Butter – loads

Milk chocolate (melted) or nutella

Weird extra ingredient – Shredded processed cheese

Smear the bread slices with butter on both sides. Layer one slice with melted chocolate and generously top with the shredded cheese. I think they even added some sandwich spice on top of it (really don’t remember, but give it a try). Cover with another bread slice and enjoy!

Note: These can even be toasted.

I shied away from the chocolate pizza because I guess the sandwich was as far as I could venture with my culinary adventure here. It was a crazy but a thoroughly enjoyable experience. 

Oh, by the way, there were pineapple based sandwiches and pizzas we well. Might brave the crowds to try them next year again.

The Gujarati - Food Connection

Ok. This is a simplistic take on Gujarati folks around and their food preferences. No harm meant to Gujju’s [as all Gujarati’s are called commonly] and I hope it will be taken in a lighter note although if you analyse, most of it is true and applicable.

How many times have you observed a tourist – be it in any Indian city you have visited or any international location? Have you taken pains to observe the tourist? If you have and if your “subject” is a Gujarati – the identification is extremely simple.

Armed with their staples of Khakhra’s [Roasted flat bread] and thepla’s [Spiced flat bread] – they are easily spotted in any crowd. Gujarati’s love travelling but more than that - they love and care for their food. Honestly, being a Gujarati, I can safely say – we Gujju’s are born with an inherent love for food.

FAFDA GANTHIYA

THEPLAS

 To Gujju’s, it is as important as breathing to have their Gathia’s and Fafda’s at hand when travelling. After all, these are practical snack foods – dry and no- fuss. But, it is also important to carry a supply of thepla’s, dry chutney mixes and maybe some Bhel mixes [Rice crispies and spices] as well just in case someone gets hungry mid- route. Don’t get shocked if you come across a Gujarati armed with food on your travel expedition who offers you food as well. Gujju’s love sharing food and nothing pleases us more than the fact that others appreciate the food and the gesture. We care dearly for our food.

Most of the Gujarati’s I know carry a bag full of food that can feed an entire army for a week with them when travelling. It is by no offence to other cuisines, but it is just inherent in our genes that we cannot do without the Gujarati cuisine for more than a week. Something just goes haywire in our system without it.

It is also very common for Gujarati’s to actually judge a location they travel to beforehand for the variety of food there. The staples are always carried, mind it but it is crucial for them to know if there are any restaurants in the location they travel to that can offer food similar to their taste. [This mainly applies in cases of international and the focus is more for Indian food, but still]. And in case you find a restaurant serving a Gujarati thali somewhere, that’s heaven! A Gujarati Thali is one to be enjoyed and I am sure all Gujju’s will have their personal favourites on this one.  My personal favourites are the lunch thali you get at Status at Nariman Point and another restaurant named “Agasiye” in Ahmedabad. The food at both these places is simply finger licking.

THE GUJARATI THALI

The phenomenon is also visible in the tour offerings by the travel companies here. Have you noticed – Gujarati’s prefer travelling on tours that offer Indian / Gujarati food? How many times have you seen Gujarati’s shy away from International travel from certain locations mainly owing to food issues? Quite a few – at least, in my experience.

I have a slightly different take on the Gujju concept of lugging bagfuls of food when travelling. I prefer sampling the local food available when abroad and enjoying the varied cuisines. My mom however, doesn’t seem convinced of my ability to survive on exotic foods and so, packs and makes me carry khakhra’s and homemade sweets when I travel abroad. Of course, I refrain from telling her that most of it gets given away of left in the hotel where I stay.  No offense meant to her or Gujarati food, but I just don’t like khakhras.

Of course, my food tastes are far more varied. I like Gujarati food, but am not a die hard fan of khakhra’s, Ganthiyas, Dhokla’s, Undhiyo etc. My parents find it strange to note my lack of enthusiasm for Gujarati food [Like theirs I mean] but I prefer dabbling in global cuisines. It can be a one-time attempt, but there is endless food to be sampled.

DHOKLA

 Nevertheless, you will not find a more devout food lover than a Gujarati. Food is a passion and a life-line in any situation for us. Simplistic, healthy and easy enough, its one of the most appreciated cuisines in India and is catching on at the International level.