Strawberry Tarts

The strawberries were really sweet, and succulent, so I took a giant step (for me), and tried what I've admired in cookbooks for years. A tart, with my own pastry. Pate Sucre, which is a sweet dough, isn't all that easy to make. I've tried it twice now, and I think I'm getting it. The basic ingredients are easy to find, and proportions are straightforward, what's harder is getting it malleable, which takes a lot of cooling, and what is called 'resting.'

1.5 cups wheat flour | 0.5 unsalted butter | 0.25 cup sugar | 1 egg or 1 egg york and little cold water | two pinches of salt make a difference.

Mix the ingredients, (and I'm not yet clear, if the order matters -- some say add the eggs last, some don't), make it into a ball of dough, and wrap in clingfilm, and let 'rest' in the fridge for an hour or longer. I think this makes it is stringy, and malleable because the gluten in the wheat, get activated. (I have to read up more about this. Then roll it out, under cling wrap, some say -- and lay it in a buttered pan. Now, I have muffin pan, so I used that, the first time, worked better than the second, where the pastry was crumbly. But I figured out a work around, just laying a ball of dough in the little muffin well, and working it into the shape. Yes, that worked!

I used an egg wash, one yolk, with a little water, brushed on the surface of the pastry, and put it in the oven, (pre heated) at 350 for 20 mins.

It has of course, a crumbly, buttery shortbread like texture and taste, and is amazing with strawberries, to which i added a reduction. One time, I did add some cream too!

Sorbets: Strawberry & Soursop-Passion

I never thought I could made a sorbet at home. It seemed a fancy restaurant item, that washed away flavors between courses, or was served as a light, refreshing end to a long heavy meal. But no, I’ve just started making sorbets at home, and you can make them with no more than a regular fridge, with a freezer :), and a hand held beater – what is some times called a bar mix. Of course, you can upgrade to more sophisticated machines, but no – for some kinds of sorbets at least, you do not have to.

Sorbets don’t have eggs or cream or butter, and as such you can safely say, they are pretty low fat. Which is a nice break if you like them, and have to worry about good fat and bad, I suppose. I’ve just started making sorbets, and in the photo is my third set really – my guide, as is for most desserts is Le Cordon Bleu Dessert Techniques. But I changed things around a bit.

Now, all I’ve tried so far, are fruit puree sorbets, and I think they may be the easiest to do. And they are inexpensive. For the strawberry sorbet, I started with two cups of washed, diced strawberries (Jagro, available from Food City or Keels, any where, I think), 1/3 cup of plain sugar, and little less water. First, boil the sugar and water in a thick bottomed saucepan. Changing the consistency of the sugar, by boiling it, is the first important process that will thicken your sorbet and get the constancy right. Apart from taste, of course, texture is every thing here – the two extremes to avoid, is a popsicle-like ice, and on the other side, a cold syrup. You want a middle ground. So boil the sugar in little less water than its volume. When its boiled for a min or two, not long (boiling sugar syrups is one of the more complicated things in dessert making -- if you keep boiling, many interesting things will happen, but you may go well beyond your sorbet) add the chopped strawberries. Bring to a boil again, and take it off the fire. Puree. Add some lime juice; this should really highlight and intensify the flavor of the fruit you are using. Add more, if the puree is too sweet for you.

Put this in a plastic bowl, or box, just a freezer proof one – regular from anywhere, and set your freezer to max, and pop it in. (To max out your freezer, you may need to set the fridge to min. You may also have a place in your freezer, that is designed for quick freeze. Use that.) In an hour, maybe longer, a crust will form on the top. But it should be still liquid below. Great, take it out and re-puree it, with a hand mixer, if you have one. This is really quite inexpensive, but a huge help. (Otherwise, use the container of your table top blender to begin with.) I always taste it at this point! 
Now, the big secret – add some alcohol. Well, 100 ml would be fine, if you started with two cups. I like vodka because it gives a slightly bitter aftertaste, that leavens the sweetness and tartness of the puree, but not much else of a taste. But of course, I think any thing would do. Process wise, the point here is that alcohol does not freeze at 0˚C. Blending in alcohol will prevent your sorbet from becoming a popsicle. Back in the freezer. It should be all set overnight, and you can puree it one more time. Back in freezer, which you can re-set to normal and it's ready to be eaten at dinner time. This should work with any fruit puree. But it's better to start with a fruit that’s quite tart – strawberries, soursop and passion fruit have all worked well for me. I’ve worked with mango, but you need a not so ripe mango, or it will end up too sweet. Soursop (Annona muricata) is so tart, you can even add store bought passion fruit juice (not cordial!), and it will still be really well balanced at the end.

for another sorbet recipe, see:

Wild Blackberry Sorbet With Garden Mint & Lavender

In the Sunday Times

Thanks to the wonderful interest and sensitivity of Smriti Daniel, I had the pleasure of one of the coolest interviews I've ever given; what's more the article in the Sunday Times is succinct, deft and makes me look a lot better than I am.

Thank you Smrithi

A Visit to Bentota Beach

Bentota Beach Hotel (BBH), now managed by John Keels, is one of Bawa's oldest hotels, designed as the first wave resort hotels were built in Sri Lanka, with international tourism in mind in the mid 1970s. When I visited recently with my mother, and stayed over night, I was reminded of what were to become classic Bawa signature elements, in his later buildings; resorts -- like Lighthouse Hotel and Kandalama, but also, the new Parliament. But not so much of Lunuganga, which is a thing unto itself.
The combination of water, rock (natural and sculptured) and foliage in the buildings and landscape that Bawa works with, draws inspiration from ancient and medieval Sri Lankan royal or pleasure gardens, but retains the undulations of the land, that I can not recall in ancient gardens. Perhaps that's derived from the Italian gardens that the Bawa brothers spent time in during a European sojourn.


(rock fringed pool)-------------------------- (water court yard; foliage islands)

As in the 7th floor pool in Kandalama, the main swimming pool at BBH, blends in with a large natural rock formation, recalling rock pools on the upper surface of Sigiriya. The Water courtyard recalls built stone pools, like the kuttam pokuna, but the foliage islands within are an innovation; at a stretch, one can imagine the parliament complex, as an elaboration of this water courtyard.
Another fascinating element in BBH, which I had not really appreciated before, is its mirroring of the old colonial forts that dot the southwest of Lanka. Lighthouse is of course the most complete elaboration of this; but the interior halls ways and some exterior windows in BBH, are clear echos of battlements.
Then of course I come to the food!
It was, unfortunately buffets all around, and as these things go, there was variety and quantity, but not really top end quality.But the mousses were wonderful; a big hand to the pastry chef, there, who ever he is. The strawberry mousse which I had after dinner the first night, was rich, spicy in a subtle way, with stewed strawberries mixed in. I've dabbled in strawberry desserts myself, and this was a fine one.
The Kiwi mousse was beautiful, but the star of the show was the passion fruit mousse that was tangy but also super creamy and light, topped with a delightful and pretty glaze. It was better than the same dish at Gallery Cafe, which I've blogged about before. It was a fitting highlight to a short trip south.

Strawberry Ginger Creams

Strawberry Ginger Creams
Originally uploaded by pradeep jeganathan.

i've been working on different iterations of strawberries and cream. once with curd, then a straightforward mousse, another time a jelly and cream, i called a bomb, and then the ultimate layering of reduction, panna cotta and cream, which had to be called strawberry orgasm.

this one is yet a little different, because i grated fresh ginger into the reduction. boiled it way down, added a little more ginger paste, then did a bottom layer with fresh strawberry slivers, sweet vermouth (a new idea) and the reduction. then i squirted cream on top and stuffed in more fresh strawberry slivers. i needed more, didn't have enough.

its a new taste for sure. if the ginger cooks, its reminds me of what we call 'christmas cake' in sri lanka. fruity and spicy, sota, but deep in its sweetness. if the ginger doesn't boil in the reduction, its a sharper inflection.

the play between the soft comfort of the cream, and tartness of the strawberries, is of course the basis of all of this - and in this dish, its the layer that draws you in.

Achcharu in Spectrum

Spectrum is a new magazine, published by Nexus Research, and edited by Malinda Seneviratne. It has a range of opinions on social and political questions.

But also, a food column -- Achcharu --with my fuision recipies.

It will be launched today, 4 pm, at the SLFI, Colombo.
Check it out!

Lunch in Amsterdam

A few days ago, I had a lovely lunch at Amsterdam restaurant made possible by a colleague here, Markha. Since I had told her I was keen on food, she went into a lot of trouble to find a place in the Netherlands ‘which takes cooking seriously,’ – as she put it. There are good restaurants here, but also, its true a lot of mediocre ones. De Kas, founded by a Michelin star chef, is an exceptional place, which grows the many vegetables and greens, used in its dishes in an in a old municipal green house, right in the city. In every dish I had there, the greens were so fresh you could smell each one, just would if you were walking in a green house. That was remarkable sensation.

We had the fixed menu, there is only one -- for lunch a least, but it did not leave one wanting more.

there were three starters -- with the roasted fennel bulb, wrapped in ham, and the succulent roasted lobster claws, with the faint bitter after taste with a fleshy sweet sour beetroot accompaniments being quite exceptional its the subtle balance of their flavors. I'm resolved to try this, wrapping and roasting, with banddakka or green beens.

The main course was baked plaice, with a saffron cream sauce that highlighted the deep, mellow taste of the carefully cooked fish.

Marinated Strawberries were central to the trifle inspired dessert, that was topped with a yoghurt ice cream.

If you've been following my blog, you know I've been a little strawberry obsessed, recently. What I got from this De Kas dessert is how well delicate strawberries took to a subtle marinate. I'm going to try that at home.
But it didn't beat what I think of as two of my specials, strawberry curd and strawberry orgasm.

Strawberry Orgasm

Her head was back, blonde hair fluttering in the breeze that swept in from the sea, high above the roads and trees, over the little dotted lights of his city, banishing the heat from the balcony and the bed room. She sat on the metal box of the air conditioner that was fixed to the concrete of the balcony; smoke drifted softly from her open mouth, and the cigarette glowed in her fingers.

Krishna walked to her, nude as she was, and pressing his thigh to her shoulder blade, his hand dropping to her hair, asked “Hungry, my dear?”

“Not any more,” she said, with an amused tangle in her voice, head turning up, cheeks creamy, touched with pink.

“I’m ravenous. I don’t think I ate much dinner.”

“Oh!? And what about the crab?” she was laughing now.

“I was so focused on showing you how to eat it right, and that I just barely ate one.” He nodded, stopping from saying more.

“So that was a demo one then?”

“The crab or the eating?” He kept his voice light, but now it was getting harder to do that.
She got up and kissed him, full and on his mouth. He tasted the arid, acid taste of used tobacco on her lips.

“I’m going to have dessert. Its in the fridge; I made it yesterday.”

“Oooh. What is it?”

“It’s a strawberry cream thing. I call it strawberry orgasm.” He’d called it that, way back when, after he had first made it after experimenting for weeks, and got it right, because he had thought it was cute at the time, and it had just rolled off the tip of his tonge, when he was cooking for friends, and laughing with them, but now he felt embarrassed as he said it.
His eyes dropped.

It was later, when she had shared his one, and scraped the delicate glass clean with the tiny spoon, that she asked with a sigh, “So how do you make that?”

He started off, glad for the simple question. “You wash your strawberries, and then slice them up really thin. Drop a forkful at the bottom of each shot glass, and then reduce about one, well one and half, cups of strawberries with a cup of vodka.”

She listened, still and quiet. Out side, the breeze dropped, and he could hear the roar of the sea, deep and strong and bitter.

“Add a little icing sugar as it thickens, and when it does, strain it, it should be very thick, but you can reduce it a little more in the micro wave…” He waved at the silver box on the black granite counter, as if to say, ‘there it is’ - like it mattered. “And when it is syrupy, add a little more vodka, mix it though and pour into the shot glasses, so that the strawberry slivers are just covered.

“You did all that? I should write this down.” Her voice trailed off.

“Yes, it’s a bit of work. Then you take the pulpy strawberry mess, that didn’t strain through, and you puree it, as fine as you can, straining it with a coarse mesh thingy again, at the end, not a fine one that is - and then I like to add cream or coconut milk, and gell it, like a panna cotta, over the vodka syrup at the bottom.”

“Wow,” she said. “Yeah, those layers are really some thing.”

“Then when its set, a few hours later – or the next day, add fresh whipped cream, and more slivers of strawberries on top.

“It was soo good!” she said, but already he wasn’t listening.

In the distance, but louder every moment, he could hear Siddha’s voice, high, lilting, lips red with strawberry syrup, saying after he had made it for her and Iqbal, of course, for the very first time,“It's tasty Krishna, but next time, you should put more sugar, no?– and don’t call it this funny name. How can I make it and tell?”

Iqbal had roared with laughter. “Just make it and tell darling!” He guffawed on, slapping Siddha’s back like she was a guy.

Excerpted from the unwritten chapter,
“Strawberries After Crab,” from my novel (in progress)
Plains Like a Calm Sea.
Publisher inquires are welcome.

Dinner at Elibank

On Thursday, in pursuit food critique, I had a small dinner party - just two people, Jehan and Radhika— who thought they might enjoy my cooking, and comment on the new dishes I’ve been working on.

We started with grilled prawns, which I’ve been working on for awhile.
This time, I marinated the prawns in a prawns sauce, that I made with prawn shells and prawns, boiled for 20 mins, then pureed strained, boiled down again, until it halved, then blended, with a little olive oil, quite a lot of chili pieces and Thai fish sauce. I let the prawns sit in the marinate overnight, adding fresh pressed garlic, a tiny bit more oil, and pats of unsalted butter, right before grilling for 6 mins. (1.30 + 4.30, combo1 + grill) I think they were good; I may just declare this dish done!

The main course was pan roasted pork medallions, with a pineapple/wasabi glaze. Now, this is part of my pork roast extravaganza, that has been going on all month and I think just in time for Vesak, it may well have come to an end! Pan roasting the pork, works better in a way that oven roasting the whole cut, even though of course, nicely done dry roast has its own flavor, which is not what pan roasted gets you to. But its so much easier to manage in a way. I marinated the sliced (3/4 inch) pork in salted ( 2 teaspoons to 0.75 l --that's 3 cups) unsweetened pineapple juice over night. Then, I used a cup of the marinade, with a cup of fresh juice, and another of diced pineapples, for the base of the reduction, boiling that down, until the pineapple was soft, then pureeing it, and reducing until thick. That’s 30 odd mins of boring, hot work — but this time, I didn’t burn it! Adding wasabi to taste is easy, right at the end, once the pork has been pan roasted in medium heat for about 7 mins., total. Since I use cast iron pans, I just popped it in the oven ( at 5) for about 10 mins also, to giving it that dry roast tinge. May be that worked; but the pork was soft, succulent even, and glaze was done right. My guests suggested that I add a little unmixed wasabi on the side, which I agreed I should have. I should remember next time! The medallions were served over mashed potatoes with pepper, and iceberg lettuce, undressed, scalded spring onion shoots and pineapple slivers. Jehan suggested that the spring onions be slit, some thing Ritu also suggested, some months ago when I made a soup — but in the main, both my guests thought the glazed worked well the pork, and was well blended. I had the dish earlier in the day, when I did a trail run, and yes, I was pleased!

For desserts, and yes there was dessert; we had what called a Strawberry Bomb, soon, when its worked out to perfection to be called, Strawberry Orgasm. I’ve been on a strawberry trend for a few weeks now, so no surprises there, I guess. The base of this, is a strawberry vodka jelly, made with sweetened pureed strawberries, reduced to a cup, blended with a 1/3 cup of vodka, and jelled. On top is sweetened whipped cream, Red Man, again, and Strawberries one of which I embedded in the cream, and the others served on a small side dish. This is a dish you have to work on, dipping your strawberries in cream, waiting for zingy—tangy melt in your mouth vodka jelly below.

Strawberry Mousse

made in the ordinary way, with 'red man' cream, which can be got in 1 liter cartons in the supermarkets. its a sweetened cream, which i do not like —but it whips very well. sri lankan, ‘sun grown’ (fresh from jagro) strawberries from radella, pureed, and folded it, with a little bit of geletin.

(i think the trick to a light mousse is to use less than they tell you to; that is if it is a fruit mousse.)

with strawberry vodka liquor and silvers of fruit on top - it was light and good.

Strawberries & Curd

I’m back, after a break – for field work in the east, and other random office stuff.
But lots of new dishes are being planned, made and tasted, even as you read this, by the little and not so little critters who live on, and near the bar-counter top, in the Elibank Road apartment.

Today, I had fun with Strawberries.

Well Strawberries and Cream is a well known favorite, right – so I thought to try it with fresh buffalo curd, instead.

I diced 1 cup of strawberries, added ¾ cup of vodka, a pinch of salt and reduced it, until it was thick, adding about 2 table-spoons of sugar, and a few drops of white vinegar while it bubbled. I poured this into the bottom of the wine glasses, then liquidized the curd in a blender, adding that over the strawberry reduction, which was pulpy, since it was not strained, by not googy, and then let it cool in the fridge. After lunch, I topped it off with thinly sliced fresh strawberries dipped in the reduction.
The curd turns out well formed, and divides up the differently textured strawberries with its slightly sour, creamy froth. Yummy poo!

Update: Published in Spectrum, Feb., 2009: