Saturday, March 14, 2009

Vol-Au-Vents a la Crème Fraîche and a tag...

I was tagged by two wonderful bloggers…Divs and Varsha where I have to write 25 random things about myself…The first question I asked myself was whether there were 25 things about myself to even tell about! But as I started writing it was quite easy to make this list however uninteresting the facts are…So here goes that tag…


1. I am a movie buff…though am quite selective about it …I love Padmarajan and Sreenivasan movies…apart from that I love classics...and any movies of Benigni...Spielberg...Tarantino...or Polanski

2.I never enjoyed cooking when I was at home in Trivandrum…its was more of cooking due to forced circumstances….though had lots of fun with bro trying out things in the kitchen like putting kudampuli for the sambhar or spoiling the mixie 4-5 times in a month trying to make idli maavu…. my first food blogpost is quite silly..;-D



3. I find a lot of connect with many bloggers than people whom I know in daily life….sometimes I feel they think so much alike and are of similar wavelength making me comfortable communicating with them…many are almost like family for me.

4. I love cold weather or rather moderate weather by European standards...20-25 deg…I get irritated at plus 35…I don’t mind shivering in the cold but I hate to sweat in the sun…But I now appreciate the beauty of sun when it occasionally shows up in winter.

5. I love travelling...I have been to several countries in past 2-3 years and considering myself lucky for being able to do so... Norway is next in my wish list..:)

6. I don’t think I was proud of myself as a kid or as a college guy…but I somehow feel happy for myself that I managed to hold on to some principles inspite of temptations to break it after I finished studies. Integrity in action is a much under-appreciated value these days.

7. I love peach juice and I don’t like sugar in coffee.

8. I would like to copy a line here from yumworld...i am a Cancerian as well…infact most of my blogger friends are cancerians…

9. I envy people who can sing…that’s something I wish god gave me…and I do have an eclectic taste for music…

10. Some of the nicest people I know are not necessarily the richest or most well endowed physically or financially. I learned that there is goodness even in sections of society we disregard as second fiddle or unworthy of attention...

11. One of the proudest moments in my life was when I got my parents to Germany and later took them to Paris and Rome…and they send a mail after reaching home about how happy they were…I am highly uncomfortable expressing love or gratitude in person and they know it, it seems…

12. I am very instinctive in nature…at times I believe that I have psychic powers too. 4 years ago along with a friend while munching on a home delivered pizza, we were worried about roomies coming soon sharing the already small pizza we had..5 min after we finished the pizza we got a call..4 of them were stuck somewhere in the lift of our flat…;-D

13. My all-time favorite TV show is Frasier. I am so much a fan that I would love to visit Seattle if I ever go to USA…

14. I love being a travel guide. and I love doing the planning…and I do it in extreme detailing starting from when exactly should I wake up on the day of travel..;-P

15. I sometimes wish if I had a sister…just a weird wish...

16. You rarely would see me emotional in person…it’s a trait I got from dad which I know is not necessarily good...But I am my own “agony uncle” if there is any..;-P

17. I love doing pencil sketching, jigsaw puzzles and watching history related television programs…esp... if it has something to do with world war’s…and besides that I like car and bike shows. I also used to closely follow the Indian election scene when I was a kid. I remember when I was like in 8th or 9th standard and it was exam time and I was forcibly confined to the study room. But my mind was always in the pie chart showing the seats won by Congress, BJP and other parties...

18. I am late riser…Its hard for me to wake up without seeing the sun...

19. I don’t follow sports religiously…and cricket is not a religion for me….though am a fan of St.Pauli and Arsenal football club…

20. I hate liars, hypocrisy and pretentious people…And I love people who don’t have any air about themselves…If you have qualities that is adorable or causing envy in others, don’t allow arrogance to get over you…I have seen a flamboyant ex-banker having had to rely on food from charity...there could be a fall for anyone of us!!

21. I love wines…and though am not anyway a serious aficionado at it, I love trying different wines…and my colleagues here know it and that what they usually gift me when the occasion demands… :)

22. Three woman I consider as most beautiful are Princess Diana, Konkona Sen and Madhubala…

23. I like the money in my job, though I harbor a desire to do something creative at work place…and the farthest I can do now is colorful fonted mails to colleagues...

24. I love the smell of cake ovens.

25. Three of my favorite books are Curious incident of a Dog in the night time, Diary of Anne Frank and Catcher in the rye.

And well a little quick fix for folks who are in a super hurry mode for dinner, I presenta “Vol-Au-Vents a la Crème Fraîche” …ok….that was just to pretend it was a cool French thing!! ;-D

Well this is simplest non-veg dish ever known to mankind…fish burji…



There is this ready-to-eat mackerel fillets preserved in olive oil which you can buy from shops here…Just grab a couple of onions, few green chilies’ , curry leaves and fry em in the preservative oil. Once it’s suitably sautéed, add 1 teaspoon pepper, half teaspoon chili powder and salt to taste. Now add the fish fillets (which are already cooked) and blend them along with sautéed onions. This dish has a pleasant favour and overwhelmingly tastes of the fish and sauted onions unlike usual Indian dish where the masala is usually more prominent...Just like the short recipe it takes just 10 min to cook this up!!


Update: I just found out how the germans use it..they use it as a filling between two bread slices just like jam for their breakfast..;-P

24 comments:

Varsha Vipins said...

Nice Me-Me Mathew..:) ..really enjoyed going through..:P..Btw,did u know we are settled in Seattle??:D..Come over when you visit here..:)
I would be so glad to some fish fillet packs here..Its so yum n easy..:)

Anonymous said...

Lol Mathew..once again have seen the 'human' in you !! Btw,have you seen Actor Suresh Gopi,the superduper Police officer on screen weeping live in front of a television Cam ? Accidentally,he is a cancerian too.Its natural for many Mathew..But I have assumed how cool a human being he was only seeing that..!! ha ha..
and Appa and Amma,that point is there always Maths..You are a blessed son in many contexts..I loved reading your me me as always..
Maths,the name of fish burgi may enter theaurus this time...My GOd..what an innovative idea..ha ha

Divs said...

Your first post . Awesome! hehee..

:) @15 its just one of those things i gues.s. It's like me wishing I had a big bro

@9 - everybody can sing.. even me. I can sing (real bad) so what.. u sing coz you want is my take on it. good/bad who cares!

@12 - hehee..

nice post again! :)

Anonymous said...

As usual, that was so nice to read! :)
It was a very good thing you did for you parents, nalla kutty..!
Me too like Madhubala. :)

mathew said...

@Varsha
oh is it.!!! wow..thanks for offer..:-)
I want to visit one of the coffee shops there and the space needle..i know about the place only from the show..

and thanks for tagging..it was fun doing it..

@Ann
no i havent seen it..and never knew he was a cancerian..

and glad to know you enjoyed reading it..i guess there are lot of similarities..

I dont want to see it in any thesauras..I particularly fear the French Legion!!;-D

@Divs
;-D
yeah..i just wanted to sing good..!! hehe..

@Seena
thank you...yeah..i love her songs and I think current crop of actresses can no where match her grace and beauty!!

Life Mysterious said...

Enjoyed reading it :-)!

thomas said...

I like Padmarajan & Sreenivasan movies too. :)

I love peach juice -- Kurachu naal mumbu vare saadaa kanji vellavum theengaa vellavam kudichu nadanna cherrukkanmaarke ippum peach juice aanu ishtam :P

mathew said...

@Life Mysterious
thank you..:-)

@thomman
hehe..you have no idea how much i love to have a glass of kani vellam now..pakshe even naatil its the pashu which has the first preference.:-(

ramblings said...

:) that was a nice slow 'self-revelation' sorts...!

and the connection thing is so true, even though u try to brush it aside at times, like 'get real!' but its there alright!

Vrinda said...

Thanx for visiting our blog..I too tasted biryani from sagar..i am from Thalassery,it is also famouus and taste same as kozhikodan biryani..V use special biryani rice not the basmathi rice,this rice gives nice flavour to the biryani....

Divz said...

a lovely me-me mathew...u r the first cancer man i know in person!!it is fun to knw u..
and u knw what?? i was ROFL after i read the post on ur first food blog!!

Malar Gandhi said...

Enjoyed reading ur MeMe...number 2,oh really...jammed blenders and stuff...hard to believe! Me too experimented a lot, in back home kitchen...my brother is like my lab rat...he he.

Malar Gandhi said...

The song that is playing in my website is from this famous television show called 'I love Lucy'! Its from 50s...but still on air! The language is Cuben, the instrument is Babaloo...the guy who is singing is(was) 'Desi Arnaz'...although he is called Ricky Ricardo' thats the charater name. I am glad that you liked it.

silverine said...

Fish burji was the only way my mom knew how to cook canned fish her cousins bought from abroad. Later since we liked it so much with rotis that she started buying the tinned sardines and mackerel we get in India. The recipe reminded me of dinner time as kids! Guess whats for dinner today! :p

mathew said...

@ramblings
thanks..yeah..i guess its true..

@Vrinda
I have actually tried quite less variety of malabar food..but for the usual biriyani..I have heard and read about much wider variety of delicacies from that part of the state...

@Divz
oh.is it..actually most friends of mine in my other blog are cancerians..:)

@Malar
hahaha...i jammed up the blenders not coz of the maav..but actually for not fitting the bush properly before switching on the mixie...so the burnt smell of burnt rubber was a standard...

thanks for the song name..i ll try to get it from the net..its a kinda summer song and very african..

@Anju
hehe..grow up kochukutti...!!;-D
aah..okk..if its that..please the parcel!!

Pinktoothjourno said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
VIDYA said...

:) nice tag!. its nice to know te real u behind the funny posts and satire :)
loved no 24 the best.

Dhanya said...

I'm lil late here.. Loved your meme.. I could identify with many esp point 3. It's an instant connect sometimes :)

Unknown said...

enjoyed reading your me-me, Mathew :)

btw, I make something very similar to this using canned tuna. I add onions, curry leaves, crushed pepper & garam masala. At times I add tomato ketchup too :)

Unknown said...

enjoyed reading your me-me, Mathew :)

btw, I make something very similar to this using canned tuna. I add onions, curry leaves, crushed pepper & garam masala. At times I add tomato ketchup too :)

mathew said...

@Vidya
thank you...

@Dhanya
true..though I have felt later on..some were not as well..

@Maria
will try out that way too sometime..thanks for dropping by!!

Reflections said...

Related with u on many levels..

I've lived in Dubai 10 yrs now & last year I finally brot my parents here for 2 months & felt I cd die happy after tht:-).

#15...not weird at all:-).

#20..I second U!!!!!

Enjoyed reading this:-))!!!!!!!!!!!

Reflections said...

Just noticed u r from Trivandrum & I dont know if u know this blogger....Ordinary Guy.

I think he is the only Malayalee Guy I read...tho he is not per se a malayalee....just somebody loves Kerala & everything malayalee;-)).

http://quintessentialhope.wordpress.com/

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