While it’s started to rain, the days can get really humid at times. Pakodas and chai might make great evening snacks while it’s pouring outside, but one needs something cooling and healthy like cold soups and salads for lunch.

There are soups and then there is the consommé. This crystal clear, golden liquid is the king of broths and it will be a sin to say that a consommé is like a plain stock. It is painstaking to make but tastes like ambrosia.

The beaches of Goa are almost deserted now. Gone are the bikini-clad foreigners and the hordes of Indian tourists surreptitiously clicking their pictures on their mobile phone cameras.

While meat and fish is a staple in the area, the Mediterranean perhaps has the most diverse vegetarian cuisine in the world.

When it comes to salads, very few cuisines come even close to Italian. The freshness of the ingredients available in that region coupled with the ingenuity of the Italians make the salads out of this world.

While we might rave about the street food of our cities, the kathi roll of Kolkata, the larhi (hand-pulled carts that vend delectable fish, brain curries etc.) of Surat or the pao bhaji of Mumbai will

While we might rave about the street food of our cities, the kathi roll of Kolkata, the larhi (hand-pulled carts that vend delectable fish, brain curries etc.) of Surat or the pao bhaji of Mumbai will never come close to the street food of Thailand in terms of originality, finesse, freshness of ingredients and of course, taste.
This week we look at a couple of foods popular in the streets of Bangkok and Pattaya.

The flavours of the North East are definitely the least known in our country. Its lack of popularity perhaps is due to the fact that there are hardly any spices used in this region.

Cookies and shortbread are not only great fun to make at home, they are much healthier than store or bakery-bought treats —- even with the amount of butter you use.

With spring upon us, now is the perfect time to make those wonderful salads with fresh vegetables of the seasons.