Happy New Year!

Welcome Back! Or should I say, thanks for coming back!

It's been a long 6 months or so since I have taken time out to give attention to this blog, and I must admit I have missed it.

The past 6 months have been jam packed with all sorts of unexpected happenings, like being presented with opportunities to travel abroad with work unexpectedly (India) and with more focus on artistic work (Redlees shows), and the freelance day job has been flowing well, so thankfully, I have been busy in all good ways. I have also been allowing time for more photography to develop, which I upload on flickr. So I'm a busy bee! But these are all activities I love, and I intend to develop all of them in tandem, and with gusto! So thanks for returning to the read, and please do stay!

So what lured me back? Well, namely, a new cook book I received from my sister for christmas.

The book in question is this: 'Cook in Boots' by Ravinder Bhogal.

In case you were wondering, she is not related to 'Vicky Bhogal', author of the brilliant book 'Cooking like Mummyji', another British Asian female food enthusiast and home cook.

No, Ravinder seems to be a totally different kettle of fish. Ravinder is a Beauty and Fashion Journalist by day. So the 'angle' of this cook book is 'Sexy Beauty writer who is also quite sexy, writes a book of her favourite recipes, all very sexy looking too, thankyou very much. ' Could be very shallow. 'What qualifies this Beauty Writer to produce a cook book?' one may ask. Well apparently the fact that she was on Gordon Ramseys' 'The F-Word', and that she really impressed him, is enough qualification. So here is the book. Initially I was cynical. You can almost hear the marketing execs; 'ok guys, she's sexy, she's Asian - we need more of them on the quota, she's been on telly with Ramsey and he seems to like her, this could be enough for marketing gold, we could call her the Indian Nigella' (everyone seems to be the new Nigella). See what I mean? Well, despite my initial cynicism, I dismissed this slightly unfair judgment once I spent some time really going through the book.

The book presents Ravinder in a very Carrie Bradshaw-esque light, all fabulous shoes and fabulous lifestyle. It is clearly focussed on the SATC set, or on people who, like me, don't come close to living any sort of SATC lifestyle, and couldn't dream of ever spending frivolously on Chloe Jeans, but secretly wishes she could. The pictures, the titles and the theatrical setting of the recipes in the book make you feel as though you are looking onto a film set, its almost a bit Alice in Wonderland like in its styling of photography, and I like the element of fun and fantasy that captures. What the hell, food is about indulgence, treating yourself, celebration, a bit of naughtiness here and there, and pure simple enjoyment. There is nothing pious, deep or meaningful about this book, sometimes that is just what you need.

More importantly, the recipes are just the sort of things you want to cook. The dishes are modern, practical, globally influenced and very tasty.

In Chapter 1, called Bread, Pasta, Potatoes "Fall off the carb free wagon", you'll find Fried Cassava Salad, Paprika Prawns on Sourdough bread, Goat's Cheese Red onion and Chive Foccacia, Tempura Fish n Chips with wasabi Mayonnaise and Fattoush. Dishes from all over, all dishes I would love to eat. This girl is not interested in food fads, and gets very unashamedly indulgent about carbs. Good on her.

Chapter 4 - "PMT Food"  is essentially a list of dishes with chocolate in them. Hey, all women understand that one. The chapters continue: 'Hangover Food', 'Social Grazing', the amusing (- or bemusing) 'Hard Up Food - For when you've spent all your lolly on your Louboutins'...hahaha, like that would EVER happen! Now I really have fallen down the rabbit hole, where everything is the wrong way round! There is no way I would ever find myself with not enough money to eat becasue I had to have Louboutins instead...and I don't know anyone who would! Very funny...Nevertheless, the 'Hard-Up Food' is delicious, with Chickpea and Potato Curry, Angel Hair spaghetti with garlic, chilli and lemon, and Sardines in Tamarind Sauce to name a few. Even when the notion of the chapters verges on the ridiculous, the dishes soon compensate.

I quite like the sexy food section, titled 'Fork me, Spoon Me – The food of Love and Rude Food.' Ooh err missus! Here you'll find Scallops with Champagne butter sauce, Oysters, 'Sexy Rack of Lamb' and desserts like Fig Tart Tartin. Yummy. Okay, I'm vegetarian now, but I remember eating 'sexy lamb', and I remember liking it. This is collection of very varied recipes, taken from many different cuisines, adapted gently to be practical to make in a modern British home, using ingredients that you can pick up from a regular supermarket. A good example of this is for the Salt Crusted Sea Bass recipe, from Sardinia. She acknowledges that the salt we get here in England doesn't work as the well compared to Sardinian salt, so she adds egg whites and water to help it stick, and also adds lemon zest and herbs for subtle flavour. A lovely adaptation, which shows her own flair and personal attention that has gone into the recipes.

I have always wanted to re-create the Portuguese classic of salt cod or 'Bacalau', but wasn't convinced that it would work with our salt, but this is a great tip, so thanks Ravinder!

Ravinder Bhogal may Asian, with Punjabi heritage but that is an incidental element of the whole focus of this book. We are so familiar now with Anjum Anand (who is actually a chef) and we've seen Vicky Bhogal's books where she reveals Indian home cooking to the British public, and of course we all know and love Madhur Jaffrey, the first lady. So much so, that we can't help but assume that when we see an Indian face on the cover of a cook book, we are going to get more Indian recipes. That was what I was expecting. However, I was pleased that I was wrong. Here, it is irrelevant that the cook in question is of Indian heritage, and I find that very refreshing. She's a young, sexy, successful working woman who is a food enthusiast and who has written a book about the food she cooks and loves. It is as simple as that, (with a smattering of silliness! ) Yet, you can see very clearly that indian food, and her love for the spices and flavourings of indian food influence her style of eating. None of the dishes are subtle or bland, they are all full of flavour and tempting even when they are very simple. There are very British dishes, pies, English breakfasts, Stews, all of which have a twist which comes from 'foreign' influence, as well as dishes from world cuisines. But then what is 'foreign'? We live in a global village, we are inspired by all cuisines, modern British everyday food does now confidently use ingredients like cumin seeds and paprika as well as rosemary and thyme. It just reflects the beautiful melting pot of a city / world we live in. It also truly reflects how we eat. English breakfasts, Thai lunches, Japanese dinners. It is fun, it is exciting, it is celebratory, and even when it sometimes seems a little out of our reach, it is still something we all want to taste.

This isn't just a pretty book, destined to sit idle on your kitchen shelf. I may not live the glamorous lifestyle that is portrayed here, but I can certainly eat as though I do!

For the final bit of seductive sell, take a look at the video promo for the book.

Enjoy!