The World is my Playground

H omo sapiens as we are, one of the most evolved species on this planet.. the way our brains, technology and living patterns have emerged, so have the trends on food. in ancient times, after we discovered fire.. food was simply cooked so that our digestive system isn't loaded for hours of churning and extracting nutrients.. Nutrition is what needed as fuel to run ourselves and our brains.. So my day on Saturday started with a session on growing better food for nutrition which is chemical free. " Treewalks " an initiative by Lokendra Balasaria is a session conducted by like minded people on regular intervals to know more about the trees, taking care of them, growing up vegetables and contributing more to detox the planet. Next I headed on to UNLOCKED.. which too is based on Detoxing, be it from technology or our digestive system. I discovered a board game "UNSPOKEN" over a Kiwi, Cucumber and Mint detox juice with an intention to add better n...

With Ice-Cream you will never feel deserted in Ahmedabad!! Ahmedabad in my personal ranking has to be THE ICE-CREAM Capitol of India, with leading dairy brands, ice-cream not only happens to be a by product of it, but it’s the lullaby of majority of the population. Credit scores for this culture also are due to the state falling in so called “ dry” category!! The males aren’t busy consuming liquor at home or in pubs therefore one can spot groups of families and friends hanging out together sitting outside parlours or pavement on stools late at night.. chilling with their ‘gup-shup’. The late evening breeze in this tropical zone is another inviting factor for this trend to develop!! As a spectator and blogger, I have witnessed three generations or three zones of this chilling fluid!! To hit Bull's eye you need the MOO factor of cow!! The home made brands contribute to the first generation which had always been local preference, made locally, fresh with minimum proc...

Creation of food is an amalgamation of art, combinations of taste, food materials infused in together.. but needs lot of knowledge, experimentation and research too, as various food categories cannot be combined together or some even if combined don’t taste great or react well, but this challenge has been taken up well by Pabria’s, a transformed version of Tullika ice-creams which has been put back on feet with a more robust plan, strategy and innovative approach. Pabrai’s – Fresh and Naturelle is again a Kolkata based 30 year old family brand which has franchisee presence in Ahmedabad, at Vastrapur Lake. 90% of the ice-creams at Pabrai’s – Fresh and Naturelle retain absolutely original flavours of fruits, nuts, flowers, spices or any other essential extracts. They use the best of ingredients which impart original taste to the favourite dessert of Amdavadi’s; be it a basic vanilla ice cream or a lemon grass both have natural pods and leaves present. The USP of Pabrai’s is ...

Those are the evening chants for Ahmedabad since ages.. from home- made ice-creams to specially crafted versions matching international standards and evolving needs of the new age foodies. The cool breeze in the evenings and booze free state has promoted a culture of sitting out in the open with friends and families and catching up over with ice-creams. Following this trend, Sankalp, the most renowned chain of South Indian restaurants has recently launched their maiden version, another vertical, a stand-alone brand for desserts, christened as “ Screamery ”.   Currently the new avatar of “ Screamery ” is a beautifully designed, colourful kiosk placed at the sprawling lawns of Sankalp, besides Rajpath Club on S. G Highway. A tasting session was organised for Food Entrepreneurs of Ahmedabad (FEA) Group, attended by Anil Mulchandani, a renowned author; Dilip Thakkar & Raju Thakkar of Gopi Dining,   Sonal Kellog, Darshan Rawal etc. where Atul Budhraja, VP – ...