Comments on: Food Network Giving Desi Love

By: Chanakya

Chanakya — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 02:22:29 +0000

Are nahi’re Sunil baba, aishappath ,I’m not taking any credit from the East Indian aunties. Just, apna boy is on TV man. I’m sure he’s used it at home and nothing like dumping some bottle masala and seeing Alton Brown flummoxed and going ..I don’t know what he just added ..just a whole lot of curry! You can see the smiles on the desi viewers faces all the way from here!

By: sunil

sunil — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 01:51:37 +0000

He did’nt bring out any bottle masala (a staple of goan cuisine)

Easy there buddy, bottle masala is the domain of the east indian community of mumbai. Goans are always trying to take credit .

By: Chanakya

Chanakya — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 22:28:03 +0000

Sajit, ‘I totally agree with the judging BS. First, I gotta say that Floyd didn’t make sorpotel ( and as a mumbai goan, thats -10 already)! He did’nt bring out any bottle masala (a staple of goan cuisine)(-10). He gave props to his wife about making him poha every morning (plus 10). One of the judges was a wrestler, and giving him “curry”? He should have just burnt some stake and put it on that bed of spices. A lil bit of salt and pepper and said voila thats good for you. Bobby Flay goes on and on with his curry spice blends on other battles. What a pussy! Any jackass can make Carbonara and win. Put pancheta or smoked pork cubes in any dish and the American palette is bound to go gaga. I doubt these “judges” understand the hard part of blending spices. Alton Brown needs to shut up! Skill set:: 1)How to break a coconut on live TV.. tack-tack half-crack.. (My peeve..HE THREW THE COCONUT WATER AWAY..he should have done shots with it…)! 2) If your tapioca soup gets too briney.. use chicken stock to get it back to taste. ( Learnt something new.) 3) Server soup in the “non-eye” containing part of the coconut shell. Awesome.

By: sfgirl

sfgirl — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 02:18:29 +0000

I agree with Fuerza Dulce. Nipa was completely unlikeable. It almost seemed that she was on the show against her will. In addition to it, she did not come across as an authority on food, even Indian food (which was her POV to begin with). A good chef can do so much with Indian spices and it would have been amazing if we had seen some breadth of knowledge in her cooking (I mean look at Chef Cardoz, he made it work with - secret ingredient SNAILS!!).

By: Fuerza Dulce

Fuerza Dulce — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 01:46:25 +0000

Sajit, I agree with you. That’s what I was trying to get at in general. If she did know what she was talking about, then she didn’t do a good job of making that come across. If she didn’t, well, she was trying to get a job at Food Network teaching people how to cook Indian food! Wth – if she didn’t know she shouldn’t have tried out.

By: Sajit

Sajit — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 00:40:30 +0000

@ Yo Dad: Thanks! and I agree with her highness--Nipa did have an attitude. Walking out in the middle of the judging portion is probably not a good thing.

@Fuerza: Nipa didn't come across as confident on camera or in explaining her culinary point of view (accessible Indian) expertly on the show. If you aren't well-versed in the subject, and it didn't appear to me that Nipa was, explaining the different Indian spices and their uses to a television audience is not going to be easy. I did enjoy her trying to give Bollywood dancing lessons though! Even for those who know a thing or two about food seem to get tripped up by Indian spices--and Alton Brown was a clear example of that yesterday. I've watched the show a few times, and have never seen Alton Brown so flummoxed!

I too don't understand the judging of the show. Nothing against Bobby Flay and I didn't taste the food, but I don't get how Chef Flay with his pasta and pizza dish beat Chef Cardoz in originality? Cardoz used pawa and a plethora of fresh spices and still lost in the originality categories.

By: Fuerza Dulce

Fuerza Dulce — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 22:52:08 +0000

I was bummed Floyd didn’t win – but I still loved watching him cook and present his food. It looked awesome.

I couldn’t stand Nipa – I wouldn’t watch her in a regular Food Network show. She did get Gujurati food some airtime, but otherwise I didn’t feel like she made Indian food approachable at all. She was horribly awkward on the camera. She also made Indian food seem, for the most part, what non-Desis think it is: Lots of spices, little to no technique, and it’s all the same. It was such a great opportunity to show the Food Network audience out there that there isn’t just “Indian” food the same way you don’t speak “Indian”. She could have shown India as having culinarydiversity, varying from refined to rustic, in the same way Italian or Spanish food varies as you travel North to South, East to West. Only the ingredients aren’t just different, the language, culture and methods of preparation are different. Instead she was like, ok here’s some lamb doused in “exotic” spices, and here’s some aloo subji. Lame. Maybe her “culinary POV” was limited or maybe her cooking skills were. It didn’t seem like she had the knowledge to pass on to a TV audience anyhow.

By: indian food lover

indian food lover — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 21:04:59 +0000

Tabla is just amazing. I was wowed by Flyod's creativity. I had dinner with 4 friends and 1 girl was vegetarian. We all had the tasting menu but ordered different things. For $75, it was worth it. Very tasty food. Very creative presentation and preparation. Yum!! Try the tasting menu if you go.

Bread Bar is good too. You can find some really good Malayalee dishes like Fish Molee and Goan dishes that you won't find elsewhere. I am a fan!

By: indian food lover

indian food lover — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 21:00:17 +0000

Nipa did have an awful attitude. While she seems to be familiar with Guju food, she presented herself like an idiot with respect to all else. The way she handled and wasted the fish in one episode was just disrepectful.

By: Zen

Zen — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 19:17:48 +0000

Wow! This is the biggest concession to Desis since Rachel Ray made Chicken Marsala Masala.