pizza vom

my parents now live in bani gala, an extended suburb of islamabad near rawal lake. there is a little market a short distance from our house (which i call the bg high street) that sports necessities such as a general store, a pharmacy, a butcher, a tea and juice stall, a grocer and a tailor. amidst all these is a small pizzeria strangely named ‘pizza vom’ – hot as hell.

pizza is one of those foods that has universal appeal that allows itself to be appropriated by the tastes of the country in question. pakistani pizza’s come in all shapes and sizes. most people here prefer a thicker, greasy crust but you can get thin ones too at the likes of luna capresse and al forno. they are usually topped with generous amounts of melted cheese, are heavy on spice and some meat. pizza vom happened to be surprisingly good. a thin slightly crispy crust that was not over burdened with its toppings (what i mean to say is that the pizza didn’t collapse under the weight of them) – there was capsicum, chicken, sausages and black olives and quite a lot of spice. a very local version of an italian staple!

i must confess. i do so love a pakistani pizza once in a while.

shop 4| mughal plaza| main road bani gala

khaas art gallery cafe

mum and i lunched at khaas today. this is an art gallery-cum-cafe, one which i had frequented in the days when i lived in islamabad. often friday lunch breaks found me at khaas with colleagues or family. khaas has always stood for good food and really good coffee. it’s menu is chalked onto a blackboard and i often found ordering a little discomfiting, since if you happen to be standing and trying to make up your mind it can be distracting for those dining near the menu.

often deciding what to eat can be difficult as the entrees and salads are all tempting. i recall how the flavourful the japanese beef was and the burgers too. today, i was in the mood for thai and settled on red curry. mum and i usually share an entree so that we can split guilt (that is dessert in our speak). the red chicken curry is served with steamed rice and vegetables sautéed in a light soy sauce flecked with sesame seeds. the bowls are arranged on a thali. i love the attention to presentation at khaas. the rice is garnished with some chilli chips which are a deep fiery orange. the entree is preceded by brown and white bread accompanied by a shallow dish of olive oil and balsamic vinegar. the curry is quite mild but rich with coconut milk and a hint of chilli. the vegetables are crunchy and taste really good. i’ve always found the rice to be boiled a little too dry.

although we deliberate over dessert, our choice of chocolate mousse is very predictable. khaas’ mousse holds pride of place even in comparison to abroad. it’s decadent and dark with a hint of bitterness in the end. and most importantly the flavour of the chocolate isn’t diluted by cream. it’s texture is dense and feathery at the same time. mum of course had a cafetiere of coffee.   

house one| street two| f-6/3| islamabad

and what "food" would you like with that?

travelling to a new, far away country is always an exciting culinary experience. before going to india i spent days fantasising about the authentic versions of rogan josh and chicken tikka masala i was going to taste every day, only to be slightly disappointed, but also pleasantly surprised by curry leaves and fish cooked in banana leaves. before coming to uganda, many people asked me “what’s the food like in uganda” and i had to admit that i had no clue. there are some senegalese and nigerian restaurants in europe, there are the famous ethiopian joints along caledonian road, and i’m pretty sure someone has come up with south african-themed bar where biltong is king. but none has ever heard of a ugandan restaurant (or a rwandese one for that matter)...and now i know why.

during my first few days in kampala i always ended up in suspicious-looking eateries serving a strange range of “international” foods, from cheese burgers to irish stews. i started becoming restless and suggesting we go to a real ugandan restaurant at every occasion. we finally ended up at the oak, a secluded place disguised in between big office buildings in the centre of town, but they only had “fast food” available and so i ordered liver and chips, which turned out to be lovely, succulent meat bites accompanied by the usual soggy chips that come with almost every plate here in kampala.

and then i tried the “proper” ugandan everyday food. first in the office’s canteen, which however has a terrible reputation, and then at st. anthony, a well-known, busy restaurant in the office/embassies district of nakasero. ugandans eat a lot of meat, including beef, pork, chicken and goat. they however seem to prefer the intestines of the animals to their more “classic” cuts. a walk through the city’s main market can be a pretty gruesome affair, as you can at one point find yourself surrounded by the smell and sight of (rotting) goat and cow’s tripes hanging from dirty hooks.

meat only seems to be cooked in two ways, either barbequed in a fairly simple but tasty nyama choma, or wrapped in banana leaves and steamed without any condiments. meat always comes with your choice of “food”. “food” equals staple, or starch, and can be any of the following things: cassava, millet flour bread, boiled pumpkin, sweet potatoes, irish potatoes, posho (corn meal) or, the favourite, matoke, aka flavourless mashed plantain. needless to say, none of the above is actually vaguely appealing or nutritious. considering the meat is always cooked in oxo-cube broth, the combined result usually ends up being pretty bland and, well, starchy. lake fish, especially tilapia, sometimes replaces the meat but it isn’t cooked in any more imaginative way and usually full of tiny little bones that can turn the meal in a boring and somewhat dangerous experience.

bean or pea stews, white rice and samosas can usually save the day and prevent you from going home starving and dreaming of flying giant lasagne, but all in all eating the ugandan way is a dim option. luckily, kampala has adapted to the incredibly large number of “mzungus” living in it and can now offer an impressive number of international restaurants, from chinese, to belgian, to ethiopian. some more upmarket places stick to the choice of meat or fish but have devised slightly more adventurous ways of preparing it, integrating italian and indian influences with sometimes pleasant results.

today i even heard rumours of a japanese and a thai restaurant...i’m hopeful, i will survive this year in kampala after all, but for once i will have to put away my passion for authentic local cuisine and give in to the expat way of life...going back to handi, the best indian in town tomorrow, yay!!!

trying moolita

mooli is a veggie, a giant radish really.

in my home country they eat strips of it dipped into a tangy masala of ground red chilli and some salt.

but here in london mooli isn't just a veggie.

it is [described in the words of mooli's itself]

'warm flavourful fillings, zesty salsas, vibrant chutneys and crunchy salad, all rolled in a fresh homemade roti.'

mooli's offers five mooli's (you can get mini sized ones too). they are wraps whose fillings are inspired by a fusion of flavours from different parts of indian. they are all very creative and bring on sweet and tangy, salty and spicy all together. the mini mooli's are actually a good way to try out what's on offer. i had the asparagus and beef mini mooli's. o had the paneer and beef. a went for the beef and pork. i am afraid i can't speak for the pork myself as i don't eat it but the boys loved it, really and truly. the pork mooli is goan inspired and is teemed with a rudy red pomegranate seeds and salsa.

the beef mooli is inspired by kerelan cuisine which explains the spice factor. it's really really hot. but the beef is incredibly tender and literally melts in the mouth having being braised in malabar spices. the cooling cucumber raita is a perfect edition as is the crunch of leafy greens.

the asparagus mooli was curiously good. it had the flavours of indian chaat which to me is the ultimate in indian street food. the asparagus held itself well having been just slightly cooked. the potatoes were soft and disintegrated mixing with the cumin and tamarind sauce.

i had a bite of o's paneer mooli diced small and full of spices that were warm but not chilli. with that there was grated carrots and some kind of slight sugary and tangy tomato chutney.

the roti's themselves were excellent. they were sturdy enough to hold in all the fillings and yet tender enough. oftentimes i find that wraps that are warmed and filled get tough as soon as they cool down. mooli's doesn't suffer from that problem.

and here's what you will love the most about mooli's. it's really really good on the pocket.

truly good nosh for less dosh. too bad i didn't have my camera to get a snap shot of mooli but that's an excuse to visit again soon.

follow moolita on her/his? blog

the last ramsay

as my last wish before leaving london with a broken heart and a fantastic new job waiting for me in uganda, i asked my very best friend m to join me on a last foodie expedition. feeling very affectionate towards england, but not being a fan of fish & chips, i thought of gordon ramsay once again. after all, m and i had never been together, but talked about it a lot.

m miraculously managed to get a booking at maze grill on my very last night in london. having being kicked out of my own flat three days before, i was living out of a suitcase and had no fancy outfit for the evening. which worked just as well, as maze grill is quite unpretentious among the gr’s restaurants and makes you feel at ease even if you can’t resist the temptation to take you phone out to check the exact origin of stichelton cheese or the difference between onglet and rump steaks.

maze grill is, as someone may suspect, a grill, and the highlight of the evening came shortly after sitting down, when a heavy meat board landed on our table and each cut of meat was explained in detail to us. after grasping little about different kinds of marbling and ageing periods, i was truly stunned to hear about cows being massaged with sake every day while entertained by classical music. that seemed to come straight out of a parody of haute-cuisine, although the daily market price, £90 for a steak, didn’t seem funny at all.

having recovered from the shock, we opted for the much less adventurous early supper menu, which at £21 for three courses looked like an absolute bargain at that point, although some of its options, like penne with rabbit ragout, were a tad uninspiring.

my ham hock (???) and confit duck terrine was tasty, but i was immediately taken by food envy, looking at m’s beautifully presented starter. a suede and carrot soup with stichelton blue and pears, where all the flavours blended to perfection without losing their individual character.

we both had steak as a main, the cheap-ish casterbridge onglet, both cooked medium-rare. mine was a bit too rich in nerves and hence a bit difficult to cut, but the meat was in itself terribly tender, juicy and perfectly cooked. the accompanying béarnaise sauce was delicate and never overpowered the meat. we were fascinated by the half garlic head sitting next to meat, baked or broiled (one of the evening’s many misteries) whose cloves resulted soft and delicious, almost melting in our mouths.

although i retain an aversion to green and leafy things, i’ll have to admit the salad dressing was delicious and m overcame her distaste for mayonnaise as its saffron version was an interesting companion to the rather unimaginative chips.

it was, however, the dessert, that really won my heart over. i ordered a simple rhubarb crumble with crème anglais and there couldn’t have been a better way to say goodbye to england and its food. the crumble was crunchy and not too sweet, the rhubarb steamy and never too tart, and the crème anglais was simply divine. light, warm, familiar with a hidden twist at the same time, i could have drank mugs full of it. the elements perfectly combined, it reminded me of how great chefs can also turn the simplest of things in modest masterpieces.

being too full to think, i finished my glass of delicious white wine and ordered a cup of tea, only to be presented with four of the richest and tastiest chocolate chip cookies i’ve tasted in a long, long time. that night for me was a demonstration that great chefs can turn very simple food in a terribly interesting, and tasty, experience. with no pretentious atmosphere, no frills and no astronomical bill, i felt like i was having just a friendly, but absolutely delicious, meal with the very best of all best friends.

and if one day i’ll ever be able to afford a slice of a cow who gets a mani & pedi every wednesday...well, that’s another story.

maze grill 10-13 grosvenore square W1K 6JP london