A LA CARTE - Bon Appetit

A  La  Carte  -  Bon  appetit

The A La Carte offers new flavors for your taste buds. 

Bon appetit the French word means  = ( Bon = Good, appetit = appetite ) Good appetite.

The food is as essential as oxygen and water for human life. The foodies cravings to taste food from all the continents is quite understandable.  The Vegetarian and Non-vegetarian foods are nourished by the travellers across the world. 

Food is any substance consumed to provide nutritional support for the body.  Food contains essential nutrients such as fats, proteins, vitamins or minerals.  The substance is ingested by an organism and assimilated by the organism’s cell to provide energy, maintain life or stimulate growth.

The tastier food is becoming the craze for humanities in the entire world.  The television shows such as The Master Chef of Australia, Master Chef of America, and Highway on my Plate are popular amongst television viewers. There are innumerable television programs about cooking, multi cuisine, tasting and rating of foods available for the food lovers.   There are many foodies glued to the television sets when these programs are beamed on national network.  The modern man has great appetite to taste Regional, Continental and Chinese foods.  The edible colors and flavors are used liberally in cooking.    The A La Carte permits to choose the food you love whereas the buffet dinner offers unlimited food to fill your tummy.  

There are different kinds of food like -

·         Comfort food

·         Whole food

·         Natural food

·         Fast food

·         Junk food  

·         Organic food

REGIONAL FOODS   -

SOUTH INDIAN FOOD

There are South Indian, Punjabi and many other regional flavors available in the Indian menu. 

The South Indian delicacies such as Wadas and Dosas are available in different varieties.  The Sambar and Chutnies are served alongwith the Wadas and Dosas.  The Dahi Wada and Medu Wada are popular. The major diet of South Indians are rice, ghee, curd, rasam, samabar, curries and dry sabjees such as Avial, Thoran etc. The South Indians are famous for their rice and curries.  The rice finds a major part in South Indian Diets. The Chinna Vengaya (small onion) samabar is popular amongst the Tamilians.  The coffee in tumblers is popular in South India.  The Kerala Harvest Festival Onam is celebrated with 21 vegetarian dishes served on plantain leaves along with rice.  The feast is complete with a good number of Payasams or Kheers.  The Ada Pradhaman being the numero uno amongst the puddings. The Hotel business of South Indian Vegetarians mainly belongs to Udipi Brahmins.

The Southern Non-Vegetarian Food includes lamb, meat and different kinds of fish.  The Chettinad Chicken and Mutton preparations are popular.  The Keralites use abundant does of coconut oil in their home food.  The grated coconut and coconut milk are part of their Vegetarian as well as Non-vegetarian preparations. The Kerala women’s sparkling big eyes and long hair was attributed to their rice and fish curry consumption which they share with Bengalis. The Biryani both Vegetarian and Non-vegetarian forms a part of sumptuous food.  The Hyderabadi Biryani is most sought after. The Mangalorean dishes are popular too.   The Shetty community dominates South Indian Food preparations in their Hotels and Restaurants across India and abroad.

PUNJABI CUISINE

The Nan, Chappaties and Roti  topped with butter  are the Punjabi’s preferred food.  The Punjabi Aloo Mutter, Kofta Curries, Navrattan Kormas, Panner dishes are all popular amongst entire Indian population.  There are more than 1200 Punjabi recipes available. The Punjabi’s Motta Lassi and their Samosas are famous.  The Punjabi’s are healthier than their Indian counter parts. The Punjabi men and women are fair, handsome and beautiful people like their penchant for tastier and healthier food habits.

The Punjabi Non-vegetarians prefer tandoori, kababs and cutlets. The Punjabi’s Mutton and Chicken preparations are quite famous in the Indian Non-vegetarian communities.  The Punjabi food finds a prominent place in the Indian A La Carte.

THE BIG FAT INDIAN WEDDING

The Weddings takes place in the heavens.  This is apropos to the Big Fat Indian Weddings.  The Catholic Weddings catch the fancy of Indians. The bridegroom in suite and bride in gown and crown are a great sight for wedding observers. The march past, cake cutting, toast of the wine and cake, dance with compere and talks, all these are catching the attention of other Indian communities.  The awesome delicacies are served to wine and dine as a part of wedding celebrations.

The Big Fat Indian Weddings are celebrated with musical bands and expensive ethnic wares such as Sherwanis and Lehanga Cholis.   The brides use mehendis and sindoors and the groom with head gear known as pagdis and come mounted on a horse.  There are large scale lavish weddings showing the Indian pride. The Wedding is celebrated with several courses of meals and cuisines that is mouthwatering.  The Live counters, Salad Dressing and separate counters for Vegetarian and Non-vegetarian food is a part of the wedding celebrations.  The Sweet Dishes like Gulab Jamun, Ras Goolas,  Jalebis, Imartis and Laddoos are served for the wedding guest’s sweet tooth.

CONTINENTAL FOODS

The Italian, French, Japanese, Chinese, American, Indian, Thai & Cajun Foods are the most famous continental foods.

The Italian Pastas and Pizzas are satiated by the global population. The fast foods like Burger, Pies, Pancakes, Wafers, Sandwiches, Hamburger, Doughnuts and French Fries are globally well known.  

The Soup, starter, main course and sweet dish are served with appetizers as part of wine and dine.  The sizzlers and sirloins are hot favorites amongst the food lovers. The pork and beef are consumed by non-vegetarians.  The Spinach, lettuce, broccoli and cabbage are used to prepare awesome food.  The prawns, crabs, oysters, fish the list of sea food are endless.  The yoghurt and ice-cream are relished by the food lovers.

The internationally well-known Coffee Brands like Starbucks Coffee, Café Coffee Day, Gloria Jeans and ice-cream brands like Baskin Robbins, Yankee Doodle, Kwality Walls are patronised by food lovers and enjoys a larger market share.   

  

The Bakeman’s favorite cakes, cookies, croissants, pastries, bread and chocolates are craze amongst youngsters. 

CHINESE FOOD

The Noodles with Chopsticks are occupying our imagination when we think about Chinese food. The oriental foods like Chinese and Thai are gaining popularity amongst foreign tourists.

The Chinese recipe is large –

·         Grain based

·         Noodles

·         Pork based

·         Poultry based

·         Vegetable based

·         Dumplings

·         Pastry

The Chinese Soup, Chilly Chicken, Fried Rice with different sauces are famous world-wide.

THE BEACH DINNER

The Beach Candle Light Dinner in the evening is a good idea.  When I visited Singapore and Bali, Indonesia recently enjoyed the Beach Dinner with singers playing musical instruments at your table and obliged to play your favorite number on request.  The beach dining tables combined have more than a kilometer length and there are many stages erected at the beach for  performing local cultural programs.

The Beach Weddings are famous too.

KFC, McDonalds, Domino’s Pizza etc. are well-known for fast food.

Pop Tate’s, Urban Tadka, Zaffrans, Indiana Waters, Salt-N-Pepper, Barbeque Nation  and Copper Chimney etc. are some of the most popular Restaurants in Mumbai.  

The popular saying like the way to one’s heart is through his stomach is true as far as the foodies are concerned.

The good food and old wine are a part of  prosperous life..!!.