Baker Brigade - Amrita Samuel & Judy Patricia

Primarily started as a forum to encourage and support women entrepreneurs interested in baking, HBG always includes a few participants who are new to the Baker Showcase concept, although not so new to baking/cooking.

One such entry is from Amrita Samuel and Judy Patricia – who will be sharing a table tomorrow. 

Amrita Samuel

"I eat anything as long as it does not bite back - this best describes my relationship with food. From baking chocolate cakes with mud pies as a 5-year-old to actually making the edible versions 10 years later, baking & cooking has been in my blood. I can actually taste the recipe when I read it (the calories get absorbed too in the process!!). This love for food was one of the reasons I studied Hotel Management, but did not pursue it professionally & remained a 'hobby chef' instead. After a 15 year break, I rekindled my relationship with baking about a year ago & have been loving every moment of it since then.”

That’s what Amrita said when I asked her to tell me a bit about herself. A fairly recent and not quite an active member of HBG yet, she is in the process of learning the art of taking the right pictures of the food she creates and the style of presenting it. She has now decided to devote her time to her passion after spending 13 odd years in the corporate field of HR. Amrita is also a certified scuba diver and enjoys diving into the deep seas of the Andamans with her hubby.

As a mom of two kids aged 3 and 7 years, Amrita is happy to stick to traditional & wholesome baked goodies such as muffins and breads – which are her forte. She uses whole wheat, oil and fruits in her recipes. She also enjoys making a variety of mousses and no-bake cheesecakes.

For tomorrow’s Baker Showcase, Amrita is churning out a basket of blondies, brownies, lemons bars, cinnamon rolls, and savoury rolls such as the popular Olive, Herb and Cheese flavour. If time permits, she might also make Chicken & Sausage rolls. Her muffin section would display varieties like Apple Cinnamon, Banana Walnut and Chocolate Chip.

Cinnamon Rolls are special to Amrita, not just for their obvious taste, but also due to the complexity involved in making them just right.

Mis-Chef Bakes FB page

Judy Patricia

Growing up in a typical Christian household that revels in celebrating family occasions with a table full of baked goodies, it was but natural for Judy to follow in the footsteps of her grandma - an expert at baking. Judy received sound training in the traditional methods of baking and it has held her in good stead so far. She frequently conducts culinary workshops and classes for her friends and neighbours. After pursuing a career in the BPO industry, Judy now keeps busy cooking, baking and participating in school carnivals and selling her goodies. In a smart business move, she has tied up with an event management company and caters for all their events.

Her other talents include being a certified silver medalist in Latin dance and a regular on the cast of musical theatre shows in the city. However, Judy is now fully focused on her 2 year old culinary enterprise aptly labeled ‘Mon Desir’. So far, she has been operating purely on word-of-mouth referrals. With the Showcase, she expects to let discerning dessert lovers of Chennai know of her kitchen talents and up the scale of her business.

Judy affectionately and laughingly narrates how her 4-year-old son helps her in her baking endeavours with mixing, whipping etc – a Junior Masterchef in the making! :-)

The unique dish on her table at the Baker Showcase is called The Queen of Puddings. The others from her repertoire are Chocolate Blueberry Tarts, Caramel Chocolate Cookie Bars, and Orange and Lemon Souffle.

Judy signs off by wishing all her fellow participants good luck and quips, “I want people to know that many other dishes can be baked besides just cake!”

Mon Desir FB page

Here's wishing both these lovely ladies the very best for their 1st time at HBG's Baker Showcase!

Baker Showcase FB event page

Baker Showcase 1st Anniversary Edition

Four months since my last coverage of the Home Bakers Guild (HBG) Baker Showcase and it is strangely exciting and familiar at the same time. Exciting since this 6^th edition of the Baker Showcase (4 in Chennai after 2 in Bangalore) is at a new location – the gorgeously green outdoors at Sandy’s. 

Starting out as a gourmet dessert lounge, Sandy’s has grown and diversified in the last couple of years. The city’s first ‘chocolate laboratory’ – their initial tag line - had helped organise a bake-off competition last year to select prize-winning desserts made by home-bakers. These were showcased at restaurants such as Fresca and Ox & Tomato for a month with due recognition given to the bakers who had made them.

Once again ready to encourage fresh talent and appreciate quality, Sandy’s new Cenotaph Road location is all set to host the event on their turf tomorrow (22nd June, 2013). Their lovely garden area is a perfect, picturesque setting to the quarterly Baker Showcase event.

Pics courtesy Sandy's

What makes this edition of the Baker Showcase even more unique is the fact that it also marks the completion of 1 year of HBG's existence. Some well-known baking and cooking enthusiasts are participating this time and hence the event is titled – League of Legends. Most of them have participated in earlier Baker Showcase events, own established baking businesses, and have featured in the press. These ladies sure have come a long way! They've not just learnt a lot and grown from all their varied experiences within the past year or two, they've even shared tips & tricks with new bakers on the forum, and of late some of them have succumbed to the demand of conducting baking classes - the trend these days! Some of these ladies are on their way to becoming Le Cordon Bleu chefs! 

HBG has also travelled far and wide (literally - members belong to different countries) in the past 1 year. Almost every Baker Showcase event has been a complete sell-out, with tables being cleared of all goodies within an hour or two of opening. The surging crowds at Chennai and Bangalore proved what a gigantic sweet tooth Indians have! Just take a look at the photos of past events on FB to know how popular an event this has turned into, besides showcasing the unbelievably amazing variety of sweets and savouries made by talented women of all ages and backgrounds. 

HBG has given them the confidence boost they needed to take their plated creations out of their kitchens and on to hungry customers with good taste. They have learnt the art of conversation, selling skills, photography, presentation and much, more more. Most of all that they have experienced cannot be elucidated in words as is obvious when they gush in gratitude about the support they have received from one another on the forum.

Founded by K P Balakumar and Nanditha Sashidharan, HBG is ready to head to the next level in the coming year. Both are humbled by the response from members and the purchasing public and are determined to give back to society a lot more than before. A scholarship fund for underprivileged students is being set up. Since Showcase participants retain 100% of their proceeds, the event has sponsors to provide support -- collections of which have resulted in HBG donating nearly 1 lakh rupees to various social service organisations such as Sahaayika, Deepam, Chennai Adoption Drive and War Wounded Foundation.

HBG's elegant poster of the Baker Showcase Anniversary Edition 

This event sponsor is Sathyabama University. Director of the University, Dr. Maaria Zeena Johnson, who does a lot of social work herself, very willingly and generously offered to support HBG's commitment to helping women entrepreneurs and social causes.

So now, how can YOU afford to miss out on this smorgasbord of sugary and spicy haven! Drop in and find out what your taste buds are missing! 

On June 22nd @ Sandy's, Ganapathy Colony, off Cenotaph Road, Chennai. 

If you want to grab the best of the best, be there on the dot at 4 p.m. sharp! If you want to witness empty tables, saunter in at 6 p.m. onwards!

Meanwhile, read up on some of the bakers (& what they're making for you) in the Baker Brigade series of posts over the next few hours, on the eve of Chennai's biggest bake sale! 

Write ups coming up shortly - watch this space!

HBG Forum

HBG FB page

Sandy's

Q for Qwiky's

This blog post is part of the A to Z Challenge. This challenge involves writing a blog post on any topic/theme in the order of the alphabets from A-Z. The blog posts have to be written each day through the entire month of April, excluding Sundays.

My chosen theme is the city of Chennai, its happenings, events, and my memories and experiences connected with this place.

Qwiky's was one of the 1st upscale coffee shop hangouts to open in Chennai in the early 2000s. An Indian couple that had returned from the USA set up a chain of fast-growing coffee shops selling varieties of coffee (duh!), short eats such as sandwiches, burgers, fries, and cooling beverages such as milkshakes and frappes. Their logo was almost identical to the US-based brand Starbucks and this eventually got them into some legal trouble. Later, this was completely revised and a red and white logo appeared to dot the landscapes of cities and smaller towns of India. The brand grew overnight, and the franchisee model emerged. However, the downturn was almost as quick and soon many of these places shut down. 

There is an office/warehouse on the outskirts of Chennai city on the way to Pondicherry with the old board of Qwiky's on the front. Wonder what happened to their places within the city. They seem to have lost the rat race they spawned. Innumerous coffee shops now exist from Barista's to Cafe Coffee Day's (popularly known as CCDs), Coffee World, Coffee Tales and many more. Following an almost herd-like mentality, many new entrepreneurs jumped into the fray to catch a good thing and simply copied the concept. Coffee shop hangouts are now a dime-a-dozen. Costa Coffee is the latest to hit town. Interestingly, the trend is now veering towards tea houses that offer a range of flavoured teas, besides coffee of course. They also serve more continental and gourmet eats and combo meals. 

One that is slightly different from the trend and celebrates the Indian-ness of the popular hot beverages are Madras Coffee House and Kaapi Cheenu kiosks. 

However, Qwiky's started the trend of such hotspots. Now, it's almost like an overdose and has led to a lowered standard in quality and taste. Service is an area that most of them need to re-evaluate. Here's hoping the existing ones revive taste and flavour in all their offerings, so we can all raise a toast to new beginnings! Bring on the lattes, frappes and mocha-chinos!

What's your favourite coffee shop and your preferred choice of beverage? 

P for Petawrap!

This blog post is part of the A to Z Challenge. This challenge involves writing a blog post on any topic/theme in the order of the alphabets from A-Z. The blog posts have to be written each day through the entire month of April, excluding Sundays. 

My chosen theme is the city of Chennai - sights, sounds, tastes, its happenings, events, and my memories and experiences connected with this place.

Petawrap is Chennai’s only street food kiosk that ‘wraps’, rocks and ‘rolls’ with food on-the-go. Young entrepreneur Rakesh Raghunathan comes across as an earnest and eager-to-please business owner. He also happens to be a well-known Carnatic music vocalist. With 3 years of understanding the nitty-gritties of the evolving food scenario in the city, Rakesh has a keen grip on what sells and how. --- 11 kiosks strong and currently welcoming franchisees, Petawrap has seen a spurt in sales and has a visible presence in all the major areas in town.

Pic Courtesy: Chinna Win

Petawrap offers bites and snacks in the form of stuffed wraps, - popularly known as street food - through a centralized kitchen, systematic processes, and ultra hygienic packaging methods. The fillings of the wraps are packed in vacuum-sealed and nitrogen-flushed plastic, and delivered to their kiosks across the city. At the kiosk itself, once a customer places an order, which is made in front of him/her, the standards of cleanliness and hygiene are apparent to all. The kiosk handlers and cooks use gloves throughout the cooking process, giving respite to the hungry customer’s palate as well as the senses. The vegetarian and non-vegetarian fillings are all cooked, packed and handled carefully and separately with different gloves and tools, and separate kitchens and grills. Utensils and oils are also different. Once ready to eat, the wraps are packed in colour-coded green and red paper holders respectively.

Pic Courtesy: Roshan Kuruvilla Thomas

My very first home delivery order from Petawrap a year ago was a disappointing experience. A lot of time went in discussing and adjusting the quantity of my order just to meet the minimum order requirements and dealing with the incompetence of the delivery service. When the wraps finally arrived, I was eager to dig into the paneer and vada pav, which were supposedly the famed specialties. The wraps were unfortunately cold and lacked ‘bite’ and flavour, and the chutneys/sauce particularly in the vada pav, had dried up. Despite this rather unsatisfactory experience, I was eager to give it a second try, this time hot off the grill.

Recently, Rakesh invited Chennai Food Guide (CFG) members to showcase the latest cooking and packing methods at a CFG Food Trial event. He was happy to address customer queries and open to candid feedback. About 12 of us gathered outside a Petawrap outlet for an up close and personal experience in a life of a wrap. After a ‘crisp’ briefing, he offered us the corn capsicum wrap-eat-zaa, the newest entrant on the Petawrap menu. A tasty, spicy mix to tingle our taste buds and flag off the ‘wrap foodathon’ with; we were all geared up for more. And boy, was there a lot more to come!

Corn & Capsicum Wrap-eat-zaa

The 1^st wrap-eat-zaa’s chapati (Indian flat bread) was a tad less cooked to my liking; it was possible that it was prepared and served to us in a hurry and hence the slight rawness factor. The wraps that we tried in quick succession were cooked well, some were even grilled; probably the grill was well and truly fired up by then!!

The corn & capsicum wrap-eat-zaa was soon followed by generous quantities of filling in the form of the flaming hot paneer wrap (if you’re a paneer lover and one who enjoys fire on your tongue, this one is made just for you – filling, satisfying and totally delish), cheesy paneer, chicken, veg manchurian (super spicy…keep the paper napkins…in plural, at hand), and 'chatpata' vada pav. The falafel wrap is available only on delivery as it is not package-storage-friendly, and is best prepared and eaten fresh.

This is the first street food style kiosk that has homeground advantage with its unique name. Coined as a spin on local areas/suburbs of Chennai city, many of which have ‘pet names’ – e.g. Saidapet, Alwarpet, Tondiarpet, Kolaikaranpet (tongue-twister this one!), Roya-pet-tah, Chrompet, etc. and the Tamil rap song by A. R. Rehman from the movie ‘Kadhalan’ that punned on the same subject, the name Petawrap was born. The only other competitor in the field here is the half-a-century old Mumbai-based Tibb’s Frankies outlets, which were the first in the city, but have now been outnumbered by Petawrap’s cute ‘autorickshaw-shaped’ kiosks – again adding in that local flavour – Chennai’s autos are well known over world over!

It is difficult to stop at a few wraps, not just after one! One can keep going since the varieties are the right quantity, perfectly bite-sized, and each one leaves you wanting one more! Do carry your own bottle of water as the only liquid available at the auto-shaped kiosk is a bottle of Coke, which is great if you’re a Coke fan.

With its oil-free, no-preservatives-added, long-lasting, fresh, tasty, healthy and hygienic quality, Petawrap is a viable investment on your wallet as well as your stomach.

Petawrap’s ad campaigns seem to favour superheroes and feature Spiderman and Superman delivering a rap…err…wrap. The lettering on the paper wrap wittily refers to how wraps pack a punch and hence might soon take over the world. According to Petawrap, a Superhero, who is a defender of humanity, needs one hand to grab a wrap on the go, and the other hand is kept free for self defense :-) 

So which Superhero would you prefer to swing by your place and hand you a wrap of your choice? :-)

Petawrap website

O for Oh-So-Org...

This blog post is part of the A to Z Challenge. This challenge involves writing a blog post on any topic/theme in the order of the alphabets from A-Z. The blog posts have to be written each day through the entire month of April, excluding Sundays. 

My chosen theme is the city of Chennai - sights, sounds, tastes, its happenings, events, and my memories and experiences connected with this place.

O for Organic. Of late, I’ve incorporated organic veggies, snacks and millets into my daily diet. White rice and white bread will always have their place, but they have slid down the ranks of having occupied ‘crowning glory’ positions.

Brown is the new white. So organic millets called Fox Tail Millets, Kodo Millets, and Pearl Millets now occupy pride of place in my kitchen. With funny names such as these, getting cooked by the summer heat in the kitchen doesn’t seem so bad after all. One actually looks forward to hanging out in the kitchen. 

Easy peasy to make (the same way as rice or rotis—flat bread/tortillas), these millets are a great substitute and go with the same stews, side dishes and curries that one normally prepares. Luckily for Chennai-ites, these are easily available in all supermarkets and stores, and are a healthy option at mealtimes. They are grown at farms in and around the State and hence freely accessible and don’t come with a fancy price tag at a premium gourmet organic store, although they are also available there.

No, there is no taste by itself. Then again, nobody really eats plain white rice…err…plain. There is always at least one accompaniment and if you’re Indian, at least 7. There would be vegetables or lentil stews or if nothing else, regular old yoghurt to mix it with.

Like most health food varieties, organic millets stay true to their reputation of being taste-less and evoke reactions like “ptooeeyy!” But they contain fiber and this is something that all of us lack these days, in more ways than one!!

Since they are so bland, there is no limit to their creative use. Try it and let me know what you think!