It is tasty Ma! That is how most of us react to our Mum’s cooking. We all insist “My Mum is a fantastic cook!”
So do I. But why the need for another cooking blog when the cyber world is already flooded with cooking blogs.
Well every time my mother treated my friends to some of her delicacies, some of them exclaimed, “You are such a fantastic cook why don’t you start cooking classes?” But that was not possible.
My friends moved on in life and are now spread all over the world. I too got busy meeting deadly deadlines as a freelance journalist. During this time a friend happened to drop by one day; on seeing my miserable culinary skills she admonished, “Don’t waste your time; learn to cook from your mother”. So I began learning to cook from my mother, but was soon weighed down by my sheer inability to remember the various ingredients and assortment of spices that were required in each dish, particularly the vegetarian dishes. This led me to maintain a log book. That is what I call my book of recipes.
As I kept adding recipes my brother suggested we share it with the world. I thought “why not?” After all my friends are scattered all over the world, the blog could be the cooking class my friends were so eagerly looking forward to and it could also serve as a permanent reference for me.
The Team.
The team comprises my mum, my brother and me.
About Mum ---- Meena Bose
Mum is the star of the site. She inspired my brother and me to create the site.
I have noticed that mum enjoys cooking and likes to have variety on the dining table. She loves to experiment and is quite flexible, but at the same time mum takes a lot of care while cooking; cooking for her is not a chore which she would like to get over and done with; for her it is akin to taking care of a baby. She has never restricted herself to Bengali cuisine (we are Bengalis); she is open to all kinds of cuisines.
In a restaurant my mum is often lost in her own world. If she likes the dish you will find her guessing the ingredients used and the manner in which it has been prepared. Within a few days we find her in the kitchen trying out the dish with a few touches of her own and most often than not her version is far better.
About my brother ---- Aroop Bose
My brother began his professional life in marketing, moved on to advertising and later to corporate film making. He is a self- taught artist with an interest in photography. Given this background it is obvious that he should take charge of the photography and the site’s design.
About myself ---- Shilpi Bose
I was a freelance journalist. Although I focused on advertising and marketing, occasionally I did restaurant reviews and I quite enjoyed the experience. Not surprisingly therefore I decided to provide the content for the site.
I hope I have been lucid in my explanations, and have been successful in my effort to present you with the tastes and flavours of my mum’s kitchen.
Finally the most important team member ---- YOU
YOU ---- the visitor to this site is the most important member of our team. Visitors to this site will be treated as dear friends who have the freedom to troop into my mother’s kitchen. You will notice that this site is pretty much informal. The photographs are simple. The food stylist has not been called in to enhance the look of the dishes. Every time my mum cooks something which I would like to share with the world I pick up my pen and notebook to jot down the recipe, while my brother points his camera at the dish.
This site is for those who already know the basics of cooking because my mum would like visitors to this site to use their discretion in accordance with their taste and the number of people they are going to cook for.
Please do not be a silent visitor; the site will be incomplete without your active participation. Please send in your comments, suggestions, queries; it will help us further develop the site. To begin with you can try out a recipe and just let us know how it turned out, did you make any change? Did you give your own touch?
So just dispense with all the formalities and drop in ----Happy cooking! Happy eating!
BON APPETIT!
Shilpi
Caution: I do not need to add that using the photo graphs or text without creating a link back to the site or without permission is stealing, so please refrain from stealing.
