Articles by Theresa Varghese

Many years ago, I made my first Christmas pudding from a recipe in a foreign magazine. The result was everything the blurb promised – dark, moist, rich and very more-ish. I was delighted. Having grown up on Agatha Christie, I had finally made the steamed concoction that Christie occasionally referred to in her books. The pudding captivated me so much that the neuries, achappams and laddoos that I’d also grown up on, paled in comparison. Glace cherries, raisins, almonds and candied fruit being prepared for fruit cake. The rind and juice of orange and lime are also added. Pic: Theresa…

Children listen attentively as Aparna shows pictures of characters from popular culture For adults like me, unused to interacting with small children on a regular basis, walking into a primary school classroom is like stepping into another world. A chorus of goodmorningma'am, keen faces, eagerness to listen...in short, enthusiasm unbound. For people like Aparna D and Rajeshwari S however, these reactions are familiar territory. Aparna and Rajeshwari are not teachers in the formal sense. But they are educators. People with a sense of mission, who understand how important it is to get children to think about what they eat. As…

If you've traversed 100 Feet Road in Indiranagar, as you get close to the flyover, you've probably seen a signboard saying the ants cafe. Perhaps you've breezed by with a smile, quirkily imagining a column of ants industriously marching about. If so, you wouldn't be far off the mark. There is a small army of human ants in there, working diligently. Their aim: to bring out positive stories from the Northeast. Kelhe. This Naga pork is cooked with dried bamboo shoots and king chillies. Pic: The ants cafe. Ah the Northeast...isn't that where they eat a lot of pork? Where…

Think Id and Biryani comes to mind. Think Ganesha and the visual imagery is that of the elephant god with a Modaka in his hand. Food, either abstaining from it or partaking of it, has always been central to religion and community. This could be due to the fact that while men may create rites in the patriarchal societies that most of us live in, it is women who perpetuate them. Within families, the bedrock of any community, women carry on rituals and customs; ensuring that traditions thrive. The food stalls around Swagath Road get busy in the evening as…

Step into Tuscany and you get a sense of space. Open and airy, this eatery on the periphery of Jayanagar's 9th Block welcomes you with its bright colours and sweeping flow. But more than the physical area, this is a space for the individual. You could just sit quietly by yourself and read a book, or have a leisurely chat with friends, or immerse yourself in the gentle house music, or pick up the microphone and test your singing ability at the karaoke space. If you are there at the right time, you could even participate in a workshop or…

A brief newspaper item carried last month talked about city schools enforcing the importance of eating healthy - that parents had been told to send nutritive packed lunches and educational authorities were giving the thumbs down to food high in sugar, salt and oil content.The report went on to say how parents are struggling to meet these expectations in the face of their young ones demanding novelty each day. As a mother lamented that her three year old did not like salads and she had no time to pack chapattis or dosas every day, the thought came up: what were…

Despite the plethora of fancy eating places and the deep pockets that enable us to eat at these restaurants; for some of us it is traditional food that provides a satisfying experience. Witness the throngs at eateries like MTR and Halli Mane and at the few restaurants that offer Jolada Roti meals. Ironically, or maybe because this segment is smaller, most restaurateurs hesitate to go down the ethnic path. Walk on the well travelled road and one can't go wrong, this appears to be the vein of thought in the restaurant industry. So even as you scour eateries for some…

If Corner House ice creams continue to be sought after despite the many competitors in the market, it is due to the characteristics of this brand. Quality, quantity, consistency, value for money and the importance of customer feedback. All maintained over the years by the values that A Narayan Rao, the founder of Corner House, lives by. Lack of greed and contentment in life is the way he puts it.Launched in 1982, as a bakery and fast food place, Corner House saw some rough times in the beginning. Though items like chicken rolls, burgers and pizzas did very well, the…

The venue is Lalbaug, the time two in the afternoon. It's a hot day, the kind where you'd prefer to be in the cool confines of your home indulging in a siesta but, under the shade of a spreading tree, an enthusiastic group is getting ready for a session of food and fun. They settle down with glasses of pulpy grape juice to watch the magician among them perform card tricks. Once the informal show is over, the food that each has brought is laid out and collectively partaken of. There's a variety of items - things like samosas, pasta…

On a bright Sunday during the first week of this month, Namma Santhe - Navachetana Trust's first organic market, with 20 odd stalls selling vegetables and fruits, spice mixes, packaged health products, herbal plants, and eco friendly bags, attracted a mixed crowd. Middle class couples hoping for fresh produce and interesting pickles, a considerable number of the elite who had developed an interest in sustainable living, and the common man curious as to what the whole thing was about.One could hear occasional grumbles about the setting - the grounds of a school in Vidyaranyapura in north Bangalore. When some visitors…