The Viennese (not so royal) Deewan

Vienna-is a museum. As a tourist one will most probably not see Vienna in real-time - the living Vienna. I got to see it. It was a relief to see it.
Combined with the chilly fog, the city reminded me of Lahore often and once of old down town Karachi. I was sitting at a rickety table on the road side near an intersection, with cars swooshing by, and surrounded by old apartment buildings. It could have been Saddar. The only difference was the passer bys were mostly Europeans, who looked as though eating unidentifiable or maybe ethnic food at night outside was an odd sight. I wonder why? Almost all their restaurants and cafés in Vienna have outdoor seating. But I think I know. It simply had a different non-European feel to it.

The train route map of food.

After four years of being away from Pakistan, I sampled some real Pakistani food in a restaurant in Vienna. “Eat all you want, pay what ever you want.” An interesting concept. I almost missed the place when Mr. L, his friend and I were trying to find it. They spotted it and I still couldn't see it, till I was standing right in front of it. Deewan, Pakistani Food Restaurant (http://www.deewan.at/) was an unassuming place, which after a few days, I realised was at a walking distance from Freud's Museum. As I understood, the area has many students around and this place fitted the purpose of such a place. If I were a student there, I would be very happy to go there often.
Once we entered, it looked like a tiny school cafeteria. And ofcourse many young student like people had filled up the tiny place.
Food was served buffet style with about five kinds of curry, white long grain rice, some flat bread (which was not naan, perhaps some turkish bread) some salad, chutney, and yoghurt sauce (raita) and semolina (sooji) halwa for dessert. Very simple and not much quantity of food to be seen, which for a moment made me think, if it was enough. But it was!

Some reviewed that the Aloo Gobi
didn't have gobi (cauliflower)
in it!

We had read some reviews on the place before leaving home. They were mixed reviews. Some said, it was not spicy enough. I was skeptical about this review, for I believe that the misfortune of Indian/Pakistani food is, it has an image of being hot-spicy. Indeed, food from the Indian subcontinent uses many spices, but spicy is not equal to chilli hot. And the food at Deewan was not hot, rather quite mild, cooked in the home-style, that I really appreciated.

Where Mr. L goes, his Canon EOS 550D also goes. I was looking at all the pictures he had taken during my stay there and I have to admit, I looked quite pleased in the photos taken at Deewan. Ah, food speaks to me. And this food spoke to me of some one's home kitchen back in Pakistan (and India; one of the two cooks is an Indian, we were told)

“So, are you Pakistani?” asked Mr. L to the waitresses. Sheepish smile. “No”. “Ach so.” “So who is?” “The owner and one of the cooks. The other cook is Indian” The T-shirt she was wearing said, “Taste Unlimited” in the Urdu script. Very cheesy! But hey, so what?

My friends were rather surprised to find bones in their curries. Yes, admittedly the Mutton Spinach curry would have done itself good if it had more meat than bones. But on the other hand, the bones gave the curry a very good flavour. One or two bones in the chicken pieces in their Mirch Chicken was not a problem at all! But it raised their eyebrows. “oh, comon! Chicken have bones!” was received with a silence of doubt. OK, so the chicken we buy from supermarkets are so well prepared we never find traces of bones. Is that truly good? We are the spoiled people of the new age.

Mr. L and I like our smokes, so despite the chill in the air, we took a table outside on the side walk. Indoors was non-smoking and too crowded in any case. The table was not super clean, which made me smile. And one of the two waitresses was taking a break having a smoke herself at the other table. I liked the casualness.
While we were eating, a couple with their dog came and they also had to sit out, since I think pets were not allowed inside. We had been hijacking both the tables so we gave them one. From there, though I didn't understand a single word, Mr. L, his friend and this couple started chatting. I really liked the casualness! Once in a while, the man would look at me and continue talking in German. I just smiled and nodded....I was just enjoying the whole thing.

After two helpings and two shared glasses of beer with Mr. L, I was very satisfied.
If this was Japan, I would pay 1,000yen for this meal. Mr. L paid 15 Euros for the two of us (thank you) but he felt perhaps it was too much. Maybe there was a bit of a sentimental element working on my opinion of the worth of the food. His friend, gave a 5 Euros note to the waitress and as she was putting it in the register, he changed his mind and asked for 1 Euro back! But such is this place.

Mr. L is right. It is quite an international city despite its smaller size in comparison to other major cities of the world. I felt this more, after our Mochi Quest ended. More on this in the next post.
I did not for one moment think that I would be happy about Pakistani food in Wien. Good surprises can happen indeed!



Photo Credit -  Leopold Schmallegger, Vienna-Austria

The Mochi Quest

Autumn in New York is considered beautiful; Fall as they call it. Autumn in the Fuji Five Lake area is also magnificent. The discovery of Autumn for me was in Japan, 2006. Till then I had never seen Autumn in real.
Autumn in Vienna reminds me of winters in Lahore. Cloudy, foggy and misty cold. I read in one of the tourist information websites that November is not exactly the time to be in Vienna as its mostly, dark, rainy and “miserable”! (http://www.tourmycountry.com/austria/vienna-in-november.htm) But the weather is kind some times and the sun shines nicely for a short while once a day.
And I am here in this weather and sitting in a cosy living room typing and smoking to my heart's desire (soon the heart may stop functioning for this abuse).

Dear Mr. L. worries himself to death over everything. One of the things that has been causing such worries in the last days is what to eat, and I suspect more so by having me here. Running out of ideas as to what to eat....Greek food? Pakistani Food? Japanese food? “hmmm, let's look at the menu.”

“ Emi, what is muzzi? Oh, its not muzzi, its muchi, oh no, its mochi. What the hell is a mochi??? Rice cakes! Viery Viery interesting! I want muchi!” So we go out on a hunt to look for muzzi-muchi-mochi. And our quest lands us in Kiyoyo restaurant in the Millennium Centre. Sounds like Kyoto....manipulative. “...by the way, do you have mochi?”

From their facial responses, we deduce the following: of course there is no mochi here ! What Mr. L. wanted to try was Daifuku Mochi. And it was not to be found in the “Kiyoyo”...after a bit of nudging we found out there is some form of rice cakes; the Chinese steamed rice cakes. These cakes are a coarser form of the mochi and the ones we had were covered in coconut flakes. But the Chinese cakes were actually quite good. Though I hate coconut, the fact that I could eat it enables me to give them a star on it. However a friend of Mr. L. ordered some noodles with slices of duck...and it was the most disgusting food I have ever eaten in my entire life. When asked about it, the poor waitress said, the sweetness of the sauce comes from teriyaki sauce. From what I tasted, I can tell you exactly how so called teriyaki sauce was made: some soy sauce of a horrible quality (or perhaps even salted coloured water) and sugar, thickened with corn starch. I believe the cook doesn't even know what dashi is. Even if they made this with just some real soy sauce it would not taste so bad. We suggested that we be served some sushi in lieu of the Ugly Duck(ling) but that was not to be...I would not eat sushi in this place anyway...which, as I tell Mr. L. about what I am writing, I am quite rightly pointed out that it was simply a fast food /cheap Asian restaurant and that I should take it easy on them. Alright. Enough said.
Later Mr. L. and I went to a Mexican Restaurant in the 2nd floor of the Millennium City which was quite nice indeed. Mr. L. ordered crispy tacos with chicken stuffing and I ordered their self claimed hottest item in the menu of chilli beans with chicken and corn. Both looked very appetizing and the taste was good. But, I still cannot get used to the Austrian food portions! I felt, I had too much of the stew and I wish there was something else with it to balance out the flavour and portion of the stew. Maybe, some rice, or salad. It was indeed hot and flavoursome but towards the end, I felt bored by the taste as the quantity was big. Mr. L.'s dish however, could have had more tacos, since they were paper thin and even with the filling, two looked a bit meagre. I am not sure if it satisfied him. All this said, he complimented his food, which I had a taste of and agreed. The interior was fashionable and clean with some music from the 80s and the 90s playing in the background unobtrusively.

Unfortunately, the evening ended badly for me for I began suspecting that I may have a mild form of some mental and/or emotional disorder because I felt increasingly and exceedingly uncomfortable, nay, disturbed to the point of physical affectation by the large number of (young) people and the noise made by them and in general at the Millennium Centre on this Friday night. I feel very apologetic to Mr.L. for I am sure I seemed very ungrateful to his efforts to have me have a good time of the evening. Forgive me.

I think our search for Japanese mochi in Vienna will continue. Will our search yield the desired results?

Potato Pakora, Chilli Pakora, Memory Pakora

Fritters are such delightful things to munch on. Lots of calories and wonderfully tasty!

It was raining today. Generally its been rainy this week due to a hurricane that's passing the West of Japan. We went for a drive to Asagiri Kogen area (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asagiri_Plateau) which seemed to have the same cloudy weather as our area. But on the way back it started pouring. We just had our tea, which was not literally tea but coffee and cupcakes bought at a convenience store eaten at Lake Tanuki. But, when it rains, its time for Pakora!

“...let's see, we have lots of besan, potatoes, and oh, we have those red onions we bought recently, and green peppers. That should be plenty enough!”

“ You should put some baking soda in it to make it lighter.” my mother said.

Yes, I like my pakoras light. My father thought my fritters were having an identity crisis. This was years ago in Karachi, when again on a rainy day I deep fried some nice and crispy pakoras or so I thought they would be called. I was told the batter was too thin. Come to think of it, these pakoras were more like tempura. But I can't help it can I? I like my pakora's light. And they are indeed pakoras, for they are made of besan. They are not tempura made of besan!!!!

….admittance is always an issue with me. Yes, those pakoras that years ago my father consumed with a hearty appetite were perhaps too light to be called pakoras. They had the texture of tempura.
This is what happens, when you grow up eating both tempuras and pakoras and deciding that pakoras are too dry and dense. Especially the ones sold in stalls set up outside Mithai sweet shops during Ramzan. They are still good to eat, as after all anything deep fried does generally taste good.

Today, I think they were just the right texture, which my father would think as having a more or less the correct identity of a pakora with just enough lightness and crispyness for my liking. In fact, they turned out quite nice that even before I realised to take a photo of them, we had finished eating...

Again, anything deep fried is generally tasty, as well as not too complicated to make. And with something like this, often ingredients aren't measured...

So in a small bowl, a cup or so of besan, added salt, chilli powder, coriander seed powder, cumin powder, ½ teaspoon baking soda (important ingredient! Careful not to put too much....nasty stuff if put too much.) and enough water to make it nice and thin (not)...oops...better add more besan because it should be nice and THICK, but not dry thick...if you know what I mean.
Heat up good amount of ordinary cooking oil. Ask some one to wash the mud off the new potatoes for you (hehehe), slice them up. Put them all in the batter and make sure each slice is coated. Deep fry on medium heat till nice and golden. Have the first of the pakoras, you know, just to check that the potato is cooked through...hmm wait, let's have another just to be completely sure!
Now, slice some onions, green peppers and I wanted some green leafy fragrant things, basil was all I had. So roughly chopped the basil and put all of the vegetables with basil into the batter.
I had to add some more besan, because the salt from it made the vegetables loose water and made the batter watery...and you don't want tempura, now do you??
Same process. Deep fry. Seemed a bit soggy still in the middle...so lower down heat and cooked longer.
Sauce! Now ketchup is a must for something like this. Of course you can make fresh green chutney, I simply did not have the ingredients for it. So ketchup it was. Wanted to put fresh minced garlic, but we have been forever, forgetting to purchase garlic. The chilli powder had gone stale and wasn't hot any more.
So all-natural habanero sauce to the rescue, a few drops for me and mother, about triple the amount of it for those people using the sauna outside (a separate story) that my mother insists on feeding whenever they come. Ketchup seemed rather boring with just the habanero, so in went some sliced spring onions and there you go! Quite a decent sauce for the pakoras!

The musty smell of rain, oily fingers by eating pakoras, and Abba telling me about the pakora identity crisis. Food, in the end, is what you think it should be and as a result shows what you are. So what I made that day was a pakora-tempura! And I don't mind it at all!

Not a Forte yet!

Ah Sachertorte! A case of underestimation from my side.
In a unpleasant wave of exasperation I told a friend not to assume too much, for the cause of my state was her blatant assumption on matters that seemed obviously simple but she did not really fathom.
To admit is often a heavy task. But indeed a necessary duty to oneself.

So, it is not just a case of underestimation but assumption, a characteristic that I despise in other people, I must despise in myself.

However...

I still cannot come to a conclusion that the Sachertorte is a brilliant cake. It does and did take a lot of time (mine at least). Who ever wrote 2 hours in one of the recipes must have been mad. But I think my situation was unique as well, because I took 5 hours! The Chocolate Glaze consumed 1/2 of those hours. It would simply not set!
The amount of sugar syrup was too much. It was too liquid.
I have been told “always, practice makes perfect” ….heavy, heavy....

I say, the sponge was the best component of my failed look alike. The cake had 6 egg yolks slowly mixed in to the 130gm of margarine and 100gm icing sugar creamed together one by one which created such a rich mix it might not have needed anything else. But we are making the cake here so in went the unknown amount (but perhaps about ½ a cup) of granulated sugar in lieu of the so called Vanilla Sugar, mixed thoroughly. Then went the meringue, first a couple of table spoons mixed quite roughly in and then in small portions folding in the meringue gently, till in the end you have a lovely mousse. Sifted 130gm of all purpose flour and folded that in till no dry flour was visible. Poured in a greased floured cake tin with a piece of butter paper in the bottom. Baked in a preheated oven...and my dear oven has no gas mark or anything of the sort on it...so I can only say, baked in moderate temperature for exactly 60 minutes and it came out perfect!!!!!!

While it cooled the apricot glaze was made. 1 cup of apricot preserve, ¼ cup granulated sugar (so much sugar!) and some tablespoons of orange juice. Brought it to a boil and then passed it through a sieve. I must admit (again) approximate amounts should be avoided if they are avoidable...the apricot glaze could also have been less liquid by either sticking to the recipe and putting exactly 3 tablespoons of orange juice or boiled for longer...

Cut the cooled cake into half, applied apricot glaze, placed back the two halves into place, and smeared the whole cake with it.
Again, I say, till this point, everything seemed all well.

And then the chocolate glaze.....that dared to challenge me....

I shall make it again very soon! ….as soon as the memory of using and consuming so much sugar fades away....

The Sachertorte Forte II

I had no idea what Vanilla Sugar was tonight when putting together the ingredients of the torte. So I just put some sugar in, which of course is not good; to put “some” sugar in, that is. Cakes need exact amounts....or so I have always understood. But once in a while I bend that rule and its all OK, I say!
Anyway, I forgot to put any vanilla flavour what so ever.. but my mother right now tells me that the cake is smelling quite nice. I have lost my sense of smell, yet again. In thirty minutes, I shall see how the torte comes out.
The recipe or recipes I followed did not include any baking powder. 6 egg whites meringue are the only rising agents in this recipe. I wonder if the reason is because the recipe was created in 1832 and baking soda was not yet used as a rising agent?
Now, the cake is done quite beautifully. I am very happy with the result. Not too light and fluffy, not too dense. Perhaps it was good that no baking powder or any thing of the sorts was used. The 130 gm of cake margarine(yes! Margarine, not butter!!! go ahead, use butter, if you have the courage!!!) has hopefully made it moist. I cut into half and spread some of the apricot sauce I made by mixing apricot preserve, sugar and orange juice. Placed the other half, spread and smeared more of the sauce. I am going to let it cool now a bit and let the sauce dry up a bit, then spread a second layer of the apricot sauce.
In the meanwhile, should I make the glaze..? 1 cup of granulated sugar cooked in just enough water to cover the sugar till the “thread” stage and 1 cup of dark chocolate.
The glaze took time to cook! The chocolate would not melt!!! But it came out good. The glazing is not as easy as I thought. The coating remains thin. All the excess is collected in a plastic wrap underneath. I hope I can use it to coat the cake further....because there is hardly any left in the pan.


...to be continued...

The Sachertorte Forte

My feeling is that it is not the most brilliant cake in the world. Perhaps more of a suspicion, actually. I have had it a couple of times during my short sojourn in Vienna (July 2010), always served with a big dollop of whipped cream. But, the Viennese do like their whipped cream on anything. The other reason for the cream with Sachertorte I read (wikipedia) is that the Viennese find the cake a bit dry to eat on its own. That is quite understandable to me.

So why is it the national cake of Austria?

Another suspicion of mine. Lots of drama and intrigue and some brilliant marketing based on the wonderful tale. So the parents had an ugly battle. Every one cried foul. One parent came out victorious. The child in question was stuck in the middle of all this chaos and mayhem, till some one said, “It's not even a pretty child...” But there are gentle people amongst us, “Come, come! What matters? It's still a sweet child.”

Yes, I suspect that is the story of Sachertorte. One can find out about it from a lot of sources. I shall not get into it. I would rather enjoy my own sense of imagination over what might have actually occurred!

And now, I have been influenced by this drama (more so from my own head). Apparently, the recipe is a secret, kept safely amongst the chosen few working at the Sacher Hotel. But there are so many people who claim to have made it and have shared the recipes on the internet. Again, its a simple cake, that probably isn't that mysterious. I am going to attempt it too with all this hue and cry! Yes, the Sachertorte does that doesn't it?

...to be continued...

Lucky Chances

I am superstitious. I admit. And so I am almost afraid to mention what I want to mention! Whenever I talk too much (read blabber!) about something that has the potential to be advantageous to me, it fails on me. Is it some kind of a punishment for being unsubtle? But am I being immodest just by talking of what makes me happy? So God forgive me, but I am happy to finally see some clear direction in my life!

What a positive decision it was to decide to take off to Yamanashi for a whole month to do volunteer work this summer. I emailed the owner of the Solar Café and Organic Farm about a month before going there, I said I was interested to work at the café and would also be interested to help at the farm. But I ended up doing what I had really wanted, that is, work at the café (sorry Farm Manager!) And so I spend 30 days, almost entirely, in the kitchen, which I was fortunate to be allowed not just to use but also to use it freely!

When I think reasonably, putting aside all my complaints and bad impressions of Japan, that I, personally have been lucky here by having good earthly opportunities coming my way.

And I am also beginning to think that I have some special connection with Mt. Fuji, which in turn I’d like to believe, has to do with my lucky chances. Or is it just my fancy? Even if it is, it’s not a bad thought.

I have been very lucky, when it comes to seeing the world famous mountain. Very often I have viewed it from one of the major stations in Urawa ward, Saitama prefecture. And even from the distance, or precisely because I know its far away and still catches my eye, its magnificent to me.

And what a great opportunity it was to go so near and see it every single day for a whole month, doing the kind of work, I discovered, I love to do!

I was in Yamanashi ken for the month of August, doing volunteer work at an organic Farm and Café situated at the base of Mt. Fuji. When I reached there, it was the clearest day of all. I was told that even there, the Mt. Fuji isn’t so clearly and sharply visible as it was that day and that it is like this only about four to five times a year.

The mountain certainly has the greatness to bring people to its environs; people who want to climb it, just view it or receive some kind of blessing from it. It emits a sort of energy that, I am sure affects people in some way.

During this time I discovered my passion for cooking. Isn’t it great to make such an important discovery about oneself? And in my case it was under the watchfulness (that is how I felt) of Fuji san. I spent one of the happiest times there. And what made it even better to work there was to be able to meet, talk, listen and sing with people from many parts of the world including of course Japan, with different back grounds, all there for one purpose; to be near Mt. Fuji.

Some of these people became good friends. It was great to feel at ease amongst those I have known only for a short while. That is how open they were and most probably also because of the environment of the place.

The area where this Café and Farm is situated is a delightful place. The air is delicious to breath and water refreshing. Having lived in the not-so-green Karachi city of Pakistan, almost all my life, seeing so much greenery is always a treat. The walking and hiking tracks around the vicinity are beautiful. The locally well-known dog, Montana (called Monja, Monti, Monchan by various people) belonging to the Café is known because he is an efficient guide through the hills and woods of that area (though I was abandoned by him when I went for a walk! But his son Indiana stayed with me though out my walk through the woods)

The other animals that are residents of that Farm are two sheep, one male called Rueben and a female named Eva. I always wondered (and still do) why they are there at all. The only thing they seem good for is getting loads of grass being fed to them. But according to the owner of this Farm and Café called Earth Embassy, these sheep are its ambassadors! Apparently, the male sheep Reuben is some kind of a celebrity. He appeared on some music video that was shown on MTV after which one of the local TV channels also took interest in him. They plan to make some program with Rueben as the main star!

And finally a small fiery rooster called Kuku, who pecks around the Café all day, suddenly jumps on a high branch of a tree or the roof of the Café, cries a number of loud kokekokkooooooos and eats Montana’s dog food because Montana himself is more interested in the freshly baked pizzas of the Café, which the customers are glad to share with him.

These happy creatures along with the staff of the Café and organic Farm plus the owner, an American who can be identified by his rickety and ancient van with his dog Indiana at the back riding with him, make up the lively and friendly Earth Embassy. This is where I learned to live a kind of life style totally unimaginable to me before, and once I experienced it, it was a lovely feeling of achievement, but with a sense of calmness that came along with it. This is what Fuji san gave to me and I hope I will continue to have the connection with it in the future as well.