Monday, July 27, 2015

Enter the Dragon and tickle your taste buds at the Asian cuisine festival hosted by Master Chef Zong Shou Chen at Trident BKC!


Enter the Dragon and tickle your taste buds at the Asian cuisine festival hosted by Master Chef Zong Shou Chen at Trident BKC!

 

Elsie Gabriel
 
 

 


If you are looking for some real authentic Chinese food, simply head to the Trident at the B.K.C Mumbai. I sure did enter the Dragon food festival and was swept away with the fresh and luscious oriental specialties. I was happy to have been invited by the 022 at the Trident Mumbai and  welcomed by Chef Jeevan Singh who graciously explained the fineries of the Chinese spread. The open cooking alleys spread with colours and smells of China could only be curated by the master himself-  Chef Zong Shou Chen!

 

I loved my tete a tete with the master as we kept hitting the google translate each time to converse. I found it quite fascinating and the entire google conversation actually stirred up quite an appetite after all. The master loves Shezuan as his favorite Chinese style of cooking and he also translated that he is super happy with the great response he was getting. His smiles and face expressions take it all away as he surveys his kingdom of the endless spread, with a pleasing frown. He pleased us by offering glazed baked crispy pork and of course the water chestnut in Chinese style was my best. You don’t need to know the language to find love in the food, do you?

 It is here that the guests fall in love with life, all over again! Delicate chandeliers adorn the entrances and neatly cut staircases take you to the all day dining inhouse bay. Being one of the most reputed BKC hotel, The Trident here knows how to treat and pamper their guests to their heart’s content. This luxury hotel  is equipped with the best of recipes along with the most valued team of chefs.

The Oriental culinary tour of items displayed before your eyes from all over Asia was amazing. For instance the Butanese style vegetarian momo’s were drop dead delicate. Light oriental cuisine is perhaps the real way to treat yourself as the lip-smacking aromas infuse within your tastebuds only to enhance your appetite without leaving you too full. No overpowering tastes, just subtle hints keeping the flavours of the salmon and pork all so simple.  



I loved the use of fresh herbs and light cooking.The steamed Salmon with assorted vegetables were simply exotic. The festival is on till the end of the month, so pamper your eyes and palates with a wonderful spread of soups, starters, main course and desserts. The Trident is really world class and it never fails to disappoint me, ever!

PS-The Wine wall ascends and descends each time you watch the array through the glass lifts, only because the wines are stored showcased beautifully adjacent to the lifts plying up and down to the floors. It’s a sight to behold,you have to simply visit the place to take in the opulence!

Friday, July 3, 2015

Squirrel Monkeys of the Amazon Forests. Wilderness is where I belong.....Elsie Gabriel


Squirrel Monkeys of the Amazon Forests. Wilderness is where I belong.....Elsie Gabriel
 
 
 
Researching this Cebidae primate was over whelming. These common squirrel monkeys (Saimiri sciureus) at the Rio Negro, Amazon near Manaus, Brazil; were the friendliest lot I had ever seen. May be they found something in common with me, after all.

The Amazon forest  in South America is the most fascinating store house of the worlds carbon kingdom, you could ever imagine. It is an intricate archipelago of narrow green ribbons of forest, punctuated by the Amazon river and its tributaries.If you ever hit for the South American discovery, do not leave out the Amazon forests, enjoy the earth in it smost natural state,believe me.
 

Well, let me tell you more about these little squirrel monkeys. The crown lineage of the squirrel monkeys appears to have diverged around 1.5 million years ago. Imagine!!

This new world monkey does not use its tail for climbing, although when you watch it move, you observe it kind of uses it as a tool and balancing pole of sorts to help him jump from one spot to another. Their movements in the branches can be very rapid.

They live together in groups. These little chimps kept giving out vocal calls, warning sounds to the rest of the troupes, I guess they were either protecting themselves or calling in the rest of the gang to show me off. I guess the later.

They are so tiny and hairy, but alert at all times. Their small body size also makes them susceptible to predators .Squirrel monkeys are omnivores, eating primarily fruits and insects. Occasionally they also eat seeds, leaves, flowers, buds, nuts, and eggs.

The Amazon jungle is the largest tropical rainforest on Earth and a World Natural Heritage site.  I drowned myself in its grandeur and was captivated by its wonder. It's dense forests made for excellent hiking trails, intense smells and foilage kept drawing me into the thickest depth of the jungle life I have ever experienced. I just didn’t want to leave.

Wilderness is where I belong and God am going back!! Every night before I sleep I say a prayer for the rainforests of the world, may they multiply, may they be left alone; and may they continue to provide us the essence of life-Oxygen! Reuse,Reduce,Rethink and Replenish.We belong to the forest, the forest does not belong to us?! Respect Forests…
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