Fried Ice-Cream

                (Fried ice-cream served in a Thai restaurant)

Yes, fried ice-cream. You must be thinking that I have gone crazy, ice-cream is fine but how can one talk about  fried ice-ream which sounds kind of  weird. Fried ice cream is a dessert commonly found as Mexican and Asian variants.  It is usually prepared by taking a scoop of ice cream frozen well below the temperature at which ice cream is generally stored, possibly coating it in raw egg white, rolling it in cornflakes or cookie crumbs, and briefly deep frying it. The extremely low temperature of the ice cream prevents it from melting while being fried. It may be sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar and a touch of peppermint, and whipped cream or honey can also be used as well. The Asian recipe usually uses tempura batter. Mexican versions use corn flakes, nuts or cookie crumbs for coating. The Mexican recipe starts with a large ice cream ball, resulting in a colder core than the Asian variants. Common flavours found in Asian restaurants are green tea, vanilla, red bean and sometimes coconut may also be used.

Happy Khaana & Peena (:                                                                                                              
(Source: Wikipedia)

'FIFA Flavours' @ Cafe Coffee Day

The showdown to the 2010 fifa world cup is coming closer and as always this world cup was also full of twists and surprises. I got a similar surprise on a recent visit of mine to Café Coffee Day in Rourkela, as they presented a limited period menu which had six new champion drinks for the 2010 fifa world cup. Withdrawing from the apprehensions of trying the new flavours, I decided to go for the ‘Argentinean Flair’, and then it marked the start of my repeated visits to Café Coffee Day for the other flavours as well. Refreshing new taste and the quality of Café Coffee Day is what the six champion drinks are all about. The six new amazing champion drinks are:

1. Spanish Square a.k.a Nutty Cold Coffee

2. Argentinean Flair a.k.a Cherry Grove

3. German Wunder a.k.a Musk Melon Springs

4. Italian Verve a.k.a Cherry Iced Tea

5. Brazilian Samba a.k.a Green Apple Ripples

6. French Flair a.k.a Berry Blast

My personal favourites are ‘German Wunder’, a musk melon smoothie with a very subtle taste, ‘Spanish Square’, a strong flavoured creamy cold coffee with crunchy almonds and ‘Brazilian Samba’, a green apple smoothie loaded with fruit chunks. Priced at Rs 69/Rs 65 these champion drinks are good value for their taste and quality. So, bring the sporty spirit alive in you and celebrate the beautiful game this World Cup with these latest offering from Café Coffee Day.

 Actual photagraph: From L to R, Argentenian Flair, Brazilian Samba & German Wunder

Finally. it would be great to hear from the readers, their reviews about this post and the drinks as well.

Happy Eating & Drinking (:

Nefis 'BAKLAVA"

Baklava is a rich, sweet pastry found in many cuisines of the Middle East, the Balkans and South Asia and developed as an Ottoman cuisine. It is made of chopped nuts, usually walnuts or pistachios, layered with phyllo pastry, sweetened with sugar or honey syrup. The history of baklava, like that of many other foods, is not well documented. Though it has been claimed by many ethnic groups, the best evidence is that it is of Central Asian Turkic origin, but its current form was developed in the imperial kitchens of the Topkapi Palace. I hope the rest can be figured out from the pictures below:

Baklava is prepared in large trays and cut into a variety of shapes.

A typical Baklava,  sweetened with syrup.

In Turkey, baklava is typically served with whipped cream and pistachios.

Baklava in the form of a 'roll'.

Assorted baklava, commonly found in sweet shops.

PS: The word 'nefis' is a turkish word and becomes 'delicious' when translated into the english language.
      The source of this article is wikipedia.