Kurma

I'm writing this report as the warm golden sun starts to peep over the African skyline. I am just about to head across the massive campus here at the Temple of Understanding to the kitchen complex and prepare for Durban Cookery Class Day #3; but before I get too ahead of myself, here's a report on how things went yesterday with Durban Cookery Class Day # 2.

We cooked another fabulous lunch for 50 or 60 attendees, and in the process I shared my experience with a dozen eager and submissive crew.

Our menu:

Greek-style White Bean and Vegetable Soup (Fasoulada)
Pecan and Orange Wild Rice Pilaf
Stuffed Italian Flat bread (Focaccia)
Mediterranean Salad of Steamed Broccoli, Cauliflower, Carrot, Grean Beans Cucumber, Red Peppers & Chick Peas with Lemon-Olive Oil Parsley and Tahini Dressing
Apple and Blackberry Crumble
Fresh Mixed Citrus Lemonade

Oh the Focaccia! The recipe is in my slate-coloured 'Cooking with Kurma' book, but if you twist my arm, I'll share it with you. It is just such a nice recipe! Rich, crispy olive oil-enriched bread top and bottom filled with oozing mozzarella, cheddar, and parmesan cheeses with sundried tomatoes, fresh basil and kalamata olives. Magnificent!

The Canadian Pecan and Orange Rice was sans wild rice, since it is so expensive here, but it was still delightful, scented as it was with orange, fresh green chili slivers and lots of freshly ground pepper, and folded with crunchy slivers of pan-crisped pecans.

We folded fresh strawberries into the apple crumble instead of blackberries. They were by far the most fragrant strawberries I have ever encountered. The whole kitchen actually smelled of strawberries even before we unwrapped the plastic wrappers from the punnets. Amazing.

Our warm salad - the recipe originally shared with me by my old friend Radha Caran (hello Radha Caran - I know you're reading this) was indescribably lovely - as nice as it looks, in fact.

Finally I just have to show you some of the local produce we used in the cooking. Notice the Jungle Oats and Safari Currants. Corny? Yes!

Oops! I actually missed a day of blogging for the first time in many many months, so Wednesday 26 July will be forever blogless. Getting a bit misty here.... {pauses to wipe a single tear from corner of eye}...

I'm just getting myself adjusted to being back in the Southern Hemisphere, and specifically African winter after European summer. Temperature changes, drastic sunrise and sunset differences and just different air and water all combine to put a lot of stress on the body when one travels. There is a saying in India (I think it is accredited to the sage Chanakya) that constant travelling ages one more than anything else. And that was written thousands of years ago when the fastest travel was on horseback. So what to speak of air travel and all its concomitant pressures on the subtle and gross body.

By the time I get thoroughly used to being in Durban with its cold nights, cool morning seaside breezes and warm days, much like my home base Perth at present (we share the same latitude almost, and the same Indian Ocean), I'll be in Johannesburg with its much lower temperatures. And then 'bham!', I'll be back in Europe again with long hot Slovenian days, fresh warm Croatian seaside breezes, and balmy Italian nights.

Believe me, I'm not complaining. I am blessed to be able to travel and share my life and experience with others. The austerity of travel is well worth it if I can benefit people by my association and share my God-given talents to educate, entertain and uplift. And by doing so, my life becomes all the more rich in the process.

By the way, if you're waiting breathlessly to see how the little toast dialogue above connects with this blog entry, it really doesn't. I just thought it was cute.