A Lesson in Cooking!!!

Sitting at a cafe with my husband, I came across this advert in the Times of India asking people to text in if they wanted cooking lessons in popular restaurants. I did. I forgot I did. I got a call. My husband came back home early. I went. I came back, feeling quite disappointed. The weather had been great, just perfect i fact for a seance outdoors. The arrangements had been great, the chef quite 'pleasant' as my neighbour described him. Then why this feeling of having wasted my time?

The restaurant in question was Sevilla at the Claridges. The chef was the corporate chef, whatever that means and the audience was truly a melange of odd people. I never knew people actually went to these kind of do's, and that too old kind of people, people who look like my mother and people like the auntyji from amar colony. It was a classroom all over again, with a really eager student laughing at all jokes and one liners- her jokes and one liners; I am going to have nightmares about her!
They distributed the recipes for four 'tapas', tapas are starters as the chef took great care in pointing put for the umpteenth time. The chef started to speak and almost immediately was asked to shout- the noise from the street was drowning everything out. Then the long wait for the loudspeaker- 30 minutes, and then finally...oof. (I even had a serving person, sniff at my tea with lemon and milk- lemon and milk he asked? Is this your tea- I answered.)

So the chef started, he really answered everything good naturedly, and showed everyone how to make seafood paella and three other dishes- I forget their names. But it was disappointing on a number of counts-

• I didn't get to taste what he made
• I didn't get to make what he made
• He didn't give local substitutes- maybe there aren't any and he's not Sanjeev Kapoor ( I do believe this is Sanjeev K's forte)
• I don't like Tapas, Mashrabiya with its Moroccan/Lebanese cuisine would've been better.

But I loved it that my husband came back early and gave me this chance to get a hold on myself, on my sanity and do this just for me. He's a great one for insights I've realised- Mala, he said, think of it as a movie. At least you went. Next time don't sit on the side and watch others play tennis (that's his favourite sport), play yourself!!!