A Taste Test and A Break

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A couple of month’s back Kalyan of finely chopped shared a post written by Pooja dhingra of Le 15 Patissiere. He said if your family tells you should run a restaurant then you should read it. That made me thinking. Its not like everyone who tastes my food wants me to start food business but I hear this pretty often. Trust me I don’t have big foodie dream rather my love for food (which is there on my minf 24X7) is quite platonic. I love to cook and don’t have much expectations from it. But that article made me want to go for an acid test. A test where family members are not associated, where appreciations are not tossed just because they love me and most importantly where my food would be tasted after paying the price. That way no one will spare the mistakes or the quality. And  I am excited to share that I had my first food sale this weekend. Which was a roaring success and am overwhelmed with the response and the appreciations.

It was a part of the Nari seba sangha spring fete in Jodhpur park (please read more about it here). This is one of the renowned social events in Kolkata where a small fair is organized in their premise for 3 days. Almost 150 or more established and budding businesses (all run by women) participate with their unique products. You will find all types of products like designer and embroidered sarees, dress materials, home furnishings and decorative, ceramics, stationery, handmade soaps and oils, candles, jwelleries etc. The selection is done through an interview where products are also checked. I wanted to be a part of this prestigious affair and appeared for the interview and to my own amusement got selected. Only 10 food stalls were there. including some renowned food joints of South Kolkata.

On my menu were dishes that I do best ie. Bengali styles lunch items-both veg and non veg, snacks, traditional desserts and bakes. All the items were cooked by us (I and my maternal aunt) in our house. It was quite difficult for inexperienced persons like us to manage such huge quantity without proper utensils but I am proud to say that we managed it well. Everyone praised the food on taste and quality and we gained huge popularity. Who came on the first day brought more foodies to our stall the next days. Lots of small catering orders are also coming in which we were not prepared for but given the circumstances would have to rethink.

The best praise came from a 40 something lady who said my food reminded her of her mom’s cooking. Most of them wanted us to start our own business so that they can taste this regularly.

Now you might ask why dint I shared this news before. Its just because I was not sure if we could pull it off successfully. Also if you read my blog you must have realized that I prefer to maintain my anonymity as a blogger. It was hard for me to step out of my comfort zone. But if I go there next year would definitely give a shout out to you all.

With all the hard work of last week I definitely have earned myself a good break. We are off to Thailand for a 12 days trip. See you soon with loads of pictures on return.