Interview with Food Blogger – Purabi Naha
Jan 2, 2015
Third interview for our Interview with Food Blogger Program– launching the undiscovered and unique food bloggers across cities of Mumbai, Pune, Bangalore and Delhi.
Purabi Naha the creator of Cosmopolitan Currymania, describes herself as an ardent foodie and a passionate cook, who eats to live and lives to eat! Recently relocated from Hong Kong and presently living in Mumbai, Purabi was an editor at a food processing journal until 2007. Her bookshelves are filled with cookbooks, old and new, from all over the world and considers her kitchen her laboratory.
Quick questions with Purabi:
1. What are your favorite regional cuisines or specific foods?
I love traditional Bengali food, cooked to perfection and served with love. The beauty of a Bengali meal is that all the dishes are varied in flavour and texture. Some of the dishes use minimal of spices, but can taste out-of-the-world! I also like the fact that in a typical Bengali menu, there are as many vegetarian dishes as are the non-vegetarian ones. Bengali sweets are something I am totally addicted to.
Apart from that, my favourite cuisine is Japanese. I love the freshness and completeness of a good sushi. I love a hearty and meaty ramen soup. I am also fond of Teppanyaki. I adore an artistic Bento and appreciate Japanese food presentation. The food is healthy and just perfect for my tastebuds.
2. Name three things you have to use in most recipes?
However fancy or simple a recipe might be, without the clever balance of salt, sugar and oil, you are simply nowhere.
3. What’s the best and worst thing about being a food blogger?
A food blogger constantly gains knowledge and expertise on food every single day. The best thing is that I can document and share my culinary experiments with the world. Every week, I try out atleast two fresh recipes, and blogging is my medium to tell the world about my culinary experience. How cool is that!
The worst thing is that most of the times, the food gets cold while you are busy in food styling or photographing your delicious dish!
4. Do you eat out often? When you do, what’s your strategy to make sure you’ll still be eating healthy?
I eat out twice a week. I experiment a lot with all kinds of foods. Portion control is the tried-and-tested trick that I follow. I make sure that I order soups and fresh salads. I go easy on carbohydrates. Oily dishes are an absolute no-no for me.
5. Which is the most out of the world food dish you have had?
A few months back, I had these incredibly flavoured lamb racks, called Costolette di Agnello Alla. I had tasted these during a food-tasting session in Prego, Westin Mumbai. The meat was done to perfection and when I took a bite, the meat was melting in my mouth. I liked that pink blush when I cut through the meat. Presented beautifully, I just kept on staring at the dish for a few seconds. Served with a little thyme biscuit with goat cheese mousse, this dish was presented perfectly with cute zucchini scoops, creamy mashed potatoes, lamb jus, olive tepanade, beetroot powder, black truffle and caramelized shallots. It was simply heaven!
6. What is your take on organic foods, is it a big deal to you?
I do eat organic food sometimes, but I don’t stick to eating only organic on a daily basis.
7. What inspired you to start your own blog and how do you find time to maintain it?
My blog Cosmopolitan Currymania was born as soon as we shifted to Hong Kong 2.5 years back. Moving to a new country and exploring their cuisine prompted me to share my views and kitchen experiments beyond social media. I started writing my food blog to share detailed recipes, along with step-wise pictures. I started sharing whatever startled me in Hong Kong’s wet markets. I used to pick up ingredients from there and started creating and documenting my own Indo-Chinese fusion recipes using them. The passion for food, photography and writing kept me going. My blog traffic started increasing day by day. The fact that people across the world read my blog, motivated and thrilled me. Today, blogging has become an important and inseparable part of my life.
When you love your work and you are doing something to fulfill your passion, time is not a constraint, isn’t it?
8. A restaurant which you frequent often and would recommend to our readers? Please rate the restaurant with respect to food, ambience, rates and staff friendliness.
It is not easy to point out just one, when there are so many restaurants in Mumbai serving amazing food! One of my favourites is Smoke House Deli in Bandra. I would recommend my readers to try out their lip-smacking menu. On a scale of 5, I would give them 4 for food and 3.5 for drinks. Ambience: 4. Rate: 4. Staff friendliness: 3.5.
Follow Purabi’s blog here: Cosmopolitan Currymania
