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Picnicking on the Food of Bangladesh

Home-cooked Bangladeshi food is hard to find, but there was plenty of it when friends from Bangladesh gathered for a picnic in Lake Balboa Park in Van Nuys.

Two women brought the food, one a professional caterer, the other a home cook.

Faiza "Sonia" Sumaia Hossain, the caterer, served mutton biryani (above). Fragrant with kewra, it was made with Indian parboiled rice, not the usual basmati rice. 

Here is the plate of food she dished up, including the biryani and a tuna cutlet.

The golden tuna cutlets (above) were delicately seasoned.

Hossain also fried samosas (above). These were not like the heavy mashed potato samosas you get in most restaurants. Instead, the potatoes were in small cubes mixed with vegetables, and the wrappers were thin and crisp.

She also fried the street snack piaju (above). These crunchy bites were composed of lentil paste, onions, chiles, turmeric, cumin and cilantro. 

Here she is at her fry station. 

Asma Jaweed (above) grilled tandoori chicken and made chai.


Her chicken (above) was fragrant with spices. 

Another of Jaweed's specialties is tahari, a Hyderabadi rice dish with meat, potatoes and spices, similar to pullao. Perhaps she'll bring that to the next picnic. 

To drink there was borhani, a pale green yogurt drink that is slightly sweet and a little spicy, a complex mix of poppyseeds, mint, green chiles, cilantro, cumin and other ingredients.

Once in a while, Martin Shah, Bangladeshi owner of India's Tandoori in Brentwood (at right), serves borhani, but it's not on the regular menu. 

For dessert, Hossain supplied tender gulab jamun (above).

Other women set out spangly Indian clothing and packages of saris to sell. Tanzeena "Farah" Hussain (above) produced elegant mehndi designs. 

Sonia Hossain sold jars of ghee, which she makes with heavy cream, not butter.  The flavor is toasty with a hint of caramel, unlike any ghee I've tasted. On top of the ghee in the photo are containers of gulab jamun. 

A halal caterer, Hossain makes Indian and Pakistani dishes as well as Bangladeshi food. Her catering business, Sumaia's Kitchen, is in Glendale. To reach her, go to her Facebook page, @Sumaia21kitchen. 

Indian Food To Make You Healthy

When you want to have an Indian feast, serve food that is triply good: good-tasting, good for you and that benefits a good cause. 

You can do this with the cookbook "Deepa's Secrets: Slow Carb/New Indian Cuisine" (Skyhorse Publishing), a memoir of an engaging Indian woman combined with healthy recipes. 

Author Deepa Thomas (above) revamped her style of cooking to help her diabetic husband, Thampy. Did it work? In five days, his blood sugar returned to normal without insulin, she said, and he's been off insulin for almost six years.

The recipes eliminate foods that produce a rapid spike in sugar, such as rice, potatoes and breads, in favor of carbs that the body processes more slowly. This doesn't mean eliminating flavor. On the contrary, Thomas has produced delicious, light food spiced Indian style--the only way her husband could follow such a diet.

Look at this gorgeous salad of roasted beets and shaved fennel, one of several dishes from the book prepared for her appearance at Melissa's Produce.

And this ginger cabbage slaw--"an easy slaw with a little Indian twist," she said. 

Brussels sprouts turn Indian with a full load of spices--cinnamon, nutmeg, turmeric, cayenne, allspice and chaat masala--plus dried cranberries and macadamia nuts. 

The book is not meat-free. There are seafood recipes, Indian style chili with ground beef, ground pork and bacon. And chicken skewers (above), marinated with ginger and garlic, garam masala and other spices. 

This beautiful berry and yogurt salad could pass as a dessert, but it's intended for breakfast. The actual dessert chapter includes just two things, mango lassi and a mix of dried fruit, pistachios and dark chocolate nibs that she calls "Toot Sweet."

Born in New Delhi, Thomas lives with her husband in San Francisco. She's a natural entrepreneur, creating a $10 million company called Deepa's Textiles that she has since sold.

Now she may market her Secret Spice Mix (above), which you would clamor to buy at one sniff. You don't have to do that, though. The recipe is in the book.

"Deepa's Secrets" has a publisher, but Thomas and her husband paid for the cover and photographs, which were taken in their home, the food cooked by Thomas herself. 

The result is a handsome book, now in its third printing in less than four months. Even if it becomes a best seller, Thomas won't make any money. She and her husband are donating all the royalties to FoodCorps, a nonprofit devoted to helping schoolchildren make wise food choices and encouraging everyone to eat intelligently. 

"When diet is wrong, medicine is of no use," Thomas observed.

This Brussels sprouts dish was named for a friend. "With Thanksgiving coming around, it might be something you would put on the table," she said. And your dinner will be all the healthier if you do. 

DRYFOOSSELS SPROUTS
From "Deepa's Secrets" by Deepa Thomas

2 tablespoons unrefined coconut oil, melted over low heat
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon grated nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon turmeric
1/2 teaspoon cayenne powder
1/4 teaspoon allspice
1 tablespoon pure maple syrup
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
1 pound Brussels sprouts, trimmed and halved
3 tablespoons dried cranberries (unsweetened)
1/4 cup apple juice or water
1/4 cup unsalted macadamia nuts, toasted and rough chopped
1 teaspoon chaat masala (available in Indian markets)

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Line a baking tray with parchment paper.

To make the dressing, combine the coconut oil, cinnamon, nutmeg, turmeric, cayenne, allspice, maple syrup, salt, pepper and vinegar in a large glass bowl.

Mix Brussels sprouts with the dressing. Place on the baking tray in a single layer and roast for 15 minutes, stirring and rotating the tray once.

In the meantime, combine the cranberries and apple juice in a small saucepan. Cover and heat gently until the liquid is absorbed and the cranberries are plumped (about 6 minutes).

Mix cranberries with roasting Brussels sprouts and return to oven until Brussels sprouts are tender but not mushy and a few leaves begin to brown (about 5 minutes). You could give it a quick broil to singe some of the sprout leaves lightly (about 1 minute).

Top with macadamia nuts and chaat masala.

Makes 4 servings

Where to Party in Grand Style

Photo by Gerry Furth-Sides

The evening started horribly--an excruciating traffic jam outside the Hollywood Bowl, the worst I've experienced. Then no place to park when I reached my destination.

And then--pure enchantment that wiped away the angst.

The place: Premier Restaurant & Bar in Studio City. Inside, nothing but music, fun, happy people, an amazing floor show and very good food.

This Russian restaurant is open only Friday through Saturday, when it is jammed with celebrations--four or five birthdays the night I was there, weddings, banquets and any kind of special event. Each birthday was treated to a ceremony on stage with the birthday cake (above). 

The women are gorgeous, dressed in the best from their closets. The men looked good too, no jeans and T-shirts. They dance with enthusiasm, whether they have a partner or not, and the music never stops.

If this is Russian style, count me in. The room glittered, elaborate bouquets marked the party tables and the food was sumptuous. On my table it had to be stacked in tiers, the only way it could fit. And these were just the appetizers. The main dishes came later, accompanied by more rounds of vodka.

I know little about Russian cuisine and this wasn't what I expected. Rather than borscht, potatoes and cabbage, we ate delicate salmon and tuna sashimi (above)--marinated fish and meats are specialties of the chef, Azat Hovakimian.

Hovakimian (above) works to please a great variety of tastes. The restaurant is popular with Armenians and the Jewish community as well as Russians and is attracting more and more of the general population. 

In front of him are these potatoes, sliced thin and fried with mushrooms until crisp and golden (above). 

Even thinner potatoes appeared later on, with creamy shrimp. 

Smoked fish was lovely. So were thinly sliced cured meats (above) and beef tongue. Chicken liver pate came in scoops, like ice cream.

Siberian red caviar with blini (above) was almost gone by the time I arrived. But I didn't miss out because more food kept coming to the table. 

This plate paired salad with marinated skirt steak. The lady in red behind it is Ekaterina Lesiuk, who invited me and explained the dishes.  

Stewed beef came with dumplings.

Seabass, so tender it almost melted away, was sprinkled with pomegranate seeds.

And so was this eggplant, on a platter with roasted peppers.

The final showpiece was a grand platter of lamb chops.


And then came dessert, apple strudel with ice cream and chocolate sauce.

It was impossible for a table of three to eat this much food in one night. Not to worry. I am now on my third night of leftovers, neatly packaged and handed to us by the servers as we left. 

Premier Restaurant & Bar is open for dinner only and offers a selection of set menus at different prices as well as some a la carte food. Sam Manukyan, the owner, runs a tight ship, so service is as good as the food. Click here to learn more about the restaurant and see the menus.  The address is 12743 Ventura Blvd., Studio City, CA 91604. Tel: 1(818) 623-8844. 

The Return of South African Wines

Hunting for wines that are interesting, a bit off the beaten track and, mostly, affordable?

Then keep these three C's in mind: Chenin Blanc, Cap Classique and Caperitif. There is a P you must remember also. 

Chenin Blanc may not sound unusual, but if from South Africa, it fits the guidelines. This is because South African wines are off the mainstream radar, although wine making there goes back centuries.

The Dutch planted wine grapes in 1659. The map above shows vineyard regions now.  Later, the industry was set back by a phylloxera attack in the late 1800s, post World War economic depression and apartheid, when protesters against racial discrimination refused to buy the wines.

Now, South African wines are on the move. Starting in 2007-2008, a new generation of winemakers reasserted South African identity, said Jim Clarke, marketing manager for Wines of South Africa (above). Marketing budget is low, Clarke admitted, so the wines aren't promoted as extensively as they deserve. 

Stepping in to help, WineLA staged a tasting at the Marina City Club, the first time in 10 years that South African wines have been shown in Los Angeles.

The seven poured at a master class that Clarke conducted before the tasting included two Chenin Blancs (above). "South Africa has more Chenin Blanc than the rest of the world combined," he said.

It's the country's signature white wine, and, as the chart above shows, occupies 18.2% of total vineyard area.

"It is a grape capable of a wide range of expression," Clarke said. Some, like the Fram Chenin poured at the class, are lean and minerally. Others, like the DeMorgenzon Chenin, are round and rich.

Before these, the class sampled a sparkling wine, the Colmant brut (in the glass at left). This is a Cap Classique, the South African equivalent of Champagne, tactfully named so as not to offend the French. It's 52% Chardonnay and 48% Pinot Noir and spent 28 months on the lees.

Colmant and other producers make brut rosé too, so look for these and other South African sparklers for your next party. 

The third C, the Badenhorst Caperitif, showed up at a "Blanc Your Brains Out" white wine class led by Christopher Lavin of Broadbent Selections. This intensely herbal aperitif is sweet with grape sugar, bitter with Chinchona bark and flavored with South African botanicals, some of them unique to the country.

A recreation of a popular aperitif that disappeared more than a century ago, it's based on Chenin Blanc, fortified to 17.5% alcohol. Try this historic golden wine as a pre-dinner sipper or as a base for cocktails, the way it was used long ago.

And finally the P, which stands for Pinotage. This is South Africa's signature red wine. A blend of Cinsault and Pinot Noir, the grape is unique to South Africa, although a tiny amount does grow in California.  

Pinotage has "a bad rep in the trade," Clarke said.  A shame, when there are such beautiful examples as the Kanonkop Estate Pinotage 2015 (above). From 63-year-old vines, this wine was cement-fermented and spent 18 months in 75% new French oak.

Clarke said that South Africa is concerned with responsible wine production. Organic certification is expensive, so the winemakers tend not to get it. Instead, 95% of the wines are certified with this label (above).

Fairtrade certification is also expensive. And it doesn't guarantee a quality wine, Clarke said. South Africa's alternative is an ethical seal, which indicates that workers are well treated.

Aside from the three C's and the P, South Africa produces such widely popular wines as Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah and Bordeaux blends (above).

This rising industry may seem new, but it's based on what Clarke said are the "oldest viticultural soils in the world." Let's hope it won't be another 10 years before we see them again.