This company creates your favourite flavours of toothpaste to chewing gum to that bag of yummy chips. And here's how they do it.
Inside a den full of cheap clothing, there exists a Shawarma joint.
Had marinated some chicken strips in a Caribbean seasoning and it turned out brilliant. Here's what i added to my marinade other than the seasoning - Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Lemon Juice, mashed Garlic, dash of Oregano and pinch of salt. Ratio is up-to you. Left it overnight in the fridge till the chicken soaked the maximum of that mix. Pan grilled it next late afternoon and served inside my favourite twisted buns on a bed of microgreens.
You can find that Caribbean Seasoning off the shelf from some local grocer who deals in imported materials.
Firstly these are personal views and some people may or may not agree to what is being written below. Neither do i intend to promote any other brand in the same category.
To us Indians, Subs is synonymous to Subway - The great milestone brand from the west. Foot long baguette filled with lettuce, sliced mushrooms, tomatoes, onions, jalapenos, gherkins, capsicum and meat of your choice plus a lot of options of sauces. I really love the ranch sauce and honey mustard. For many years we were stuck with just this one option - Subway. The gimmick that worked brilliantly and still works for us is the deal called#Suboftheday. Everyday a different sub is sold at a much lower price than usual. Indian always need more bang for bucks and they just gave us that. Roasted Chicken, Chicken Teriyaki, Hara Bhara Kebab, Italian BLT have been some of the well known and successful subs. Not only the fillings but subs come with a option for freshly baked breads too - Chipotle, Wheat, Multigrain etc. This is where is the good part ends - at-least for me.
My last outing with Subway must be approximately 2 years back at the one opposite National College. Ordered a 'Sub of the day' and the personnel behind the counter hurried me into the choice of bread and then to the veggies counter.
Two Things got noticed -
1. The guy behind the counter just wanted to get done with my order as there was a descent queue behind. So veggies were seen flying from his hands into the bread like it was a dunking game of NBA All stars. Slap and Bam !
2. The veggies used were of very inferior quality. Onions had the outer skins which get damaged, tomatoes were almost pale yellow and the mushrooms not fresh or cut too long back as they started getting brownish stale.
That was the last time i had their sub and as far as i remember it was not at all great.
In the past 2-3 years, We've seen newer brands like 'Torrp It up' & 'Quiznos' open their branches across city and serve exactly the same concept. 'Torrp it up' was a descent effort, they had more options in the daily sub offer but the experience was short lived and not the right amount of marketing and social media may have put them in the backseat. Quiznos - Yet another western master at the game of subs opened soon in Bandra West. Fresh bright ambience and slightly different approach to subs made it more likeable by the gym goers and health conscious folks. I have been their loyalist since my first visit and till day, the quality has stayed the same. My point of concern - Veggies are fresh, bright and although not superior but best what money can buy at that price point. Plus no charges for adding cheese ! The breads are definitely better than others and your sub sees a little oven time before it arrives to your dish.
If you have ignored this fact then might as well try some other subs brand and find out for yourself.
*Picture attached above is from Quiznos last night. Smoked Chicken Sub
Microgreens is a word that we may have learnt of only recently. The amateur chefs from Masterchef series and even other world class chefs like Heston Blumenthal or Gordon Ramsay particularly use it in the garnish of the dish. As they say - "And top it off with a little Microgreens"
So what are these Microgreens ? These are a specialized bred greens which are harvested as soon as they reach a length of a inch or inch and a half. We already know about baby vegetables, similarly MIcrogreens are micro baby forms of some of the well known greens, like - Sunflower Microgreens, Raddish Microgreens, Broccoli Microgreens, Arugula and many more. These are cultivated in small batches in specialized farms or possibly even at your home. Many a people have taken up microgreen farming as a serious profession as the demand for this rises around the world. Supermarkets are now stocking them in small fresh batches. These baby greens are valued and popular due to 2 reasons - One : they are full organic produce and Two : they are nutritional, crunchy and look great on a dish.
I've been consuming some of them since the past 2 weeks and more. Sunflower is my favourite of the lot. Since we at home do not plate and serve the dish like a restaurant, the idea of topping them on a indian cuisine does not make sense. They go well with any of the continental dish you may whip up at home. But for me, i now always keep a handful of them on the side of my plate and eat them as any other salad component. Don't hesitate to add them to your finger sandwiches as they work quite well with any meat component cutting through the dense meaty flavour and give you a different airy, crunchy feel. Taste wise they are almost like sprouts and leave a mild nutty aftertaste in your palate. Nutrition wise they are have been researched and evaluated to have found 40 times more nutrition than their mature counterparts. Researchers have evaluated high levels of four groups of vital nutrients, including vitamin K, vitamin C, vitamin E, lutein, and beta-carotene, in 25 different commercially grown microgreens.
I usually pick them from Nature's Basket. Fresh stock arrives daily and is sold out by the evening. Priced anything between 25 to 60 bucks for 60-70gms, these are a great addition to your meal and don't do much damage to your pocket.
So go the Microgreens way ! You'll love it.
This morning setup the table to shoot sevai and sheer korma. Used mum's choice of table cloth and cutlery. This post had to be dedicated to her as year after year on each #eid she wakes up early to cook these delicacies.
#EidMubarak everyone.
