No. 1

Oftentimes in my Bangalore-Joseph's circles we refer to something that is really good as "No. 1 man!" So for example: "That Knopfler song is No. 1" or "the round Woods played was No. 1"

This is pretty original one would think but it just goes to show it is easy for one to be wrong. In 1823, a noble gent (may he be blessed whereever he is) by the name of James Pimm put together a combination of gin, orange, vermouth and some spices. He called it Pimms No. 1. And ever since, it has been refreshing people's minds, bodies and souls.

Pimms No. 1 is best enjoyed with cold lemonade and ice mixed in a pitcher. I believe it is now being positioned as a "younger" drink by its now owner Diageo, trying to move away from its original promise of being a slightly aristocratic English summer drink. To me it ranks amongst my top 5 choices of beverage any time of the year.

The joy of fresh herbs

The fresh basil resulted in the fairly decent basil pesto seen above





A tomato - feta salad seasoned with some olive oil and fresh oregano





Accompanied with bread generously layered with home made garlic - oregano butter




A sweet treat to finish off...Nigella Lawson's easy & handy mars bar crispy choco cake

Ocimum basilicum

It is a tender low-growing herb that is grown as a perennial in warm, tropical climates. It is originally native to India and other tropical regions of Asia having been cultivated there for more than 5,000 years. It is prominently featured in varied cuisines throughout the world including Italian, Thai, Vietnamese and Laotian

So imagine my delight when I stopped by Namdhari's (chic, organic vegetable & fruit store) today on my way to work just on the off chance that they may have some interesting & fresh herbs and to my absolute delight, I found neatly stacked and fresh little bundles of Italian basil, parsley, rosemary, thyme, sage and oregano! I spent ten minutes just sniffing and admiring all the herbs, thus drawing dubious looks from the man at the counter. I left with 2 bundles of fresh Italian basil.

Pesto alla genovese in its classic basic form has Genoese basil, salt, garlic, extra virgin olive oil and Pecorino Sardo cheese. Many variants have been elaborated within the genoese cuisine by adding extra ingredients like pine nuts, walnuts and curd or ricotta cheese. Parmesan cheese or Pecorino Romano cheese can be used instead of the pecorino sardo cheese.

Ah joy!