Focal Point

Mango. Sliced or shaken?

15 July 2010, 8:20pm, my parents' neighbourhood, Scarborough/Markham

This is my mom, chatting with Noori, our friendly neighbourhood mango seller. Since this summer began we've been seeing him regularly - at least once a week - to satisfy our mango fix. He's not always in the same spot but you can generally find him stopped by the curb of various corners in our neighbourhood.

Unlike the ice cream truck, he doesn't have to play that familiar and irritating jingle to get us running out of our homes for our sweet fix. He knows the people will find him when they need a fresh supply. It's true, we always do.

And with this constant fresh supply literally at our doorstep, my family is all about serving mangoes freshly sliced or shaken up with ice cream when we feel justified for a reward because we did anything. Yummy mango shakes are in a class of their own - let's face it, there's no dignified way to slurp a mango slice.

But, oh, is there any substitute for peeling that ripe orange fruit away from the skin and inhaling slice after slice? Manners go straight into the garbage, followed by the stripped mango peels. Only then do we think of napkins and mopping up the mess we've made. (You know you do it too, I'm not alone here.)

And yet, I wish we didn't see Noori so often for our summer dependency. I am a bit discontent with all of this fresh mango-ness constantly in our kitchen. Because while it is a fruit (therefore healthy), and rare since our summer is so fleeting, seriously, I think all these mangoes are making me fat!!

Indian Style

8 July 2010, 5:49pm, Irish Embassy Pub & Grill, Yonge & Wellington, Toronto

Chicken Curry - Indian Style.

Really? Duh. What other style could a curry be? 

I'm being mean. Props to the Irish Embassy for having desi dishes on the menu. Never having been to Ireland myself, I was surprised to learn - during an after-work session at Fionn MacCool's on University & Adelaide a few years ago - that South Asian food served in Irish pubs was quite normal. 

(That evening I also locked eyes with a very hot desi guy as he was leaving the pub with his friends and I was entering with my friends. A very filmi moment, but without the filmi ending since I never did find out who he was. Sigh.)

But I digress. I love that Irish pubs in Canada carry on their traditions of keeping delicious desi dishes on the menu. Too bad for me, most of those dishes involve some form of chicken while I'm a vegetarian. And, on this particular evening at the Irish Embassy with my girlfriends, I was craving fries in the forbidden-food way that only a 30-something-old metabolism can crave a-thing.

The Irish obliged, offering me poutine, but not the traditional French-Canadian version of hot fresh fries smothered with gravy and cheese curds. No, they offered me an Irish Poutine of hot fresh fries covered with mayo and melted cheddar. How to resist that? I didn't even try. I even added ketchup on the side.

Which leads me to wondering...what if there was a Poutine - Indian Style? How would that work? Hot fresh fries - check. Instead of gravy, which chutney would work better: mint, mango, imlie, tomato, coconut or a create-your-own mixture? Should we try substituting crumbled paneer for cheese curds, since the paneer likely wouldn't melt the right way? Or, what about scrapping the chutney and cheese altogether and just drowning the fries in a very thick and creamy version of the malai kofta/butter chicken sauce?

Hm, next step: establishing an Indian pub in Toronto to serve it...

If anyone's up for that idea, I've got a whole menu planned out. Cheers.

GOOOOAALL!!!! [insert your cheers/curses here]

2 July 2010, 9:15pm, William Ashley China, Bloor Street West, Yorkville, Toronto

Who was playing? Doesn't matter. When was the game? Doesn't matter.
Who won? Ah, that always matters.

When the World Cup started, I didn't know who to cheer for. My friends and family, the South Asian ones at least, were all stubbornly rooting for England. Even if they couldn't have named the English players, it was England all the way, judging by the status updates on their Facebook pages. (Because one way or another, all desis have got ties to someone or something British and apparently that alone should be good enough for our collective loyalty.)

Me, I'm different, I need a reason to cheer. Blind faith in the Three Lions just wouldn't do it. (Turns out I saved myself the heartache.) My solution for finding the perfect team would have to come from following the FIFA.com updates on Twitter and watching all the matches - good, bad and mediocre - to find the team worthy of my loyalty, like a truly dedicated sports fan would do. 

Alas, I'm not a dedicated sports fan. Just an appreciative one. I actually shushed my mom during those tense moments of the Paraguay vs Spain match on Saturday when penalty kicks for both teams failed to break the solid 0-0 score. I felt bad for Paraguay when it was over, but had to cheer for Spain's victory. (It's so much easier when you have no real loyalty.)

Come Sunday afternoon, though, it'll be easier to decide just where my loyalty lies between the final two teams. I'm already leaning towards the Netherlands though if Spain wins against Germany, I might have to flip a coin. (Now there's a tried-and-true technique, eh?) Maybe I'll just follow my heart once the match starts. Either way, I'll be watching till the end, cheering or cursing along with the players when the commentators' voices ring out: GOOOOAALL!!!