Monday’s class was all about baking. Morning class was on Gourmet Cookies. We made Hollandaise Cookies (Checkerboard), Scottish Almond Shortbread and a Millionaire’s Shortbread.

While the doughs were not too difficult to make, the assembly of the Hollandaise Cookies was something that required the precision of a mathematician. Cutting the strips to the width of its thickness was something that had to be done carefully.

It was a very enjoyable class indeed and the fruits of our labour ended up as a pre-lunch dessert!

It was then time for lunch! Seeing that the first part of my stay in Mumbai is coming to an end, I felt I needed to up my Chaat experience index. Mumbaikers love their Chaats (savoury snacks) that can be found everywhere. So far, I have tried Pani Puris, Fruit Chaat, Dahi Vada and Aloo Tikkis. It was time to up my game as this was at the core of Mumbai Food culture-sort of the one thing that unites the different communities in Mumbai-sort of like the one ring that unites them all. It offers a quick filling bite in their busy lifestyles!

I notice that most of them are savoury and also heavy on potatoes as a core ingredient.

On that spirit, I ordered Pav Bhaji for lunch today from Pappilon (thanks to Chef Hrudhvi’s recommendation). Coincidentally she had also brought Pav Bhaji from home today for lunch.

Pav Bhaji is basically butter toasted buns (Pav) served with a Bhaji (vegetable dish) made up of spiced mushy potatoes, tomatoes and spices! Add the chopped onions, squeeze some lime onto the Bhaji and you are ready to eat it. The home made version was less mushy as it had more vegetables in it. Both were delicious and made for a hearty filling meal in spite of its appearance of being small in size.

Will be exploring more Chaats in the coming days!

Afternoon’s class was about Pies and Tarts. We made an Apple Pie as well as a Savoury Tart (part of my exam requirement) and also a Chocolate Mousse.

It was fun making all the sweet and savoury pastrys and filling it up with its fillings. The Mousse was made with agar-agar powder as its coagulant instead of Gelatine.

Oh and our gingerbread house was completed!

Class ended late and I was a little hungry so decided to give Gustoso, an italian restaurant in the neighbourhood a try.

I had the Parfait di Funghi for starters. It was basically pureed mushroom patties topped with a black garlic mayo and Crispy Parmesan. It was tasty though I felt the texture could have been more firm. Had Arrabiatta for mains. This was not tomatoey enough and lacked flavours. A thumbs down for this dish.

So a pretty busy and full day!