25 March, 2008

Italian Cuisine - Popular Pasta

Rome was not build in just a day” a saying have a lot to say for the rich civilization and beautiful culture of Italy. Pasta and pizza are common tags for Italy and popular all around the world. Fashion freak can not forget the high hill Milan city of Italy. The Leaning Tower of Pisa or simply The Tower of Pisa have wooed all from its unique slanting posture posed since long history. The Venice Carnival, which is a wild, colorful and enjoyable festival of masks. During school, we all read in History a lot about the Dark Ages and Renaissance. Indeed, the culture and cusine of Italy as rich as its wine.
Beleive it or not,Italy is the home to the largest number of UNESCO Heritage Sites.
And who can forget the greatest scholars in science,Galileo Galilei, Leonardo da Vinci made extraordinary achievements scientific revolution and art. There is so much in all sections Architecture, Art, Cinema, Cuisine, Famous Italians, Holidays, Literature, Music, Classical Opera, Sport.. Italy have contributed.
Being a Coffee lover I need to thank Italy for inventing Espresso machine (espresso means "fast" in Italian), which is really a legendary Italian invention !
But one thing that firstly clicks into my mind when I think about Italy is the Pasta. Today we know more than 300 types of pasta and above all pasta is the most popular food in world.
I got amazed when my very nice friend Chef Atanu Nath , when asked to give his favourite dish receipe said "Penne Arabiata" an Italian dish. Chef Atanu is graduate from IHM-Gwalior, and today serves is one of the 5-Star Hotel in New Delhi. And he shared his receipe for Penne Arabiata with us. I tried making at my home and it tastes amazing with sweet tangy flavour of tomatoes sauce served with pasta. It is quick and easy to make. So go through the receipe and enjoy..
Penne Arabiata
Ingredients:-
(SAUCE)
1 sl Bacon or 2 Tbsp. olive oil
1/2 lg Onion, chopped coarsely
3 Cloves garlic
1 Serrano chili peppers
(1 to 2) or 1 tsp. oriental hot chili paste, optional
8 oz Italian tomatoes or 1-8 oz can tomato sauce (not paste)

Instructions:-
  1. Cut bacon into 1 inch pieces. Saute. Add garlic and onion to the bacon (or olive oil if using that) & saute lightly.
  2. Dice the Roma tomatoes (or open the can of sauce) & add to the sauteed onions & garlic.
  3. Also add the hot peppers/sauce at this time.
  4. Turn heat to low. Simmer the tomatoes until the sauce is nicely thickened.
  5. With fresh tomatoes this could take a half hour.
  6. dd salt to taste. Cook the dried pasta in boiling water until done. Drain.
  7. Serve immediately placing a few tablespoons of sauce on top of the pasta.
  8. Add some dried oregano in it before serving!

Serve hot and relish..!

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09 March, 2008

missing royal tiger - National Park,India

It’s been not long when I wrote an article telling about my story for fascination for tigers and shattering alarm bells ringing in India, “the census of tiger population in India has a decreasing sign...” India had 1827 tigers when Project Tiger was set 35 years ago. The number as per the census figures in 2008 is 1411. How much man has been cruel to tigers and today the census speaks louder than tiger strong roar.

It has been my recent trip, way to (RAJASTHAN) Jaipur from Alwar via Sariska National Park. Sariska Reserves which is now a days more popular for unwelcoming the tigers. Sariska falls in Alwar district. This park is situated only 200 km from Delhi and 107 kms from Jaipur. The Aravali Hills dominate the area with its sharp cliffs and long narrow valleys. The history of Sariska even dates back to the days of epic Mahabharata, when the Pandavas were believed to have taken shelter during their exile. The speciality of the forest is that it looks extremely dry in the summers and becomes dense and lush green after the monsoons.

I was indeed lucky on my way to see Sambar, spotted-deer, lots of monkeys and a huge range of different species of birds . Although thrilled to spot animals, I wondered how unsafe were the animals there, where the heavy vehicle rush every second. And above all its so easy for poachers to enter the forest and create menace with animals and forest resources.



A highway bypass road stretching the mid of Sariska forest have been a real problem for the wild big cats and disturbance for other animals. Our cab calmed our anxiety by informing us that the Sariska-Kalighati-Tehla road on which we were heading shall soon be closed and Alwar-Sariska-Thanagazi Road shall be diverted from Kushalgarh to pass from Talvraksh-Narainpur-Gahtabandrol and connected to Shahpura. This shall relieve the Sariska forest from the unwanted interference of loads of vehicles. He also said that sooner some wild cats shall may be from Ranthombor shall be brought to Sariska for better eco-living in forest. Its the irony of the era that long back to the royal time, Sariska was the prime location for the Maharajas and Kings to hunt the tigers in the forest for leisure..!



“In January 2005, journalist Jay Mazoomdaar (The Indian Express) broke the news that there were no tigers left in Sariska. Thus broke open the Third Tiger Crisis. Soon the Rajasthan Forest Department and the Project Tiger Directorate declared an "emergency tiger census" in Sariska and the Central Bureau of Investigation conducted a probe. After a two month exercise they finally declared that Sariska indeed did not have any tigers left” – Ref. Wikipedia


Find out more about endangered species
I was in a way unlucky that not much time I could spend there to explore some of the enchanting areas and temples present in the thick forest, and hence I plan a next trip to Alwar and Sariska soon. But let the tigers are not unlucky to come and survive at Sariska.

Genuinely, we need to propagate the message through out to save the wild cat, or else there will be a time when our next generation shall only see tigers in pictures, paintings or hear tiger's enchanting stories from us.
Save & Conserve TIGERS.
Go Green.



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