Shirin Mehrotra
Freelance Food and Travel Writer
Features Writing, Blog Writing for Brands, Content Strategist
PROJECTS
The Hindu
The mistress of spices
For someone who has a cinnamon bark from Hong Kong mounted in a glass-fronted box in her living room, it doesn’t come as a surprise that food and travel writer and author Marryam H Reshii calls herself a “spice fanatic”. Her latest book, The Flavour of Spice, is a compilation of stories about the origin of spices and how they have evolved in Indian cuisine.
livemint.com
In the city of saffron milk and giant ‘jalebis’
From food stalls that pop up late at night to a breakfast of champions, the best food in Indore is to be had on the streets.
The Hindu
Beyond sushi and ramen
Ten days in Japan = approximately twenty sushi and ramen meals: I was working out the math when I chanced upon Matt Goulding’s Rice, Noodle, Fish – Deep Travels Through Japan’s Food Culture. The book opened up a world of Japanese food to me, even before I stepped into the country. Suddenly, there was so much to squeeze into just 10 days. The plans and lists went out of the window and I decided to go with the flow.
scroll.in
Lucknow’s nawabi history can still be seen in its stunning heritage architecture – and in this book
In the dense by-lanes of Lucknow’s Chowk area, as you make your way to a hole-in-the-wall biryani and kebab joint, look around the old buildings and worn-down walls. These walls hide history and stories that date back to 16th century. Artist and blogger Adity Chakravarti’s coffee-table book Rehaish–At Home In Lucknow peers beyond these walls, into the homes that are witness to this nawabi city’s affluence.
In 1723, when Nawab Saadat Khan Burhan-ul-Mulk, the founder of the Nawabi dynasty, came...
roadsandkingdoms.com
No Matter How Old You Are, Chilled Butter-Cream Was Best When You Were Young
Makkhan-malai in Lucknow
Growing up in Lucknow, a city in the north of India where winters were always bone-chilling, there were only two things that would make us crawl out of our cozy blankets—catching up on the morning sun and the cry of makkhan-malai on the streets. I have feeble memories of an old guy, standing at the doorstep with a huge basket on his head.
The contents of the basket always appeared mysterious to me. I’d look with wide-eyed wonder the way the old man scooped out a bit o...
roadsandkingdoms.com
It’s Green Garlic Season
Eggs in Mumbai
Living in Mumbai, I miss winters. The only way I feel close to my favorite season is by visiting the vegetable market, where the greens call out to me from carts and baskets. Apart from the usual suspects like spinach, mustard, fenugreek, and chenopodium, I love the green garlic that’s available for only a few weeks.
Green garlic is young garlic, harvested before the cloves begin to mature. It looks like a clove of garlic with long, bright green stalk and a bunch of white hair ...
roadsandkingdoms.com
A Bread-Lover’s Guide to Japan
Croissants in Kyoto
I love Japanese food. Sushi and sashimi, ramen and donburi, okonomiyaki and yakisoba; bring it all and I am more than happy to wolf it down, with a glass of sake, of course. But rice, miso soup, and grilled fish for breakfast don’t quite do it for me. In Tokyo, we mostly skipped breakfast and went for brunch; in Osaka, I attempted to eat supermarket sushi for breakfast but ended up cooking scrambled eggs at my Airbnb. In Kyoto, I found my breakfast groove.
roadsandkingdoms.com
Sometimes, a Botched Meal Makes an Even Better Meal
Locho in Surat
“Surat nu jaman, Kashi nu maran” (eat in Surat and die in Kashi and you’ll attain nirvana). This adage inspired me to get an early morning train from Mumbai to Surat. The love for food is apparent in the city; the weekends are planned according to what to eat and where, I am told by a local auto rickshaw guy. And even though I am in the city in the middle of a busy week, my plan is to eat.
roadsandkingdoms.com
Yeah, Why Aren't Vodka Shots With Unripe Mango Juice Already a ...
Yeah, Why Aren't Vodka Shots With Unripe Mango Juic...
indiafoodnetwork.in
How To Eat Like A Local In Meghalaya
Eating Khasi food at the kong shops of Meghalaya.
roadsandkingdoms.com
A Syrupy Toast to Calcutta's Revolutionaries - Roads & Kingdoms
The story behind Calcutta's most famous sherbet shop.
roadsandkingdoms.com
The Ponkh Market of Surat
Surat's ponkh processing unit that supplies the millet to some of the most famous restaurants in Mumbai.