See ...I told u so!!! [ Contd .. Its Italian]

I spoke of the Italian thingie yesterday and see what I chanced upon today at Cosmos Mall .... Am now on a look out for more such crappy ads...so keep watching this space for more updates..


How Italian (and designer for that matter!) can a simple dessert get??????????? Hello....we are not so dumb!!!!

Its Italian !

From flooring tiles to electric chimneys to kitchen hobs to modular kitchens,these days its Italian all the way!! The reason the vendors give for quoting such an unearthly flabberghasting prices for commodities that are from never-before-heard-brands are that "They are Italian ma'am" (as though that gives any reason for you to pay more for something that a trusted indian brand can give for one fourth the price he said!)

Now whats it about this "Italian"-mania that has caught up with people like wild fire? How did this wave come up? And are they genuinely Italian?? How diferent is its quality when compared to the indian brands? Is it really worth all this hype??

As far as I understand (from the research that Sand and I have done in the past one year on building materials and furnishings) there is absolutely no difference at all. Moreover, Indian brands are much superior in quality and I doubt if their claims about the product being Italian is really genuine! And the supposedly "italian brands" all land up only in the city's huge showrooms located in posh areas where the sight of a customer buying their product is itself a remotely rare incident! And its only natural for vendors like this to brand their products as "italian" and place a smart price tag too , for how else are they intending to pay for the huge rents for having their showroom in posh areas!

While on our way back home after a drive in the city on a weekend, I was looking around for a shop that sells glass for doing a glass painting.. Passing through Indra Nagar, there was no shop that I could see which saw a potential. Finally I noticed a huge art gallery , obviously empty , and pondered aloud about giving it a try..and Sand exclaimed.. " Hey no, not there...that looks like the places we have seen where a mere Rs 25 glass-piece would cost like Rs 400 and they would put all the blame for the huge cost on the "Italian finish and processing" ... " That says it all I guess .. :-)

PS : Am not against anything genuinly Italian. No room for controversies here please !

Cooking for Dummies - The 10 point Mantra!

1) Before you start off anything,DO NOT check if you have all the ingredients. If you do so,believe me, you will not only end up having cooked nothing but also doubly hungry than what you were 2 hrs ago.

2) As a corollary to the above, it is a fact that you are never in posession of all the ingredients mentioned in the recipe. And DON'T even try to fetch them from somewhere!Its a waste of time! This was my first important lesson.

3) If the missing ingredients happen to be scattered mostly in the top portion of the recipe in the book, it means you are in danger.. (you are trying to make a chicken biriyani without chicken!). Instead if they are towards the bottom,breathe easy, leaving them out is purely harmless !

4) If you have decided to cook something, don't even think twice! Cook it!

5) While cooking non-veg, rely on those Meat Masalas to save your day! They make up for your bloopers very well! :-)

6) Keep stirring like crazy.... non-stop !!!!! :-))))

7)Keep your recipes out-of-reach of your victims so that you don't give them too much of hope and they don't know what exactly were you attempting to cook! (If the victim happens to be somebody who knows what exactly we possess and what we don't,then surely don't allow him/her to take a look, cos its people's nature to notice what is not than what is.. human
psychology ;-) )

8) Keep your utensils squeaky-clean. This way you earn trust of your victims ! This also slightly lessens their tension and helps them to relax (atleast,until they actually taste it!) ;-)

9) If the dishes get really bad, serve them in your bestest bowls (aesthetic appeal does a lot to soothe the strength of "de-complimenting" ;-) )

10) Finally, if you are lucky enough to get a pass score ,make sure you let the world know of it! Move the contents to a jazzier serving bowl, garnish it with anything that you lay your hands upon,take snaps from all angles and multiple lights ,send it across to all of your friends, declare it on your blog (if possible, update your orkut album too!!) ... phew! we are not done yet.. use your mobile fones buddies...call up friends and send sms!!!!

Once done with all this circus, bow to your audience and thank your victims for having co-operated :-D

Happy Cooking....Be a Winner!!!

PS :- Sorry Sand.., But I know u still love me :-p