My Blog

Deepavali - a celebration of enlightenment

Fri, 10 Oct 2008 20:49:53 +0100

Back home in India, every child, parent and grandparent looks forward to these few days of joyful mayhem. Families and friends visit each other, children are given new colourful clothes and jewelry and masses of fireworks are lit throughout the day.

As a child, these few days were filled with eating the most exquisite sweets, of fun and games with my cousins and uncles, the good hearted teasing of the young folk by the old and lighting of fireworks from morning till I went to bed, at night.

Having lived here long enough I have soaked up the English attitude to fire safety, I now worry about fireworks and wonder how I ever dared play with the fireworks as I did as a child. I remember holding a string of 50 and 100 firework bombs in my hand, swinging them round and round as I watched my long silk skirt billow out like a parachute, and listened to them explode in a cacophony of bangs. There was no fear of ever burning myself.

During Deepavali, street side paths, public playgrounds are lit with explosions and fountains of light and strewn with the litter of burnt firecrackers. Walking on the street during this festival requires courage, nimbleness to avoid flying rockets and cotton wool in the ears. Somehow we knew how to duck. Saying that, there are considerably few accidents with fireworks in India and safety is not as great an issue there as it is here.

If you do go to India sometime, do travel during this period as you can see every house lit with small oil filled clay lamps shedding mellow and dusky light - quite unlike the Christmas fairy lights one sees here.

Here is our menu for 31 October and 1st November (Fireworks at 8:00 p.m). Do come by.

Deepavali 2008

Madhur Vada
Rice and lentil fried spicy batter originated in the small town of Maddhur, this is a popular snack sold at train stations along the Mysore – Bangalore route.

Onion Pakora
Crispy rings of onion deep fried in batter
Saagu
Freshly diced seasonal vegetables cooked in an original sauce from Karnataka.

Fish Dakshina
Seasonal fish simmered in subtly spiced tomato and coconut sauce.

Koli Kolambu
Tender chicken cooked in spicy Tamilian style with poppy and cashewnut paste

Potato Palya
Classic side dish from Karnataka

Okra Pachadi
Yoghurt and okra in a cooling salad

Selection of Indian Sweets
A selection of rich, creamy, high calorie sweets. Once a year only !!

Price per head - £23 on 31 October and £26 on 1 November

Tipping in restaurants

Tue, 12 Aug 2008 18:26:44 +0100

The Independent on 15th July 2008 sliced through the practices of some of the leading London restaurants in one decisive chop, exposing shocking ethics behind closed doors. Here are a few examples.
*Carluccio's, Café Rouge, Chez Gerard, Strada and Café Uno all pay their staff less than the minimum wage and use customers' tips to make up the balance in their employees' pay;
*PizzaExpress takes an 8 per cent cut of tips left on a credit card;
*One chain of Asian restaurants, Georgetown, takes 100 per cent of tips;
*Staff at one London eatery receive no basic wage at all
I am amazed. Who are these waiters and waitresses who have agreed to work under these terms? What makes a person agree to such dramatic cuts in wages and work under such appalling conditions ? They are surely savvy enough to work in these restaurants and able to get through interviews ( so must be able to read and write English ). Were they living here illegally? Even so ....
Out here in the “outback” people are quite savvy. Even a pound under is jumped upon with cries of “employer discrimination”. Take the local teenage folk, who we had the misfortune of employing, on a part time basis. They were more aware of their rights and even some twisted version of rights, than some welfare rights workers I have known. Our Slovak staff have serious negotiation skills and wouldn’t even glance at work that had unfavourable terms. I am baffled by this strange implicit faith that persuades people to work for nothing!
All I can say to these people is “Come on over. Our salaries are higher than the nursing staff in UK and with free board and lodging to boot. A much better deal than in London”. I hope they read my Blog :)

Differing cultures

Sun, 16 Mar 2008 15:52:45 +0000

Being part of European Union means that we have a choice of staff from any of the EU countries. We have continued to hire staff from Slovakia simply because we know and have supported a few of them in their attempt to gain education and employment in UK. We feel connected and are more comfortable with them. These are the people we can afford to employ - they make our business work.

Yet the differences cannot be more stark. Every other year we have to train staff, some of who have never eaten in a restaurant. We are constantly amazed at the details that have to be communicated from the start. Some examples of their beliefs are -

- pointing out an error is viewed as a personal failure
- food plates must be taken away from the table as soon as the person has eaten
- quantity in food is more important than quality
- eat as soon as the food is served, dont wait for the others,
- there is one type of glass for all drinks- no problem!
- people eat in a restaurant because they are hungry,
- one must talk out loud ( some of the staff live in the mountains of Slovakia so I guess they need to shout to be heard !!.) Just a jest!

Some of these examples are culture specific, but boy, do they interfere in training.

We take so many subtle nuances in daily living for granted. Some of these words and gestures hold a mine-house of meaning. Supper versus tea; dinner versus lunch - class, culture, education all embodied in one word or gesture.

In the restaurant we are compelled to use the right words, gestures and symbols to attract the right market. Imagine the complexity of training when you hire staff from diverse cultures with different semiotics for every gesture and word. It certainly makes the work environment vibrant, challenging and rich.

Here is a recipe from my grandmother, a global thinker and my feminist role model, who never travelled beyond India. Her stories travelled the globe as did her ideas. She was a firebrand feminist who thought it her right to challenge the president on political policies. ( now in India that is a real challenge!!)

In the early 196o, post- independence India had strong relations with Russia as it was called. There were public collaborations with Russian government and Marxist study circles held at home meant that I saw a few Russians when I was young. I was mesmerized by the Russian folk dancers, where as a child, their leaps seemed sky-high, magical and hypnotic. I loved this dance form. I still do.

My grandmother, as a sign of the times, made her version of Russian Kootu. It was wee bit different from the Sambar and for some unknown reason had a medley of vegetables instead of the usual one or two.

Adaptation

Sun, 10 Feb 2008 14:08:48 +0000

No one can say that we are not adaptable. The number of debilitating events, that have presented themselves to us, over the past 5 years could buckle many people down or even direct them towards to the nearest island Priory. Not us. Our hair turns grayer, more facial lines appear, lots of somatic illnesses besiege us. But we flip over, shake the dismaying tides and bounce right back under a new guise.

If all of this sounds gobbledegook, it is only a precursive introduction to the change I have had to make to our business. The Tiffin Room, my third born, grew out of necessity. It is this very necessity that has prompted me to close this venture temporarily.

A daughter diagnosed with several medical conditions, to me means one thing. I need to tip the balance towards being a mother. My daughter needs me now. She needs my support in learning the new habits required to manage her condition, until she can manage this on her own.

Hence, I have to close The Tiffin Room, to wandering visitors as it is a lot more manageable to cater to large parties in one sitting. However, for the guests who stay here just for the food, a small range of South Indian breakfast dishes will be offered.

So from a restaurant that was increasing in popularity to a pared down version. For 2008. All I can do is apologise to everyone and hope that you will understand.

Ebbing businesses

Wed, 7 Nov 2007 13:13:36 +0000

Rural businesses struggle, especially over the winter. This is even more exaggerated for new business owners who cannot fall back on value appreciation of their business that comes with time. With higher overheads than their compatriots, who have owned businesses over several decades and now a failing rural economy, the countryside is the playground for the wealthy. Perhaps it has always been so.

On the Shute alone, where the restaurant is located, properties ranging from £300, 000 to over a million are second homes. From 3 bed apartments to 8 bed mansions. A few 8 bed mansions on the Shute have seen a handful of people stay there in a year ! The large old rectory across was a second home. These homes remain unoccupied for most of the year contributing erratically to the rural economy. The villages and towns are like ghost towns in winter. Large old hotels are selling up to developers and turnover of some businesses are very high. Prices are high to compensate for the shortfall in winter.

The Tiffin Room has a small business over the autumn and winter. The majority of the winter tourists prefer either “Turkey and Tinsel” or slightly more refined European food and most certainly not South Indian food. The few loyal customers who do dine here are too few to justify keeping the business open during this season. So dramatically different from a high street restaurant where the footfall itself brings custom.

My concern remains with the island economy. As tourism is the largest industry here and with the proliferation of second homes, how will the tourism industry maintain its competitive edge ? How will the prices stay low and how do businesses provide good value for money ?