Kerela Kitchen

After Goa I headed down to Kerela. Cochin to be exact.Yes, yes, where I made the chai. But before I made that Chai I got into some real cooking with those two chefs. The night I arrived in Cochin I was picked up by Babu, a driver sent for me, and brought to the homestay I was sleeping at for the next 2 days. By the time I arrived it was late but I was hungry. Leslie, the homestay owner, told me the guys were in the kitchen and I should head down once settled into my room.

A few minutes later I headed down the steps and out through the front sitting area to the kitchen/restaurant. I sat at one of the tables and waited for one of the chef’s. I was the only person around and so I asked if I could come into the kitchen and watch them cook. They saw no problem with this and so the two of us headed back into the kitchen so I could see what was going on. The video above shows, in detail, my appetizer and kingfish appetizer being created. What I stripped out of this video was the original audio. The jumpcuts required this but during almost the entire entree preparation I was engaged in a conversation about marriage. I was being questioned about why I got divorced, how i got divorced and why I was not married again. In India, getting married is a big deal that ALWAYS happens. Being 35 and NOT married is a mystery and intrigue to most. Perhaps one day I will post the audio because it contains some interesting nuggets of perspective from the two young chefs questioning me. For now we can just leave it alone by saying, if they had it their way I would be getting married again very soon.