CATALIST
DAVID HOWARD
juice. The water then separates from the rest. Drain the mixture through a thin cloth or muslin. trapping the milk curd. I.ie a heavy weight on the cloth and contents for half an hour or so. It can then he shaped and fried or eaten raw.‘
Amidst the commotion I am struck by the effort involved in Indian cuisine. ()n the sub-continent women rise at the crack of dawn to grind and roast spices by hand. At the Kalpna. with its modern machinery and manpower they spend five hours preparing for an evening‘s turnover. swinging into action at ten every morning.
What keeps this place humming is the commitment to vegetarian cuisine. ‘All the regions in India make different types ofbread using wheat. rice or corn flour. I can also think ofa hundred types of vegetables — not only vegetables. but also fruit. I can make things with bananas so that you wouldn‘t know what you were eating.‘ says Ajay.
‘We are vegetarians and we try to make genuine vegetarian food. Seventy five per cent of the population where I come from are vegetarian. lfa country can‘t grow many vegetables. like the Middle East. then they will be predominently meat eaters. Countries like India have a vast variety of fruits and vegetables.
Since opening the restaurant ten years ago. people often exclaim on arrival. ‘But there‘s no meat!‘ Most. according to Ajay. are converted.
FOOD
Glasgow
I Baby Grand 3 Elmbank Gardens. 248 4942. Sprucing up its menu a little. Baby Grand is adding vegetarian dishes. These will include feta cheese in puff pastry. Greek salad and spinach roulade. Baby Grand is also one of the few restaurants which sports a tapas menu.
I Revera’s 453 Sauchiehall Street. 332 9511. Fed up travelling to Edinburgh to fuel up on Mexican food. the owners decided to set up a Mexican restaurant in Glasgow. A typically Americanised Mexican menu can be washed down by any of nine brands of tequila on offer. or six Mexican beers. Decorated with Azteca artifacts and American memorabilia. main courses are around £4. Lots of bargains on offer at the moment, like two Margueritas for the price ofone.
Edinburgh
I Blah! Blah! ()3 Dairy Road. 313 2139. Open Mon—Sat 7am—l 1pm. Recently opened Blah .’ Blah .’ is an informal cafe-style establishment during the day. which smartens up a bit to become a candle-lit restaurant by night. Breakfast starts at 7am (£1.85 fora full platter) and a three-course lunch costs £2.9il(£1.9() for pensioners). Value for money extends to the evening where a primarily steak-orientated menu costs around £10 per head.
I Scandic Crown Hotel 80 High Street. 557 9797. Having sprouted at incredible speed. the new hotel has been built to appear as authentic as possible. Beneath its turrets lie three bars. including a piano bar and a cocktail lounge, a brasserie known as Rhapsodie and a gourmet restaurant due to open this week. serving Scandinavian and French cuisine. to be known as Jewel.
I The Book of Desserts Sally Taylor (Salamander £7.95). Glossy. full- colour collection which. with separate sections devoted to such
sub-genres as milk and cream.
egg-based and chocolate desserts. certainly eschews calorie-counting. The bulk of the book contains such delights as iced kiwi fruit terrine. and there is a supplementary chapter on sauces. An attractively presented hardback. this would make an ideal present for a sweet-toothed friend. I The Real Sandwich Book Miriam Polunin. ed. (Ebury Press £5.95). A variety oforiginal bread-based ideas for snacks or packed lunches. ranging from ‘the rat' (yes. really— it‘s ratatouille) to ‘monster munchie‘ (carrots. radishes. red pepper and cheese). A fat and fibre content is included for each of the llXt-plus sandwiches. The surrealistically-inclined sandwich-scruncher can even try out ‘the Dali” - a combination of raspberry jam and herring said to have been favoured by the strange Spaniard.
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Helios Fountain is a pleasant place at the West end of the Grassmarket, with an interesting shop in front, selling gifts, toys and books, and an excellent vegetarian coffee-house In the back. During the Easter period, we will be stocking an eggstraordinary selection of Easter decorations complementing our usual large range of gifts, while the fill-=7 coffee-house will prepare special Easter goodies for your delectation.
Open Mon - Sat 10am - 6pm
PACHUKO CANTINA
’The Mexican Experience’
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2:: l 532%
OPENING TIMES Lunch: Mon - Sat 12 - 2pm Dinner: Mon - Sat 6 ~ Midnight; Sun 6 - 10pm.
Booking Advisablei— 031 228 1345‘
Pachuko Cantina 41;», .I 3 Grove Street, Edinburgh
Bringyour own bottle!
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A La Carte after 6pm Steaks a la Blah Blah!
Ranging from £6.60 to £13.80
Blah Blah! 63 Dairy Road, Edinburgh 03] 313 2139
The List 6— 19 April 1990 77