May 31, 2008

TV Advertising in India

While watching the semi-final and finals of the Indian Premier League (IPL), I was reacquainted with the TV advertising in India. In the West, we feel rather blasé about advertising and mostly can't have too little of it. Except for the biggest showcase of them all -- the Super Bowl. In general, one would agree that Western advertisements are largely function and relatively very few of them are memorable, as say the Taco Bell Chihuahua or the Slim Mac vs Bloated PC. As an observer of consumer psychology and of marketing in general, I made some observations.

The Lighting
First of all the bright lighting and consequent filtering is ubiquitous, as if we are watching the advertisements in an idealized world. This lighting may be called the Latin Soap Opera lighting, but it has very direct importance -- to make the persons look whiter than they are, and therefore more of an authority figure. Patriotic as the Indians are, they always take their cues from the fairer-skinned person.

There is also an unmistakable glow on screen that makes one feel as if they are talking to a deity. It reminds me of flowers and other shapes in psychedelic videos that puts you in a trance and makes you smile and engage.

Everyone is Happy With You
This may be a remnant of the long socialist era, but ALL advertisements show large groups or crowds, and everyone is happy. It is ironic that with the increase in materialism, people are becoming increasingly lonely, but the advertisements portray camaraderie and communal good. The message this may send is: Buy this product, and everyone will be happy, including you. Something that's called a Bandwagon effect to influence the audience. This works because the market is small and not fragmented, as the next step is still pretty basic.

Another way of looking at it is that the advertisers are simply mining the patriotism and nationalism India never had any shortage of, just that the booming economy seems to corroborate it. There is enormous mileage in this approach. Complicated and concerted movements of hundreds of people are a hallmark of Communistic countries. I find it amusing that socialist propaganda ass

High Drama
An Indian advertisement is full of high drama. They don't sell you life insurance by telling you that the breadwinner may die an untimely death, so you better get some backup. Too understated for the Indians. Instead you get a long scene where you're given enough to believe that the breadwinner has been murdered by an intruder, as the housewife returns to a clearly affluent house.

Volume
Everyone knows that the volume goes slightly up during the commercial breaks. We know the volume will go up by 20% or so, and are ready to compensate for it by hitting the mute button, or using functionality that adjusts for it. On Indian TV, the volume may well go up 200%, because no one is regulating that. There has been too much growth in this industry in such a little time, and regulation, as is usual, is slow to catch up. It's a seller's market all the way.

Every culture has its own norms of what is subtle and what's hardball. My observation is that advertisements in growing countries are a whole lot funnier, edgier and entertaining than their counterparts in the developed countries, perhaps because all creativity has been exhaustively mined. Think of the campaign to get Americans to buy toilet paper. The ad campaign had a memorable line, spoken by a child to her mother: They're nice people mommy, but their toilet paper hurts. So it was then in the US, so it is now in India.

May 27, 2008

Homemade Sushi



Sushi has gained in popularity in the US dramatically over the past few years. I personally think that Sushi, cheap that it now is, remains very overpriced, and few places serve good Sushi. I don't like the quality and seasoning of rice in many Sushi joints, and find it just overpriced.

Sushi is deceptively easy to make. It's all about the rice, and it doesn't necessarily have raw meat. If you're interested, you can find video instructions on VideoJug. All you need is a sharp knife and a sushi mat.

This is a picture of my homemade sushi with the following fillings:
* Organic avocado and organic cucumber
* Organic avocado and fluffy organic scrambled eggs (green and yellow)

I like throwing some toasted sesame seeds inside my rice. I also like to put some organic ranch dressing, free of vegetable oil. Another colorful idea is to throw some orange roe on top to contrast with the white of rice and green and yellow of filling.

In the middle, I have my dipping sauce, made with dark soy sauce, sugar, salt and lots of sesame seeds. My sushi pieces are not perfectly round, something I am still trying to achieve consistently.

May 26, 2008

Lamb soup with spring vegetables

A photo of another family favorite: Lamb soup with spring vegetables. A recipe that's as Turkish as it is Indian, made without any spice mixes or packaged broth. Tastes best with Jasmine rice.

I also make a French version sometimes in which the lamb cubes are coated with caramelized sugar, and cooking is continued in an oven at low heat.

This Turkish/Indian version was prepared in a Kiwi Le Creuset 5 quart Dutch Oven with organic vegetables and spices, and all-natural lamb.

May 22, 2008

Supernova caught on tape

A supernova is a massive stellar explosion where the material of a star is ripped from it and converted into energy that is thrown in all directions at the speed of light. The burst lasts a short time, but can produce tremendous amount of energy, sometimes rivaling the luminosity at the core of the galaxy the exploding star is in. Supernovae producing heavy elements in galaxies through runaway nuclear fusion.

Yesterday, some astronomers noticed a sudden eruption of X-rays from a spot in the constellation Lynx in real time, in a galaxy 90 million light years away. This means that this supernova occurred about 90 million years ago. The wonderful thing is that this is the first time astronomers have been able to observe and record the act of explosion. Other supernovae were found due to their brightness while randomly scanning the heavens. In this case, the whole process could be observed, which is very exciting. This star has been named SN 2008D.

The observations seem to confirm the theory that the first burst would be a blast of X-rays. This burst continues for days or even weeks, and a great many people -- astronomers or not -- are looking at the blast. There is a news story here.

May 17, 2008

Entrées I like to cook

An inchoate list of entrées I like to cook for my family. I probably have the more impressive ones listed here :) These are in no particular order. I make them all from scratch with no preservatives, hardly any canned food or spice mixes.
  1. Pan-seared Lemon Pepper Halibut Fillet with Sauce Parisienne and Parsley Potatoes
  2. Lamb Soup with chick peas and spring vegetables
  3. Kung Pao Chicken with medium-grain semi-sticky rice (Sushi rice without any seasonings)
  4. Oven-baked layered Biryani with Raita (Yogurt sauce with cucumber and tomatoes)
  5. Pepper steak with pan-fried fingerling potatoes and deglazing sauce
  6. Yogurtlu Kebap (minced-lamb kebab with yogurt-garlic and tomato sauces) with grilled pita bread
  7. Buttered rigatoni noodles with homemade French-style tomato (pasta) sauce with butter and garlic
  8. Chicken breasts à la Milanèse (Milan-style, with bread crumbs and Parmesan cheese), with pan-fried potatoes
  9. Boeuf à la Mode (Beef pot roast with vegetables and a red Burgundy wine) with mushrooms fried in butter and sherry
  10. Chicken Fricassée à l'Ancienne (A Fricassée with creamy white burgundy sauce)
  11. Beef Burgundy (slow-simmered ragoût of beef with vegetables in a red Burgundy wine)
  12. Linguini with Olive oil and basil tomato sauce
  13. Fettucine or Pappardelle with fresh homemade Alfredo sauce (butter-cheese sauce)
  14. Shish Kabob with garlic Raita and fried rice
  15. Chicken Curry with Basmati rice and Naan. Good with Mango Lassi
  16. Avocado and Cucumber Sushi
  17. Teriyaki chicken, with grilled vegetables, Japanese-style fried rice and white/cream sauce
  18. Murg Masallam (Pot-roast of stuffed chicken in a creamy sauce with nuts and raisins)

Kung Pao Chicken


A staple of American-Chinese restaurants and the safest bet if you're not too familiar with Chinese cuisine, and are eating in North America. It's quick and colorful with green-yellow zucchini, red bell pepper, and soy sauce-brown chicken. Taiwanese influence would have you garnish with chopped scallions. But you must have peanuts in it, or it's not Kung Pao chicken.

I like my own version, made in a cast iron wok with potato starch instead of corn starch and with scallions. Here's a photo. I don't think I want to share this recipe just yet ;)

May 12, 2008

Star Trek: The Original Series


It is said that if you scratch any Sci-Fi fan a little, you will find a fan of Star Trek: The Original Series (TOS). From now on, I mean TOS when I say Star Trek.

I bought Star Trek DVDs
I recently bought seasons 1-3 of TOS from Amazon, where they were priced very well. Yes, I know that the remastered editions would be coming out soon, but I couldn't resist the urge to make a good deal on a program I secretly love.

My attachment to Star Trek is purely emotional. I have always liked watching some Star Trek and then looking at the heavens on a moonless, cold night. I can't watch Star Trek just any time though, but when I'm in the mood for it, I enjoy the simplistic plots, the well-rounded but non-complex main characters. It's like talking to an old friend. Sure there are blemishes and irritating mannerisms, but you've grown used to them so much that they only register when you're grumpy. That's why I watch Star Trek when I'm not grumpy or peeved.

The Cast
Why has Star Trek become such an important part of pop culture worldwide? The series was a failure. It hardly had any original ideas. The science in Star Trek was woefully wrong, and rather funny. The acting was ordinary, and even campy: I still laugh at the macho statements of James T. Kirk (William Shatner, now known as the Priceline.com guy). The bloodshot eyes of DeForest Kelley ("Bones") were those of an sardonic alcoholic. You could relate to these guys. And then there was the satanic Mr. Spock, who was admirably logical for the 1960s. The most iconic Star Trek actor was the beautiful black woman Uhura (Nichelle Nichols), at the time when segregation was the norm in the Southeast. There was Chekov with his thick Russian accent and Scotty with his thick Scottish accent. There was a Japanese fellow called Sulu who occasionally had a role to play. These things were revolutionary for their times, but the force behind Star Trek, Gene Roddenberry wanted a diverse cast.

Reasons for iconic status
In my opinion, the success of Star Trek stemmed from being a simple show. Every episode was like a fable, and it had a message. All messages were simple. The plot was straight forward: Kirk was the brawn (and occasionally the brain), Spock was the brains and Bones was there for commentary. Kirk was irresistible and kissed all pretty women. Spock collected samples and conducted analysis. It was a soap opera where space was used for dramatic effect. Warp Speed got them anywhere in the universe in a short time. Teleportation meant they didn't have to show 2001-like landing scenes. Trouble often arose when the flip-open communicator was lost or just wouldn't work. Star Trek succeeded because it had believable characters, progressive storylines and good pacing that kept viewers engaged. It was loved because it was optimistic and cheerful, even when discussing very serious matters. It's a difficult balance to be both relevant and optimistic.

Conclusions
Of course, the fans loved the series obsessively, and a massive franchise was born. There have been many movies and sequels, some of them good (The Wrath of Khan) and some bad (Voyager). But most ideas can be found in TOS. For the Star Trek franchise and for most other science fiction. It was done first in Star Trek.

Here's a link to the summaries of every TOS episode by Eric Weisstein.

A History of Salt

Introduction
Worth his salt! Salt of the earth! With a pinch of salt! Salt it away! What do all these phrases have in common? Salt, of course. The idea is that salt is important, and a pinch of salt makes anything palatable. The word salary comes to us from the days when Roman army was paid in salt and means literally salt money. Salad means, literally, salted. As does sauce.

Salt. Sodium Chloride. Every human consumes it on a regular basis. Too much or too little of it causes health problems. If you drink too much water, it might reduce the level of sodium in your body to cause death by hyponatremia or water intoxication. A very important mineral, salt is.

History
Not that long ago, salt was a luxury. It made and broke kingdoms and dominated world trade. Without salt no civilization would have been possible. It allowed humans to preserve the seasonal bounty, and sustain themselves on it during harsher times. Free from the vagaries of weather and able to transport such food helped form empires – dependent for their very existence, as it were, on the white powder called salt.


How does salt preserve?
If you leave vegetables to the elements (moisture, air), within days they begin to rot away. Their decay will form lactic acid, which in turn slows the rotting, but that process is slow. Salt halts the decay or proteins and carbohydrates for a while, until enough lactic acid has formed which then acts as a preservative. Without salt, yeast forms, and you’re left with alcohol, not pickled gherkins.

Salt is even more important in curing meats. The famous hams from Italy and Germany are heavily salted. Salt extracts water from the cells, and thus disallows bacteria to form and feast on the dense source of nutrition. This process also enhances the flavor of food. It is salt that gives parma ham its flavor.

What role has salt played in civilization?
In Roman times, the condiment of choice was
garum, a heavily salted fish sauce, quite similar to the fish sauces common in South East Asia. Over time, this condiment was forgotten, but the importance of fish and salt did not diminish. Salted cod, for example, changed the course of Western Civilization. Brought in from the cooler seas, cod could be preserved very well by just laying them in salt. Salt desiccated and preserved cod. Salted cod, upon soaking in water for a day, was found tastier than other alternatives. This was revolutionary as a perishable source of food could be preserved for long times, thus enabling exploration of the world.

Salt is also used to make soy sauce, which is a descendant of early Chinese fish sauce. Salt is also essential to making cheese, to making olives edible. These were the major foods of world civilization and continue to be so to this day.


Conclusions
So that’s the story of the humble white powder we eat in copious amounts every day. It’s everywhere: in pizza, in burgers, in cheese and lots of it in commercially produced foods. It provides us with a basic taste, and prevents us from getting muscle cramps. The best salt is said to come from French coasts, hand-picked just after dawn breaks. It’s called fleur de sel, literally flower of salt. Fleur de sel from Camargue, in Provence, France is a superstar of humble salt. And you can buy it from Amazon.com now.

Afterword

This is a rough transcript of a speech I gave a couple of years ago. A lot of it is based on the book Salt by Mark Kurlansky (ISBN 0802713734).

May 1, 2008

Recipe: Aloo Gobhi

Based on my experience with Indian restaurants in the US, a popular entrée is Aloo Gobi, or combinations of Alu/Aloo (potato) and Gobi/Gobhi (cauliflower). I don't like the way it's made in most Indian restaurants. The preparation commonly found is easier to assemble and more difficult to mess up than the authentic Punjabi version I make at home.

I like my recipes simple, and in Aloo Gobi, I intend for the taste of cauliflower and ginger to stand out. My version has no sauce, garlic, cumin seeds, mustard seeds, onions and tomatoes. I consider the addition of those ingredients as a subterfuge to disguise the poor quality of ingredients.

Utensils
Ideally, you need a seasoned cast iron wok-shaped utensil with a lid. A non-stick pot would work as well. In the preparation of this dish, please avoid corn oil, butter or other cooking fats that have a low smoking point. Canola oil is satisfactory, but not vegetable oil. It's not good for you anyway.

Ingredients
1 medium-sized cauliflower
3 white/boiling potatoes diced into 3/4-in cubes
2 tbsp chopped ginger
2 tbsp sunflower/safflower oil OR clarified butter/ghee.
A pinch of turmeric (for color)
1/2 tsp red chili powder
1 tbsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper (freshly ground)
1 tbsp chopped cilantro [optional]

Preparation
1. Wash the cauliflower, pat it dry, and break it into small florets about half the size of a golf ball. Discard the stems, or if you want to use them, peel the skin off of them.
2. Peel and dice the potatoes into 3/4-inch cubes
3. Heat the oil in the wok at medium-high heat for about a minute, and then drop the cauliflower florets in. Add a pinch of turmeric and toss for 3-4 minutes to coat the florets evenly with oil.
4. Drop in the potatoes, ginger and spices, and toss for 3-4 minutes to coat the potatoes with oil as well. The goal is to evenly coat the vegetables with a thin layer of oil, so they would not burn, and get dry-braised.
5. Reduce the heat to medium, and cook covered for 10 minutes. Note that depending on your utensil and heat source, cauliflower may brown in 10 minutes. In general, use medium-low heat when using a utensil that retains heat (such as a cast iron pot) and medium heat when cooking in a utensil that loses heat fast (such as Aluminum).
6. Stir once. There should be no burning of the cauliflower at this stage. Reduce the heat to low, and cook covered for 15 minutes.
7. If the cauliflower does not yield readily to bite, cook covered on low heat for another 5 minutes.
8. When the cauliflower yields to a bite (you don't want it to be mushy), turn off the heat, sprinkle chopped cilantro, replace the lid, and leave the utensil covered for another 5 minutes. If using a heavy cast iron utensil, leave the lid slightly ajar.

As you can see, the recipe is not as simple as dropping vegetables and spices in water and boiling the heck out of them with curry powder. Making good Aloo Gobi where cauliflower florets and potatoes hold their shape and are cooked perfectly takes practice, and a lot of it. But the taste is worth it.