I have traveled to more than 30 countries. Indian food in England is the Balti dishes from Bangladesh. In Lisbon, it is Goan food. In Paris, it is food from South India and mainly from Pondicherry. I live in Toronto, and Indian restaurants are mostly buffet style from Punjab. As a result, I want to talk to Divyanshi to get a better understanding of Indian food.

Divyanshi is a Delhi-based food blogger who has an amazing Instagram profile. She believes that good food brings people together at My Delicious Plate.  She loves exploring homemade food and different food recipes from all parts of India rather than Indian restaurants. Her mantra is ‘Eat, Drink and Live Free because you get this life once and there is no telling what might happen tomorrow’.

Divyanshi welcome to my blog. Please tell me a little about you? What does your name mean?

Hello Jerry, first of all, I would like to thank you for giving me this opportunity. I have completed my graduation. I love to write. As a result, I decided to blog and have been doing it for a year.

My name ‘Divyanshi’ is made of two Hindi words. ‘Divy’ which means divine or spiritual and ‘Ansh’ means a part of. However, when combined, Divyanshi means ‘Part of a Divine thing’.

I love your IG profile. You showcase a variety of foods. Is it from all over India or only from the North?

Thank you! The variety of Indian food is a result of our diverse Indian culture. Because of this cultural mix, we have been lucky to enjoy the cuisines of the South in North India and vice versa. The food from all regions is popular all over India!  I have been eating many of this regional food since childhood and now I try to cook them too.

My IG profile displays food from all parts of India. It is easily available everywhere especially in New Delhi, which is the capital of India. New Delhi is a cultural mosaic of people from all over India who also bring their food with them.

Roti means bread. Please talk to me a little bit about the different kinds of Chapati, Poori, Naan, and Rumali roti?

In India, typically in northern parts, there are two segments of a meal. One curry and one bread and then accompaniments to this can be added. Roti, Poori, Naan, Fulka are all types of bread that we enjoy with a great variety of curries. They differ in their style of preparation and grain of which it is made.

For example, Roti is made by simply making a dough of wheat flour, flattening it, and baking it on a Tawa (a large flat pan). Poori on the other hand is a fried version of roti which is smaller in size. Naan is made from Maida (Refined flour) and is leavened with yeast. We also stuff roti and call it parantha. There is literally a huge variety of bread in India that one can enjoy and it all comes from our varied culture!

Talk to me about your favorite snacks?

I love having snacks. I think snacks are my favorite part of the day. Being an Indian foodie, I would say ‘Samosa’ which has become popular all around the globe now.  Initially, there was only potato stuffing in samosa but now we can get noodle samosa, cheese samosa, pasta samosa, and many more like these.

One more favorite snack of people living in Delhi is ‘Momos’. That is not Indian but we love it like it is ours. We make Indian versions of every snack around the world and that is something I love about India.

You have a decent following on IG. Does that put pressure on you?

No. I never felt the pressure. This is something I really enjoy doing. I feel grateful that people are liking my content on ‘My Delicious Plate’ and it motivates me to work harder. Also, I have my best friend, Vivek who helps me with the content and suggestions. I wish the number keeps growing so that I can share my love for food with more people.

What does women empowerment mean to you?

Women empowerment for me is about letting females choose what they want to do without any restriction. For years women around the world have been restricted to numerous things. Women have struggled and made their way to the top. However,  the situation has improved to only some extent, mostly in developed countries.

We need to create more opportunities for women and more space for them to choose their own path. Discrimination between genders should be eliminated and only we can do it by spreading awareness and telling women their worth and telling men to treat women equally.

I want to know your favorite dishes and why do you like them?

I have a long list of favorite dishes. I will choose three of my favorites. The first one is Rajma Chawal. Rajma is red kidney bean curry and chawal is rice. The kind of spices used in it makes it so tasty and special. Indian food is all about different spices and their style of blending.

Another dish is Paneer Butter Masala which is a cottage cheese served in a spicy gravy having lots of butter. The third one is Masala Dosa. I can really have it anytime with a good Sambar and Coconut Chutney. For a foodie like me, it was difficult choosing just three!

Is there a huge difference between vegan and vegetarian food in India? I mean if you cook with ghee it is vegetarian, if sunflower oil it becomes vegan?

The concept of veganism in India is not as popular as it is coming up in some parts of the world. There are very few people talking about it. The same reflects in our food habits. For example, cooking in ghee is still considered better and healthier than in oil. We have a huge population of vegetarians but being vegan is something we haven’t acknowledged yet.

What are your future goals? Where does Divyanshi want to be 5 years from now?

I started ‘My Delicious Plate’ as a page to show people my love for food, what I eat, and my kind of food. One thing I was sure of since the beginning, I didn’t want to restrict it to the Indian audience. I wanted to show people from all around the world the richness of food we enjoy in India, hence the English name.

I feel extremely happy when people from other continents message me saying they love Indian food and would like to try the recipes I share. In the future also I would be working on the same. Even in India, many people are unaware of foods from other regions, my intention is to take out food from all over India, especially the traditional food and display the diversity of Indian food and culture to the people of our country as well as globally.

You are chosen to represent Indian food on a trip to Mars and can take only 5 food items. What would they be?

If I have to represent India with five dishes then I will choose my favorites from all parts of the country. From the North, I will choose Paneer Tikka which is cheese marinated in lots of spices. Masala Dosa will be chosen from South India. From the west, I will take Dhokla which is a Gujrati Cuisine.

North-East India enjoys more Non-vegetarian cuisines which I don’t have but I will choose Fish curry of Bengal for those who eat fish. Fifth and the last one will be from Central India. and that is Khasta Kachori which is made with wheat dough stuffed with a spicy lentil mixture and then fried till it becomes crispy.

The post The Diversity of Indian Food appeared first on Four Columns of a Balanced Life.

Recently, I was a judge at the Pickering Buttertart Festival. As I was heading out, someone offered me a piece of cheesecake in a beautiful bag. The cheesecake was made by Hip Hip Gourmet. I got home and, after dinner, tasted the cheesecake along with my wife and daughter. I am not a big fan of cheesecake. This was the best cheesecake I have tasted in my life. I got in touch with Andrea Lagana the owner of Hip Hip Gourmet. Andrea is smart, intelligent, makes everything from scratch, cares for the environment, and is socially responsible. Please order your cheesecake and support her. Andrea Lagana is the future of the hospitality industry in Canada. A day will come when she will change the landscape of the industry and be its voice, conscience, and leader.

Andrea, you are a connoisseur of good food and a person with a discerning palate. Tell me a little about you and what does a connoisseur mean?

An expert in something! I know my food. I love my food. I love that life revolves around food! A connoisseur to me is knowing something inside and out. Not necessarily knowing all there is to know about a certain topic or subject, per se, but really immersing yourself fully into all aspects of that thing you might be a connoisseur of. There are wine connoisseurs, art connoisseurs, car connoisseurs, cheesecake connoisseurs…. A person who believes they know enough about something to have a pretty good opinion on it is what I think a connoisseur means.

The little about me that you should know right off the bat are I make delicious cheesecakes for a living (pretty decent gig, huh?). I am well on my way to achieving a goal that means a lot to me: really and truly traveling and experiencing 30 different countries under 30 years old! (woot woot!) and I absolutely love furry four-legged friends and can’t wait to finally own at least 2 very big dogs one day!

Talk to me about your experience growing up in an Italian family. How did that influence you?

Ah, it was THE best! Our lives and traditions – everything we did, every event, special occasion, holiday…heck, even funerals – called for large family gatherings which only really means one thing in the Italian language: FOOD. Everything revolves around food!  My sisters and I really came to love and be proud of our culture – we didn’t care that our parents would often send us to school with paninis stuffed with what looks like the weirdest green vegetable on the planet to any other kid in class but to us was a family staple that we loved so much: rapini.

Growing up in an Italian family, fortunately, meant never going hungry but beyond that, just eating some of the greatest tasting foods around. We were always able to help keep up with the traditions, still to this day, and learned from a very young age that home-cooked everything is simply a way of life. Let’s just say that Nonna didn’t really approve of McDonald’s. All these things really helped shape me into the cook I am today because homemade, for me, is just part of who I am and was raised to be. Further than that, our family lost our greatest cook back in 2014, and I have a part to play in keeping my grandmother’s memory alive through her all-time favorite thing to do: feed people! And I’d be damned if I let her down in that category.

I like that you cook everything from scratch. Do you also try to do ethical sourcing?

Oh yeah, cooking from scratch is an essential part of my life. I really try to stay on top of meal planning (not so much prepping) just simply jotting down my meals for the week at which time I pick apart each dish and see what can be homemade instead of store-bought in terms of sauces, pastes, marinades, etc. I’ll even be starting to make my own cream cheese for my cheesecakes starting very soon! THAT’S what I mean when I say from scratch…I live by it at home so bringing that feature to my business only seems fitting!

I always try and do ethical sourcing wherever possible. I do think it’s important where our food is coming from and the process it took to get to the table but I will admit, I’m not the type to watch a video on this and become vegan because of it, for example. I try and buy grass-fed and organic when possible and would say I’m pretty aware of what makes a diet healthy (and do think, for the most part, I have one!) but like anything else, I’m certainly not perfect.

What makes your cheesecakes different from something I would find somewhere else?

If you put one of my cheesecakes next to one from, say, the grocery store or your local bakery, you’ll likely be able to see the difference yourself. All of my cheesecakes are carefully handcrafted by yours truly, not a machine and definitely not factory-made. Some of my crusts may not look perfectly straight and no cake will be exactly like the next, as I’m literally doing everything by hand, but I think that’s the beauty of what really sets me apart from the next guy! People love the homemade factor because my cakes still not only look like they’ve come right off the dessert menu in a high-class restaurant but you can absolutely taste the quality fresh ingredients that are carefully chosen to use in each recipe.

I’m also super adaptable when it comes to making people’s cheesecake dreams come true! Don’t see your favorite flavor on my website? Just let me know, there’s no flavor I’ve turned down yet! On a special diet? Have an allergy? Are you vegan? No problem!

What does woman empowerment mean to you?

When I read those two words together, I automatically think fierce, strong, support, love, POWER towards a woman or as a woman. Woman empowerment to me means rising above and standing tall, feeling independent and proud in her role in this world and not being afraid of who she is….ever!

Name me some of your favorite ingredients in the kitchen and least favorite ingredients?

I love using anything with spice – I like heat in my dishes – scotch bonnets, chilies, jalapenos, you name it!

Some of my favorite ingredients in my kitchen honestly didn’t even come from here! I’m a huge traveler and a mandatory part of every trip is hitting up as many markets as I can before having to buy a new suitcase to fit all the goods (almost always food-related). I once spent a year traveling in South America and I KID YOU NOT, carried around a whole separate suitcase (the BIG ones, too!) solely for spices and cooking equipment. I had over 50 spices in that bag so needless to say spices are my all-time fav ingredient(s) in the kitchen!

I don’t have a least favorite – I try to make something new every day! I’m not a picky eater but there are some ingredients you’d never catch in my kitchen (simply because I don’t like them)….cilantro, avocados, and watermelon are among the very few!

You have a vegan, vegetarian, someone who is on a keto diet, a diabetic, and someone who is allergic to dairy. What dessert would you serve them?

Cheesecake! The answer is always cheesecake! That’s the beauty….it can be made any and all of these ways and still taste delicious!

Walk me through your shoes of being a female entrepreneur… The good, bad, and the ugly?

I’m still pretty new at this! It all started as a fluke for me, quite honestly. My life up until a few months ago consisted of serving drinks at a busy bar 5 nights a week…working long and late hours, something I had done for nearly 15 years! I had extra cream cheese in my fridge the Halloween before last (don’t ask) and decided to make a pumpkin pie cheesecake for some odd reason (which by the way, was my first cheesecake EVER!) I brought it into work to share with my fellow colleagues and almost immediately my boss (owner of the restaurant) said we had to put it on the menu based on how good it was. Who knew my life would actually change forever at that time?

I went on to continue to work at that restaurant for the next year, serving my own cheesecakes on the menu…daily. It was a rewarding and incredible experience to have been given that opportunity. From there, it kind of just snowballed – I picked up a few more wholesale clients and a ton of regular clients and here we are, only three months into doing this full-time, still grasping the concept of what being a female entrepreneur actually means! I’m so thankful to have amazing support around me from family and friends cause let’s be honest, I’m not even ashamed to admit, I don’t know the first thing when it comes to being a businesswoman. But, you gotta start somewhere, and that’s really what it’s been about so far!

Are there any chefs you admire?

I really like Bobby Flay and would love to have my chance to beat him one day on his show!

Talk to me about somethings that you are very Italian, somethings you are not?

I guess it depends on who you ask! My boyfriend would tell you I’m loud and as stubborn as it gets (a known Italian trait). My mother would tell you she has no idea where this travel bug of mine came from cause it’s certainly not from how she or my Italian father were raised. I’d say I’m pretty Italian when it comes to some of my all-time favorite foods – salami and prosciutto but not when it comes to knowing how to speak it (ashamed to even admit I don’t speak it fluently). Obviously, my love for cooking and feeding people an overwhelming amount of food is influenced by my Italian background. I am extremely shy and quiet, love to be alone and don’t like small talk – one could probably argue that’s not very Italian.  

Finally, tell me what you’d do if you won the lottery right now…?

Literally put my life on hold and head to the airport (extend the invite to my family and friends but they have to be willing to leave with me immediately) with a blindfold covering my eyes as I spun a globe to see the destination. I always wanted to do that. Then I’d probably just keep going until I found a spot I could maybe open a little (cheesecake) shop or something in. Likely somewhere hot. On or near a beach. Now you have me dreaming…

The post Andrea Lagana: Cheesecake Queen appeared first on Four Columns of a Balanced Life.

On a cold Sunday afternoon, along with Debbie, Sonia and Steve, I am at kb restaurant in Whitby, for brunch.

Chef Kevin Brown, is KB, providing fresh, playful, and innovative restaurant dining from farm to table. Chef Brown owns an organic farm in Dunsford, Ontario and is sourcing most of his vegetables and meat from his farm. You can taste the difference!

His goal is to provide you with exceptional food and refreshment with value, and warm personable service, in a fun, dynamic and casual environment. The menus are market driven, created daily, guided by the seasons, and showcasing the best in local, sustainable ingredients, complimented by superior spirits and a large selection of wine.

Stephanie is dedicated to making our experience amazing with her passion for food, wine and service. Chef Brown brings a quarter century of top-level experience in restaurant management to kb.

Jamie does a great job at greeting and leading us to our table.

We order tea, coffee, juice and a Black Velvet.

For food, we order the French Toast, Grilled Chicken Salad, Crab Benedict and the kb burger.

The menu is small and the food comes fast.

The burger is delicious and the fries are amazing. The grilled chicken salad is filling and with the right amount of dressing.

Sonia is having the Crab Benedict and finds it salty.

Steve has the French Toast and it is good.

All four of us finish our plates. I tell Stephanie that I want to speak to Kevin. He comes out and we have a nice chat.

Overall a great experience and please go and support our local restaurants.

The post kb restaurant Whitby appeared first on Four Columns of a Balanced Life.