While Bhide’s recipes use authentic spices and techniques, she departs from the stereotype of complicated meals that take hours to prepare. Her recipes focus on spices and flavor, spanning the gamut of Indian cuisine. She also includes recipes for meat, rice, breads and desserts. Highlights include coriander-and-fennel crusted lamb chops, curried scallops, and onion bread stir-fry.

Scattered throughout are personal stories on a variety of subjects, including a visit to Vaishno Devi Maa’s Temple and recollections of a meal prepared by grand master Indian chef Imtiaz Qureshi. Bhide also provides a detailed spice pantry section and an insider’s guide to time- and labor-saving ingredients. The author offers a refreshing look at the diverse and changing cuisine of India, with a new perspective that will be embraced by Indian food lovers everywhere.

Aside from the great recipes and sharp photography, Jamie’s charm, zest for life, and pure appreciation of food shine through on every page. Although I have known folks who cringe at Jamie’s cavalier “handful of this, heap of that ” style of measuring, I found that he has grown a little less ambiguous as time goes on and the recipes in this book reflect that growth and precision.

Another small thing I found very helpful (as the wife of a vegan): the index of the book kindly flags vegetarian dishes, making it easy to sort quickly through options for restricted diets. Whether you’re an old fan of Jamie’s shows or a new convert, this is a great addition to any kitchen library.

From $25.51 on Amazon.com

Correct me if I’m wrong, but isn’t this action a little too shortsighted? Every morning when I walk to work (The only true green transport) Arkadia and Scotts supermarket are getting so much free ad space… as they are used for garbage.

When the government issued the fee for plastic bags you would assume that the goal was to reduce the total amount of plastic being circulated? Most of the people I know use the shopping bags as garbage bags, what are 450,000 Maltese citizens going to do now, buy plastic garbage bags??

Or as the clerk at the supermarket said “Mela, I don’t agree to this new thing, ta. I have to ask every customer if they want a shopping bag!!”

I just came back from a business trip in Paris where I was at the digital marketing conference Ad:tech, full of new ideas and inspiration I was so impressed of seeing this bottle’s back saying:  ”Ya gotta make a living somehow; we chose the beverage world. Good old soda made with pure cane sugar. No hidden meanings, no billion dollar ad campaigns, and no hidden fructose corn syrup. At Jones, we want you to buy a lot of soda an recycle the bottles. The label is kind like our minds – always changing. Run with the little guys… create some change.”

Does that strategy really work? Well, Ijust  bought 4 bottles and shared it with the world on my blog. Unless I don’t fit the normal consumer segment, I think it does work, and very well.  

The down side is that they only offer limited speed access to the internet if you don’t want to pay for it. What if I walk up to the desk and say “Hi, I’m just blogging and promoting your place – will you support me by giving me a free voucher?”. I’m not confident that this place is yet mature to understand the power of user generated content so I’ll leave the question un answered.

Untitled from Nocomments Malta on Vimeo.