Why is San Francisco THE Place to Dine this Summer?

Because Hush will be there, silly! Hush is going on the road again, this time all the way to the orange gates of San Francisco. Geeta will be there for part of July and August, and now we have dates to announce. Hush Berkeley is now taking reservations for July 29 and 30. Hush San Francisco will be on Friday, August 5 and we complete our Bay Area suppers with Hush Oakland on Saturday, August 6. Click here to make a reservation.

The seed of a mango is often the center of a conflict, at least when Indian children are involved.  My father, the family bully and later beloved patriarch of the clan, routinely won the battle over who got to suck out the juicy bits of a mango seed, leaving his 6 brothers and sisters crying and cursing.  A childhood of poverty forced sharing, or winning, at every meal.  When Papa emigrated to the US and his fortunes changed, he went from social Darwinist to generous benefactor. Able to afford cases of mangoes, he offered them to anyone who crossed his threshold.  There were the fruits themselves, mango lassi, mango rus, and mango pickle.  Summer meant sticky fingers and sweetness.

Photo by Wolfgang Sauber

Chicago in the 1970s was not the international food haven it has now become, so mangoes were not available at the average grocery store.  Finding Indian mangoes was impossible because of trade restrictions.  Mexico was the exporter of choice.  Having a medical clinic in the Mexican barrio, Papa was happy to barter medical attention for mangoes by the case.  He would take orders over the weekend from all his friends, and visit the mercado on Monday to fill his trunk.   My brother spent his summer unloading 15-20 cases a week from Papa’s car.  When friends would come pick up their orders, of course my mother insisted they stop for chai, and eat one or two of our bounty sprinkled with cumin powder and salt before they left.

Papa made sure we could eat our fill at every meal.  I’m convinced he believed that part of the ‘giving my children a better life’ move from India included mango prosperity.  I grew up without sibling combat over seeds.  If my brother and I both wanted to suck the center, we just grabbed one for ourselves.   We watched Papa eat all the cut up pieces of mango, only eating the seed at the end.  Seeds were never the appetizer, always dessert.  We learned the proper technique for getting maximum pulp without it sliding out of our fingers and plopping on the floor.  Good times.

I lost my father seven years ago, almost to the day.   On Father’s Day this past Sunday, I called my mother.  We acknowledged our loss, happy that we have each other.  For dessert I chose the ripest, plumpest mango I could find.  I devoured the seed, licked every finger, and relished the memories.

New June HUSH supper dates are in – June 26 at 7 pm. HUSH’s mama will be making another celebrity chef appearance at the end of June.  We have been busy preparing a special summer menu of organic, fresh, authentic dishes that honor the legendary street food of Gujarat.  We’ll have bhel puri, makai no bhel, pav bhaji, falooda, mango rus, chutney sandwiches, and dahi wada.  Don’t know what any of that means?  Come to supper and find out.  We’ll feed your curiosity as well as your belly with a spice tour and a thorough explanation of each dish on the menu.

HUSH uses only organic dairy, but will be adding as many organic ingredients as possible in upcoming suppers.  All organic ingredients will be listed on the menu.

The new dates:

Saturday, June 26 at 7 PM.  Donation $75

Please complete a questionnaire on the Reservations page to request a seat at the supper table.

The tomatoes, eggplant, zucchini, cilantro, basil and mint are in.  The HUSH garden has been tilled and planted.  Now it’s time to cross days off on the calendar until cherry goodness can be harvested and popped immediately into my mouth like candy from the gods.  Yet inevitably the happiness only lasts a week before it becomes abundantly clear that even HUSH can’t cook up enough delights to honor such abundance.   Then the mad scramble begins to ‘share’ the harvest with friends and neighbors.  The response?  The apartment dwellers generally squeal appropriately with gratitude, but others are either at the beach for the next month or in the same predicament – too many veggies and too few mouths to feed.

“AmpleHarvest.org is an organization that connects gardeners with local food pantries, allowing them to donate their extra produce.”

Enter AmpleHarvest.org.  A generous idea for hungry folks in need of fresh nourishment at the local food pantry. AmpleHarvest.org is an organization that connects gardeners with local food pantries, allowing them to donate their extra produce.  Brilliant idea, made possible by abundance, generosity, clever thinking, and the world wide web.  Pay it forward today.  Visit www.AmpleHarvest.org, find a pantry near you and start sharing your garden wealth.

If you know of a food pantry in your community that is not currently listed on AmpleHarvest.org, please register them so that they can take advantage of the campaign.

Ample Harvest’s website

CNN’s video about Ample Harvest

As I’ve said before, while HUSH is primarily about culture and cuisine, there will be times when food politics become part of the larger story. I would like to influence the way we think, purchase and consume, but a few suppers a month will not a revolution make. For that, we need to vote daily with our forks, wallets and mouse clicks. To that end, I signed a petition to ask the Department of Justice to help poultry farmers have a voice against monolithic companies who intimidate farmers into remaining silent.

“We need to vote daily with our forks, wallets and mouse clicks.”

I will let the superb organization Food Democracy Now! explain the rest. Please consider signing the petition.

Food Democracy Petition, click here

Food Democracy Now! website

For me, the nutty scent of chickpea flour is inextricably linked to a bathtub. No, you have not accidently found yourself reading some kinky sex blog involving naked bodies and food fetishes. The memory is of a nurturing kind, with my mother as masseuse and chickpea flour, turmeric and milk as the healing paste.

Mothers across the Indian subcontinent begin the baby massage ritual as early as 6 weeks of age, combining almond oil and chickpea flour to stretch the baby, soothe the skin, and even remove hair. I can see my six-year-old self irritated and impatient as my mother would make a paste for me to use on my skin after a sunburnt romp at the swimming pool. She’d run the bath, cover me in dough, and scrub. Like so many souvenirs, the annoyance fades, and the love of mother to child shines through.

“For me, the nutty scent of chickpea flour is inextricably linked to a bathtub. No, you have not accidently found yourself reading some kinky sex blog involving naked bodies and food fetishes.”

Most Indian women use chickpea flour (also known as besan, gram flour and chana dal flour) as a common ingredient in homemade recipes for all manner of beauty regimes. The pursuit of loveliness involves besan, milk, yogurt, rose water, lime juice, almonds and turmeric in various combinations. The recipes are endless, but besan and a liquid are always the base with the other ingredients added depending on the moisture of the skin, freckles, acne, wrinkles, skin lightening, and hair removal.

Skin Cleansing -

• One teaspoon of besan
• A pinch of turmeric
• Half teaspoon of honey
• Half teaspoon of olive oil
• Mix it well and apply.

Sunburns -

• One teaspoon besan
• Two teaspoons yogurt
• Apply to face and let dry for 30 min
• Remove with plain water

Skin Whitening - One of the more disturbing recipes, but a common one in a fair-skinned obsessed India

• 2 teaspoons of besan
• A pinch of turmeric
• A few drops of lemon juice
• A few drops of milk
• Make a paste and apply it on the skin
• After the paste dries, scrub off

Do you have any yummy beauty recipes in your family? Feel like trying the recipes above? Please share your thoughts with us.

Do you like HUSH?  Well now you can like us on Facebook as well.   A thumbs up from our readers is almost as refreshing as a Thumbs Up soda in India.   Click the Facebook link, click on like, and Geeta just might wink at you

Time for action. Please consider signing a petition to require the US to label genetically modified foods. Check it out at Food Democracy Now.

http://action.fooddemocracynow.org/cms/sign/stop_the_sneak_attack/?akid=115.80140.Kok2s0&rd=1&t=8