soul food: quick and easy, warm semolina pudding for breakfast

warm semolina pudding for breakfast | conifères et feuillus food blog

November 13, 2016May 25, 2019 ~ annika ~ 20 Comments

There’s something about autumn that wakes up our senses and reminds us to live. -Unknown

Autumn, here in Montréal, arrives gently. First the trees are tinged with colour, and then slowly over the weeks, they transform into creatures of gold and red. First the nights get cooler and gradually that carries into the day. Then, as gently as she arrived, autumn fades away, usually under a blanket of snow. Her purpose, fulfilled.

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tracing roots & roti, an indian flatbread

whole wheat indian flatbread (roti, chapati) | conifères et feuillus food blog

October 25, 2016May 3, 2018 ~ annika ~ 25 Comments

Food is never just something to eat. -Margaret Visser

Having been raised in Canada, there are so many things about my Indian heritage that I gave up or lost inadvertently. But the one thing that binds me to my past, despite how or where I live, is the food of my childhood, more specifically the simple Indian flatbread, or roti. Bread has this way with us, no? It’s a universal food, yet, each type defines its own culture, people and place, sometimes beyond nationalities and borders. In my opinion, the bread we call our own tells one more about who we are, and where we’ve come from, than our passports and birth certificates. And our last names.

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indian-spiced cabbage with tomatoes and green peas

indian spiced cabbage curry | conifères et feuillus

October 10, 2016May 11, 2022 ~ annika ~ 5 Comments

From humble beginnings come great things.

A simple vegetable curry served with fresh rotis (Indian flatbread) is a typical lunch in a Gujarati home. This sort of humble food is deeply rooted in my humble beginnings. And though, now, things may have changed on the outside; at heart, nothing has, and this simple Gujarati girl still craves these simple yet delicious curries. I cook them not only to satisfy my own cravings but to ensure that I can at least pass this portion of my heritage to my Canadian born, half-Indian children.

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treasures from our homeland & gujarati dhokla

gujarati dhokla | conifères et feuillus food blog

September 11, 2016May 27, 2022 ~ annika ~ 15 Comments

Great food knows no borders.

I was three years old when, on an otherwise ordinary November day, we made our journey from our tiny ancestral village in Gujarat, India to Canada. Although, we wore our best clothing, I am sure, by Western standards, we did not purport to anyone of great status, nor were we. But unknown to even ourselves, we carried great treasures with us that day.
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bitter melon curry

August 28, 2016April 24, 2019 ~ annika ~ 8 Comments

The beginning of hardship is like the first taste of bitter food -it seems for a moment unbearable; yet, if there is nothing else to satisfy our hunger, we take another bite and find it possible to go on. -George Eliot

Bitter melon, otherwise known as bitter gourd or bitter squash is a vegetable that is amazingly good for you. However, it comes with a small caveat. It’s also an acquired taste. As you can imagine, there is good reason for the word ‘bitter’ in its name. But there are also plenty of good reasons to make this vegetable a part of your diet. It’s a source of many beneficial antioxidants and vitamins and helps combat a number of illnesses.