Hosting Anubhav Sapra of Delhi Food Walks for a vegetarian food tour in Mumbai

Morde Chocolates

In the early 90s, my mother had added a new dimension to her culinary expertise… baking cakes. Lovely cakes with delicious icing… Pineapple... Strawberry...  Vanilla… Butterscotch… But my favourite was her ‘Melting Chocolate’ Cake. And to get the right taste, she would travel to Hill Road @ Bandra from our house in Vile Parle to buy ‘cooking chocolate’. This chocolate used to be a bit bitter and was available in plain slabs with a simple logo ‘Morde’. We assumed that this must be an imported brand… maybe Swiss or Italian. As these slabs used to be sold loose by weight and packed in butter paper, there was no way you could find out the source of this yummy brown stuff. The only ‘Indian’ chocolate brands we knew in the pre-liberalisation days were ‘Cadbury’ and Pune based ‘Sathe’!

It has been 2 decades since my mother baked a cake… but the ‘melting chocolate’ taste still lingers in my mouth. Recently 3M was pleasantly surprised while passing Manchar (a town about 50 kms north of Pune). Right in front of me was the factory of ‘Morde Foods Pvt. Ltd.’. Obviously, I assumed that this European company had set up shop in India. Thanks to a revelation by a friend and good ol' Google, I realised that ‘Morde’ is not only an Indian brand… but also a Marathi surname – मोरडे! So read this amazing story of Chandrakant Morde, who rose from the humble world of Mumbai Chawls and BMC schools to become the owner of a $30 Million enterprise!

Now every time you taste that yummy chocolate flavour in Taj Group of Hotels, Oberoi Hotels, McDonald's, Yum Foods, Baskin Robbins or Kwality Walls Group… remember a Marathi Manoos has sweetened your life!

Gajalee in Singapore

Gajalee, the yummy Malvani eatery from Vile Parle East, has really grown in stature from a humble 'Canara Lunch Home' that 3M used to visit in his childhood. 3M wishes Gajalee all the best as it opens its first overseas branch in Singapore... So can we expect a branch in London and NY soon?

3Mpedia: "Gajalee" means gossip in Malvani!

Marathi Food… kuthe?

Even as legendary Marathi food joints like Anantashram are calling it a day…

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A group of foodies is trying to promote 'Marathi Gourmet Cuisine'…

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even going to the extent of releasing the ‘Essential Marathi Cookbook’...

…and mind you… they have nothing to do with either of the Senas!

Can I get some Marathi Food?

Even as other states celebrate 'Marathi Food Festivals', Mumbai lacks a full fledged Marathi restaurant.. 'Diva Maharashtracha' being an exception. You have snack counters like Panshikar, Vinay Health Home and Prakash and the typical Malvani joints. Vikram Doctor tells us why the food genre is not popular!

Finally a Marathi Wedding on 'National TV'

In most TV serials, irrespective of the location, all the weddings are ‘Punjabesque’… but are they just portraying reality? The impact of Yashraj Movies is so high that ‘sangeet ceremonies’ are the new trend in Tamilian weddings... and the only thing Marathi in ‘Rakhi ka Swayamwar’ is inclusion of a few “ghati” delicacies for the guests.

So 3M was pleasantly surprised to see that Balaji Telefilms has tried to portray an authentic Marathi Wedding in its new serial 'Pavitra Rishta'… controversy notwithstanding!

Flashing Marathi Origins

Quite a lot of celebrities have been flashing their Marathi origins in the recent past… now Cory Walia (the celebrated makeup artist) teaches us how to make Mutton Sagoti… something his ‘Saraswat Brahmin grandmother married to Maratha Royalty’ taught him!

Marathi Mulgi ani Batate

Monali Meher, a Puneri Mulgi settled in Amsterdam, gave a ‘Batata performance’ in NCPA Mumbai... she peeled the potatoes in a way that the words ‘war’, ‘violence’ and ‘hatred’ were carved on the surface… Then she distributed them amongst the audience to be cooked at home to convert all these ‘negative things’ into nutrition! Wierd... but true.

3M feels that the potatoes should have been given to Uddhav Thackeray for his launch of Shiv Vada Pav... probably with the words 'Kasab' and 'Pakistan' carved on them!

Opposition to Shiv Vada Pav

As Shiv Sena gears up to introduce Shiv Vada Pav to the world, NCP is not amused. They feel that Maharashtrian sentiments have been hurt by linking Shivaji’s name to this humble dish.

But NCP is not only one to oppose this much loved snack… Dietary experts have dubbed Vada Pav as “Heart Attack Food”!

Vidya Balan & Zunka-Bhakar

Vidya Balan is not only learning to speak Marathi but experimenting with Marathi Cuisine... 3M wonders what's cooking?

"Shiv Vada Pav" @ McDonald's?

Not many people know that the ubiquitous Vada Pav, the snack that "represents" Mumbai (Pav Bhaji being a close runner up) is a Shiv Sena creation. The aim was to provide self employment to the Berojgar Marathi Manoos.
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Now Shiv Sena is trying to put old wine in new bottle with the launch of “Shiv Vada Pav” on 24 November at Shivaji Park. 25 Vada Pav stall across Mumbai will compete in the event for the best recipe and a 3 member team will judge the winner. The winning recipe will be crowned “Shiv Vada Pav” and will be introduced not only in Mumbai but also “beyond 7 seas”. The effort this time is to expose the DNA link between Vada Pav and Shiv Sena.

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3M is surprised to see that McDonald’s is sponsoring the event… so will the humble vada pav make it to the McDonald’s menu in India and abroad?