When and how did I learn to cook?

As I do the final glaze for my latticed tart for dessert after dinner tonight, I am struck at how far I have come as a cook.

Really sometimes, I surprise myself ! As I admire the pretty decent pie on the table, I am reminded of an earlier post that I had made on my now neglected food blog.

Growing up with boys around you and having family friends who mainly had boys for children, kind of leaves you unprepared for existence as a woman! And more than that I think it leaves your parents unprepared for how to deal with a girl who behaves and acts like a boy! :-)

Luckily I had very indulgent parents. My memories of my childhood are coloured with bike rides, cricket matches, football practices and swimming… an amused mother who would sometimes admonish me about not having any womanly grace and an indulgent dad who encouraged and sided with me no matter what! My only concession to my sex was wearing skirts / frocks / dresses that my mom lovingly bought and I regularly tore! I suspect that some of it has still stayed with me and to this day, while I am a far cry from the tomboy I was, I am way way off anything feminine!

With all this baggage I got married, luckily to the man who I loved, and, who mercifully fell in love with me.. otherwise the torture his poor stomach has had to go through in the first few years of marriage, the marriage would have had slim chances of surviving! Anyone who is married to a foodie, and, that too a foodie whose mother is a fabulous cook, will understand why! Though I suspect it helped a bit, that he taught me how to cook!

I remember the first meal I ever cooked – a dal and some rice. I just knew that my mom used lentils, cumin, tumeric, salt and water to make dal, so I just threw them into the pot and hoped, miraculously it would all come together. Needless to say it did not, but R was sweet enough or newly married enough  to gulp a few spoons down!!

My journey from there to this pie has been long, ardrous but thorougly enjoyable! From a person who couldn’t make out spinach from any other leafy vegetables, I can, today wax eloquent about a ballotine of chicken, butter squash mezzlune, pansoti, a chocolate mousse cake et al.. and through all of this R has braved stomach aches, cramps, burned and charred dishes, food that tasted like newspaper or ditchwater and has bravely dared where no man in my life has been before – down my culinary path!

The never ending saga of my driving license

Just came back from my driving test, which not surprisingly, I flunked L

I had a bath, didn’t wear a mini skirt, remembered not to apply any smelly hair oil and most certainly don’t have body odour, but alas, I still failed!

A motor bike suddenly decided to speed out from behind a massive trailer turning away from me, which I of course completely omitted to anticipate! Darn the motorbikes, why can’t they be bigger? Darn the trailers for not being transparent! And I think it’s terribly unfair that Superman can see through Louis Lane’s dresses to see the colour of her innerwear but I can’t see through trailers to see a mobike!  And this, after waiting for over a minute for the straight traffic to pass me! Grump!

As if I hadn’t done enough to ensure that the assessor failed me, my frustration with my stupidity manifested itself in an instinctive expletive, which I think took a moment to register with everyone, including me. Almost as if in slow motion, I could hear an audible gasp from my fellow assessees, while the examiner looked at me for a while before asking me in a rather dangerous tone “What did you just say?” I am not sure who was more horrified (albiet for different reasons I am sure) she or me!

The expletive was a reaction, directed at myself, and while I was really tempted to apologise for the slip, I wasn't quite sure how she'd react if I did!

Mercifully, there are millions of words that rhyme with my rather crass judgement, and, Scrabble came to my rescue! Alas my fate was sealed! 8 more classes (I think I like the classes a lot more than the final test) and yet another test, sigh!

Not to mention a rather resigned, “never mind, we’ll buy the car next week” that I know I am going to hear J. R is at home today. Normally, if I as much as squeak into the room, he winces and grumbles in his sleep. Today, I made a lot of noise, hoping he would wake up and commiserate with me – not a squeak out of him!

Have friends from out of town coming over for dinner tonight. I think I will drown my sorrows in a bottle of wine or better still in a huge decadent tub of ice-cream with a large slice of an apple pie! Sob!

Final road test

"You know you are beginning to look like you suffer from an acute case of OCD" my husband grinned as I picked at my food at the dinner table, " stop obsessing about your test!".

Now I am not what you call shy at the table but its this final road test for my license that's looming up tomorrow that seems to have taken away my appetite. I now fully, and, completely appreciate why someone could park the car on the pavement in a road test. I stand, duly chastised, for that one indulgence of amusement that I afforded myself at someone else's expense!

While R thinks its OK to flunk it, I can have another go, its somehow important that I get it in the first go. Maybe not having work targets anymore, I have subconsciously adopted this is my next assignment :-)

Of course, it doesn't help that both he and my son look at cars on the net, discuss buying something, and then sigh in mock despair "of course we could if only you would..."

Stop! that's putting a lot of pressure on me,folks! I feel like I am back at the bank, attending Monday morning huddles, while a raspy voice over the conference call, enquires if I think I will end the year achieving my revenue targets or not! A perfectly good coffee ruined by that conference call, grump!

And a perfectly good dinner wasted by the road test!

Dubai: The ultimate dream?

While I continue the hunt for a house maid, I have been using a cleaning agency to help keep the house clean. Dubai abounds with these agencies who offer maids for just about anything - cleaning to party helpers to baby sitters et all.

Have a young Filipina called Christine who comes to me from a cleaning agency. She does a 4 hour shift with me every alternate day, and, if you've tried cleaning the house, doing the dishes etc you will know that 4 hours is a really long stretch. So I usually insist that she has a coffee or tea break after 2 hours and make herself a sandwich or if she is feeling really hungry she is free to help herself to some rice and curry / vegetables or whatever may be there in the fridge.

One such break, we got chatting. It appears that's the agency who hired her, did so with the promise of AED 1500 per month but when she got here, the contract she signed was for far less. The agency gives her accommodation, a salary of AED 600 and a monthly food allowance of AED 200. The maids all live in "labour camps" yup, that's what they are called, which have 10-12 maids to a room, though the rooms are air-conditioned. Surprisingly they are not allowed to cook, and, have to buy ready, cooked food, so the AED 200 doesn't really go a very long way. Hence, the coffee and the sandwich that she has, is very welcome. Now I am not sure how much of what she said was 100% true, but these stories keep popping up far too often to not merit a consideration.

The conversation left me feeling terribly apologetic about how comfortable my life was, and wondering about the wide divergence that exists in Dubai. I can't remember where I read this, but Dubai is really a segmented society with a huge difference between the "have nots" and the "have yachts". Rather appropriate I think!

In economic terms, the Emiratis I suspect are top of the heap, prosperity for many been aided by being sleeping partners or otherwise in almost all business (at least in the initial stages) and the workers from the Asia forming the bottom of the heap, with a whole load of expats in the middle, and, their lifestyles  are a reflection of this segmentation.

Coming from a developing nation, you are not a stranger to poverty, or a wide disparity in income levels, but somehow there is something very poignant and heart breaking about coming to work to a foreign land with hopes and dreams of bettering your lot in life, and unfortunately waking up to a familiar sense of drudgery and fatalism.

Dubai Garden Centre

If you have decided to live in a villa with a garden in Dubai, there is no better place than Dubai Garden Centre on Sheikh Zayed Road to potter around to pot your garden!

A massive 60,000 square feet outlet, it houses almost everything imaginable that you may need for your little patch of green. Other than just the plants, there is potting soil, manure, quick fix solutions for making your garden greener, plants to grow faster, garden implements, pots etc. Other than indoor plants in the air-conditioned section, there are zillions of outdoor plants in the glasshouse housed in the rear. The plants are a little more pricey than what you would get in nurseries at Satwa or Al Aweer but I think the plants are healthier, greener with a huge choice made even more attractive by the little extras on offer - the organic pasta sauces, natural lotions and soaps, herbs, quaint furniture et all! There was only one disappointment though - I have been hunting for seeds to plant my own herb garden, but didn't really find any seeds, and, only rosemary amongst culinary herb plants. Though the helper assured me that I would definitely get other herbs by the last week of October. I guess September isn't exactly the season for growing herbs. So shall have to go back end of the month.

The Centre has some absolutely gorgeous statutes for decorating your garden. However, with a 10 year old whose cricket ball is perennially leaving marks on the grass and some terrible ones on the wall, these were a complete no-no.

But the crowning glory of the place I think is the absolutely gorgeous Garden Cafe and House of Prose. I know, I know, one does not go a Garden centre to eat or read but to buy plants, but then which Garden centre sells you furniture? Its all about the experience and I think the Cafe just magnifies the experience. Set partly in a glasshouse with a fan (finally) helping to create a breeze, its the perfect place to relax and read a book that you have just borrowed from the House of Prose which is also housed in the same Centre.

House of Prose is a bookstore that deals in second had books and allows you to sell a book back after you have read it at 50% of the value. Now normally, I hate selling my books, but when you move every two years, and, you have limited shipment allowance, this is an attractive option, especially when I think of the two cupboard full of books that are currently crowding my mom's place back home.

I am digressing - the cafe serves homemade sandwiches, muffins, patties and other small eats, all deliciously fresh! We had an egg and mayo sandwich with some lovely fresh salad on the side and a cup of hot steaming latte! Yum! What could be better than a book in your hand, freshly brewed coffe, a decilous eat, greenery all around and sunlight dappling through the glass house casting patterns as the fan slowly whirs above your head! Ah, paradise!

Oh, I did buy some snow pea and some Chinese greens seeds and some potting soil! It says that I can eat them in 45 days, so my countdown has just begun!

Address: Located near 4th Interchange on Sheikh Zayed Road. Open 9 a.m. - 9 p.m.
Google Earth

P.S. I am not really big on gardening, this is simply a passing fancy and the charm of being able to tear my herbs from the pot and dunk it into the dish ala Nigella! But for those who are, there is something called the Dubai Gardening Club, which is a set of people majorly into gardening who share tips and techniques etc

P.P.S. Cant find the cable to connect my camera to the laptop, wl post pictures later!

Sponsoring a maid

Sponsoring a maid is a tad tedious if you've displeased your office PRO and have to run to the DNRD on your own! However, once sponsorred its smooth sailing for the next year, till the visa comes up for renewal.

I am not sure but I have been told that you can mainly sponsor house maids and not house boys unless you happen to be a single male. In that case, house maids are a complete no-no and you need to have a house boy.

Documents required for sponsoring a maid

- Labour contract of sponsor (min salary AEd 6000) and accommodation contract (min 2 rooms)
- Completed application form from authorized typing office (at the DNRD)
- Sponsor’s passport
- Copy of maid’s passport
- Passport photos of maid (minimum 3 required, though advisable to carry more)
- Affidavit from embassy/consulate certifying non-relationship, if maid from your country
- Also obtain a list of people that you are already sponsoring from DNRD (eg. wife, children, other maids, etc)

Sequence

Apply in the following order:

Residence Visa (employment permit to enter country)

Medical Check & Health Card (after maid enters)

Residence Stamp on Maid's Passport & Labour Card

Process 

Go to authorized typist & get form filled up. Pay AED 100 for application fee + separate typing fee (which varies from typist to typist). If urgent, pay additional AED 100 and let the typist know. Do keep in mind that an additional AED 10 is charged as knowledge fee for each transaction.

Go to Immigration & Naturalization Department & submit all documents after attaching Empost sticker for non-urgent visa. For urgent, wait for a few minutes and receive the employment entry permit. You will have to pay a refundable deposit of AED 2000/- along with the application. Please ensure that you collect the deposit receipt. You will need this to claim the refund of AED 2000 when the maid leaves the country.

Empost will courier the visa to you within 2 working days, at the address listed on the sticker.

Send either original or copy to your maid.

If only copy was sent, then deposit original at DNATA Visa Desk at Dubai airport, at least three hours before flight. Write flight number/date & time on reverse of original & get your copy stamped by DNATA as proof of their receipt of original.

Post arrival of maid

1. After your maid arrives, you must apply for a residence permit and health card. This must be done within 30 days of your maid’s entry into the country. You will need to go to a typist, pay for either urgent or or non-urgent residence permit and submit to residency section.

2. After stamping, you need to take your maid for her medical test and health card (average cost AED 250, though waiting time differs from 12 hours to 36 hours for some government hospitals to receive the results though like everything else an additional fee can expedite the process)

3. Take medical results to the typist and pay AED 5,200 (or 5,100 for non-urgent) to apply for residence visa.

4. Submit medical report with stamped employment permit, maid's original passport, sponsor's passport copy and a salary certificate/labour contract to residency section. It is preferable to take your maid with you. You must declare to the officer what salary you propose to pay your maid, and this will be entered into the contract. You will receive 4 printouts of the unified contract which has to be signed by both sponsor and maid. If your maid is with you, request her to sign. Go to the bank inside the visit visa section and purchase an AED 10 sticker for attestation, and re-submit copies of the contract to the officer, who will counter-sign all copies, attest one and return 2 copies to you. One is for the sponsor, the other for the maid to keep. A residence stamp valid for one year will then be placed in your maid's passport. You may have to return after 24 hours to collect the labour card.

Once the contract expires & the maid leaves

To collect your deposit, take your AED 2,000 sticker receipt and the passport to Counter 17 (Deposit Refund Counter). Get it signed by the officer and present the sticker to the Commercial Bank of Dubai branch inside the Immigration office for refund of deposit.

This is what my husband's PRO provided as a detailed guide. For further enquiries, or clarifications, you can call DNRD on 04-3980000 or the toll-free Amer helpline

Skype

Have discovered that Skype does work provided you have downloaded the software outside UAE or in a country that allows the use of Skype.

Had downloaded Skype the last time I had gone home, and hey it does work! Of course it will show your location as the city where you downloaded it but that's no big deal.

So my son and his friends have spent the entire weekend chatting about the Champions League Trophy and myriad cricketing shots!