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The Spice Route
I was always inspired by how spices connected people across the world and created commerce, connections and cultures in every part of the world. From the merchant of Venice to the spanish explorers, many wars were fought, oceans crossed and money exchanged in the pursuit of spices. The spice route is a network of several ocean routes that played a very important role in the history of the world. It in fact was the way many continents including the Americas, were discovered as sea-faring adventurers funded by "royal" venture capitalists, built large ships to traverse the oceans to try and find the shortest paths to India in search of spices. One such path lead to the discovery of America, and yet another the discovery of South Africa as brave voyagers tried to find the shortest ocean route to India around Africa. This is what added the richness of spices to cuisines across the globe. A few fun facts: chilies are not native to India or Asia, they were actually brought to Asia by Spanish explorers who brought the chili plant back with them from South America. Similarly pasta is not originally Italian, it came from China, brought back by explorers who went looking for Silk in China. Did you know that Lemons were not native to the Amalfi coast, though they are grown and used extensively in that region? The Lemons grown there originated from India, Burma and China. This is why food is the fabric that ties us all together into a single global community. I hope this site inspires you to appreciate food and other cultures in a whole new way!

This site is dedicated to my mom, Joy Nesamoney who passed away in 2022, she taught and inspired me to cook and showed me that cooking for others is a form of love and art and one you can do all your life.
T

FOOD, travel and fun

I eat to live and live to eat

Hi there, and welcome to my food blog. I love food, I love to cook and I dream of food and travel a lot so I can eat from all of the varied cuisines across the globe. COVID has definitely put a damper on my travels and so I decided the next best thing was to put down my favorite recipes, drinks, destinatinations and just generally anything I have enjoyed in a blog for you all to enjoy!

Here is my Mom's recipe book which inspired many of these recipes. She had written it over 20 years ago at my request. It is now dog-eared and stained with the many times I have cooked with it.

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Kerala Pork Fry

Kerala Pork Fry

Kerala Pork Fry

This is a classic dish that originated in Kerala, my mom though from Tamilnadu and tamilian by birth was born in Kerala. In the part of...

Diaz Nesamoney

Mar 23 min read

Chennai Style Chicken Biriyani (Courtesy Joy Nesamoney my mom)

Chicken Biriyani for 10 people, with Yogurt Sauce Ingredients For Biriyani Meat -- 5 lbs bone-in chicken breasts Yellow Onions - 3-4 ...

Diaz Nesamoney

Sep 29, 20242 min read

Tandoori Chicken -- without the Tandoor!

Tandoori Chicken -- without the Tandoor!

Tandoori Chicken -- without the Tandoor!

Almost everyone has heard of Tandoori Chicken, much like Butter Chicken which is a staple of Indian cuisine Tandoori Chicken is very...

Diaz Nesamoney

Dec 24, 20214 min read

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