NEWS & EVENTS

A week at magical Rancho La Puerta

A week at magical Rancho La Puerta — a resort/spa in Baja, Mexico was the highlight of the past few months. I was invited to teach 3 classes at their spanking new state-of-the-art culinary center — La Cocina Que Canta — The Kitchen that Sings. With several acres of organic gardens spilling over with flavorful greens, vegetables and fruits, this was the ultimate in my 30 years of teaching Indian classes. The ranch serves vegetarian cuisine but includes seafood, which is the way I like to eat at home, so it made the experience so much more meaningful. We prepared Saag Panir (Home-made Cheese with Spinach) using armloads of just picked spinach from the garden, and used house-made yogurt in all our dishes. The classes attracted a diverse group of ranch guests as we had 2 hands-on classes, and for those who preferred to watch and learn there was a demonstration class.

The professional team at the cocina, headed by creative chef Jesus Gonzalez who took up the reins here after several years at the Golden Door, were as efficient as they were friendly.

Both the school and the ranch are situated at the base of the awe inspiring Mt. Kuchumaa, a spiritual place that whispers serenity. The rugged dessert-like area has a majestic beauty offset by the lush acres of landscaped gardens on the ranch. I understand now why guests return year after year and I hope to return too.

• Rancho La Puerta, Tecate Mexico. November 14 - 21, 2009
• 24th Texas Hill Country Wine and Food Festival, June, 2009
• Reflections on the February Culinary Tour of India. April, 2009
• Culinary Tour of India February 11- 25 2009
• India Tour Gallery September, 2008
• Crow Collection of Asian Art
• Cooking Demonstration, presentation and book-signing
• Book Signing at The Book People in Austin TX
• A week at magical Rancho La Puerta
• In Touch with Indian Cuisine
• Asia Society Texas Center presents
• At Home With Indian Cooking
• The Chefs – Suneeta Vaswani