Ethnic Eats

This week was full of firsts for me.

First Fab 5 dinner. First Indian food experience. First Venetian-style butternut squash pizza. First Info Management class.

For those of you not in-the-know, the Fab 5 is my study team at USC. We're an eclectic group with local flavor, so we decided that we should have an ethnic eating series. Tonight's pick was Indian, which was very exciting to me since I've never had Indian food! Which, as a foodie, I am embarrassed to admit. My exposure to Indian cuisine is limited to what I see on Food Network and The Travel Channel, so I was very excited to finally try it for myself.

We went to Clay Oven on Jeffrey/Irvine Center Dr (an intersection you may remember from "Adopt a Curb".) Clay Oven is a cute little place with a brightly painted orange interior and was surprisingly busy for a Wednesday night. Always a good sign. I was slightly overwhelmed by the menu of completely unknown items, so I deferred to the owner (who was super nice) for his recommendations. We started off with samosas, which are these huge wontons filled with a slightly spicy puree of beans and veggies. I especially enjoyed the texture and subtle spice in the filling, and I like peas...so that was an added bonus. Also like wontons, these little samosas are served with sauces...well it was more like 1 sauce and 2 pastes. I really enjoyed the tomato paste, which was slightly tangy and was a nice contrast to the fried food.



Vegetable Samosas. Cute! I didn't notice the plate was decorated until now!

We all had variations on chicken...and mine came in a yummy creamy sauce. I'm not exactly sure what made it creamy, or where its nice consistency came from, but it was very tasty. Steve had a spicier chicken in a darker sauce. Mike's chicken dish had potatoes in a reddish sauce, and Omair had cardamom (I'm guessing) flavored chicken that I thought was pretty interesting. And Maryn had the tandoori chicken accompanied by a herbed lemon. And of course, we had some blistered flat bread, which was so yummy, thin and slightly crispy. Admittedly, I have yet to meet a carb that I don't like.



Chicken Shahi. Mmm...I love anything drowned in gravy.



The tandoori chicken was very juicy, and the herbed lemon smelled so good!

A highly successful night of ethnic eats! What I especially liked was that most of the dishes come bathed in a yummy gravy. And as you know, Hawaiians love anything with a good gravy...i.e. stew, loco moco, beef curry, chili, cake noodles...you get the idea.

Although I'm not too sure about gravy on pizza...except maybe if it's warm marinara. Early this week, I made a harvest variation of Giada de Laurentiis's Venetian Pizza. Instead of the traditional toppings, I made mine with butternut squash puree, cranberries, sundried tomatoes, spinach, mozzarella and Parmigiano Reggiano. I was initially dubious of the baby-foodish pureed butternut squash, but after sprinkling a hint of nutmeg and baking in the oven, the butternut squash took on this amazingly nutty flavor.



Harvest pizza pre-rolled and pre-baked



Post-rolled and Post-baked



Post-cut and ready to eat! Sorry, I couldn't get this picture to rotate. It won after 10 mins of futile fighting.

It was no Little Star Pizza...a very, very, vert far cry from it, actually. But, I was still proud of its tastiness and creativity.

Usually, at this point, I would update my "According to Arif" column...but...in light of my new Info Management class, I have come up with yet another column.

Simply Selby...

Allow me to explain. Selby is my Info Managment professor. To say he is dry is a euphemism and a complement. Dry implies that he has a some semblence of a sense of humor, when in reality, he is quite devoid of humor. Don't believe me? See below.

- Selby thinks IT is all that and a bag of chips. (He obviously has not used SAP)
He claims that strides in IT made Wal-Mart realize that consumers typically buy tomato paste 3 at a time...so why not bundle 6 of them! Genius, he says!

- His view on the striking supermarket workers...
He "feels bad for them" because they are "so disconnected from reality". The reality being that IT is taking over their jobs (self-check out)

Hmm...and you thought I was insensitive. I may have just met my match.

- Favorite phrases
1. "I think it's obvious" He says this as he clicks through 3 slides as I blink my eyes. Giggling ensues. "What?" he postures. "If you don't understand, you need to ask me. Ask me now. How am I supposed to know?" I mean, I don't know...you tell me! We're paying you to know!

2. "Whatever" He likes to end his sentences with this.

3. "Insightful/Quality Ideas" He always asks for these. And if you don't have them don't bother...as this will result in...

4. Eye-rolling.

Student: "How are we supposed to know if there is a problem with the system?"
Selby: (Rolls eyes to the back of his head) Pause. "When it's installed."

5. "Look"

There are many variations to this. "Ok Look". "Well look". "Now look". "So look". This is sometimes followed by... "I'm going to be honest".

Interesting exchange:

Student: When you were a consultant, how much did you care about the productivity gains for the business?

Selby: Look, I'm going to give you some free consulting. What business are you in?

Student: My company leases space.

Selby: (incredously) Lease space?

I guess you had to have been there for the full effect. Basically, he said "lease space?" as if it was some outrageous business. Like the student said he grew grapples hydroponically. And free consulting??? Please. My tuition is not free, and neither is he.