PEPPER TREE: LOVE IS OUR SECRET INGREDIENT

 Looking for new place to unwind and dine with your friends? Then we’ve got the place for you. Located at the Pop Up Katipunan, Pepper Tree creates an authentic, comfortable experience for its customers through their savory meals. Owned by Hiro Soneji, this restaurant introduces a new take on traditional Indian cuisine as it incorporates Filipino flavors in its range of dishes, from their appetizers to their desserts.

Masala Sisig

Pepper Tree certainly shows its promise on providing an authentic experience to their customers through their food: no MSG, no food coloring and certainly no preservatives! Every spoonful is an adventure, with meals warmly prepared with organic ingredients and spices that will certainly tickle your taste buds, whether you’re craving for something spicy or sweet. You can also pair your meals with their selection of alcoholic beverages that ranges from wines to rums, with the option to take a shot or five with it. Celebrating with your friends? Worry not because they also have it by the bottle!

Diners enjoy the food

Pepper Tree is open every day, from 10:00AM to 12:00MN. See you there!

For more information, find Pepper Tree on Facebook (facebook.com/pepperTreeFoods/) and on Instagram (@peppertreefoods).

About The Pop Up

Situated in Katipunan Avenue, the Pop Up Katipunan is a one-of-a-kind, open-air establishment fitted with mobile, container vans that can be moved around the area, that house their different tenants. Owned by best friends James Thomas and Jeffrey Oh, the Pop Up has been the home to students, friends and families alike, who are looking for a place to wind down and have fun. Their current shops offer everything from food to apparel, with more upcoming tenants to open such as a barbershop and an MMA gym. For more information, go to Facebook.com/ThePopUpPH

Rustan's Supermarket Weekend Cooking Demonstration: Rasta Indian!

I recently went to Rustan's Supermarket to see a cooking demonstration on Indian's cuisine. There were three different sessions from selected three Rustan's Supermarket branches: Shangri-La Plaza, Rockwell and one in Makati.  This was in part of their celebration of the Wonders of the World Food Festival where different cuisines were featured in cooking demonstrations with Chefs and other cooking experts.  

I had not been quite familiar with Indian food although it's often been regarded as somewhat "spicy". But I immediately fell for vegetable samosa, partly because I love vegetables and also because of its texture.  What I love most about other Asian foods was the use of herbs and other spices, which was very evident in their dishes. Thai and Vietnamese uses veggies such as cilantro(wansuy) and other green leafy veggies. Italian uses herbs but they use really aromatic ones like thyme, rosemary etc. Spanish uses paprika and cayenne. Chinese uses five spice powder and perhaps a few other plants. Indian uses turmeric and curry among many other spices. 

It may seem difficult to make a vegetable samosa, but it really looks very much like our own lumpiang toge (bean sprouts spring rolls) only with a twist since they are using more veggies on the dish with a few herbs (depending on your taste, really) right here and there. And of course, they added a dash of their signature spices for that authentic Indian taste. A chef from Kashmir, a popular Indian restaurant demonstrated the easy peasy vegatable samosa to the delight of the audience. 

Interested to cook Indian dishes? There's another demonstration coming your way this Saturday, August 13,2011 at the Rustan's Supermarket in Makati at 4PM. Go and catch it yourself. And be awed at the different flavors Indian cuisine can offer.