How often it happens that because of food we remember few trips or places we have visited. I believe food and taste have a lot of impact on our memory. Food is something that one never forgets, like how we still remember what a particular dish tasted like in our childhood and in return we are lost in cherishing those days.

This dish here is inspired by my trips to Mahabaleshwar in Maharashtra. The hilly region is famous for sweet corn, carrots and strawberries and I have been there quite a few times now, and these are unmissable. Boating at Veena lake and then taking a stroll in market for hot corn pattice with spicy chutney and ending your day with some amazing creamy strawberry shakes is mandatory. So, as I said the dish is my ode to the trips I have taken to this beautiful place. On plate here is Corn Pattice with Strawberry puree & Spiced coriander spheres.

If history is to be believed, Lord Brahma performed the act of repentance for the creation of humans and life itself, in these forests. The recorded history of Mahabaleshwar goes back to 1215 CE, when Yadava King Singham of Devagiri visited this place. It is from here that the mighty Krishna river travels towards Andhra Pradesh. The region was cradled by many hands, from Yadav Dynasty to Bahamanis to Nizams to Chhatrapati Shivaji to Peshwas to and so on. It is believed that first European who set his foot here was General P Lodwick, who explored this region for its boundless beauty and made it popular among British.

History Fact: Strawberry cultivation was introduced by convicts from China and Malay imprisoned by the British in Mahabaleshwar 1834 to 1864. They were encouraged to plant english vegetables including berries, and when they left it was handed over to locals.