Part Three: Cochabamba, Bolivia

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After a brief chat with Teresa, I unpacked, bathed, then jumped back into the car to head to the restaurant and the mis en place for the late evening class. No rest for the wicked! That night we cooked Basmati rice with Pine Nuts, fresh parsley and currants, Spinach, Chickpeas, Tomatoes with sweet Egyptian-style spices, Bengali Samosas with Date and Tamarind Chutney, and a wonderful Prune and Orange Halava pudding with Cream. All very, very delicious. I retired early to bed. Big day ahead tomorrow.

Day Eleven

Our hosts had arranged three main events for today - two early morning television interviews downtown, and a cooking class in the evening at the plush Santa Rita Apart Hotel. We set off at the 'crack of dawn', and arrived at Bolivision’s Channel 5 Studios in time to get on our make-up, the usual preamble to any TV appearance. The popular weekday chat show, called Ella y El
(She and He) was to be hosted by Evert Chavijo. The interview was brisk, and Ranga Puri, quite a gentleman, did some excellent translating.

Ranga spoke a little about the restaurants that he oversaw in Cochabamba, and the interviewer made a point of repeating their addresses for the benefit of the viewers. Ranga told Evan a little of the philosophy of spiritual vegetarianism. Our local lady devotees, one of which had a regular spot on Bolivision every Saturday morning, had prepared some delicious food to show on the interview, and hand out, as usual, to the crew, who were used to being fed by her. The camera panned in for a close inspection, along with a full display of my four cookbooks.

The ladies had risen early to prepare crispy potato and peas-filled samosa, a very spicy mustard and cumin-laced tomato chutney, and some hot Walnut and Date Halava. We spoke about my trip to South America, where I had been so far, where I was going next, and what I thought of Cochabamba. We spoke of my class that night – dubbed as ‘Cocinando con Kurma – Sesion Inaugural – Cocina Oriental'. After the interview, the host and all his crew hungrily devoured our offering, gave it the thumbs-up, and then it was all over.

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