Chef’s “palette”

This year, SlowFood Santa Fe was fortunate enough to have Chef Geeta cook for us again.  This time I got to attend her cooking class.

Chef Geeta is a chef after my own heart.  She discouraged us from measuring and encouraged us to use our hands in preparations.  She used words like alchemy, infusion and perfume to describe how we were preparing the foods.  We got to smell the mangoes to see that, yes!  That’s how a mango smells when it’s perfectly ripe.  The dishes were colorful and beautifully spiced.  An Indian spice box resembles a painter’s palette as it should.  Like all fine art, this meal engaged all the senses.

Saffron rice and a corn dish

Saffron rice

red peppers with garbanzo flour and spices

Thank you Chef Geeta.  See you next year in Santa Fe, I hope.

the chef in the kitchen