It's time to open your palate

Americans grow up with fantasies of summers filled with watermelon, hot dogs, burgers, and steaks on the grill with country fries. Cold winters may elicit cravings for tater tot casserole, beef stew, chilli, or even a brat with a side of baked beans as you relax on your weekend off.

Meanwhile, the French savor cheeses, foie gras, escargot, and savory meats breathing flavors of thyme, rosemary, tarragon, sage, fennel, and marjoram. Italians proudly serve pastas, meats, and cheeses surrounded by capers, artichokes, tomatoes, and basil.

Each cuisine has a time, place, and occasion to celebrate the flavors. Each variety incites it's own unique sensation on the tongue.

.........but as Peggy Lee might ask, "is that all there is?"

I want to call attention to those of you who call the above your daily staples and awaken your taste buds to a whole other world of flavor. Fill your kitchens with the sweet smells of ginger, garlic, coconut, and indian masala. 

I invite you and those familiar with indian cooking to step into my Kuchanur farmhouse. Taste the freshness of the tomatoes, eggs, and freshly gathered buffalo's milk-yogurt. Smell the scent of curry leaves, mustard seeds, and cardamon pods aromatically making there way past the door stoop.