Shortcast over Coffee

This is Part 2 of my conversation with Chef Srijith Gopinathan. For continuity, please check out part 1 before moving over to part 2. In this episode, we discuss how Indian cuisine, with its different techniques, has carved a niche for itself. We also talk about his life before and after the Michelin star and dealing with bad patrons.

In the world of food, earning a Michelin star is like winning an Oscar - very difficult and very rare. Our guest today has two! Earning two Michelin stars is almost impossible. Only around 140 restaurants in the world hold that distinction. Today we have with us Chef Srijith Gopinathan. His love for food and obsession with detail helped him build a business that includes two of the best Indian restaurants in California - Ettan in Palo Alto and the recently opened Copra in San Francisco. Srijith is the chief culinary officer at Mamu, a company that makes innovative mushroom and chickpea based sustainable alternatives to traditionally meat-based dishes like burgers. Different from other vegetarian substitutes, Mamu's products, while possessing a nice bite and juicy texture, do not imitate meat. He is also part of Little Blue Door, an Indian street food inspired outlet at the State Street Market in Los Altos, California. In today's episode we discuss Srijith's journey from his little village in India to the Maldives and London, and eventually San Francisco. He talks about his passion for farm fresh ingredients and the ever evolving Cal-Indian cuisine and thoughts on the quick service restaurants with an Indian twist. This is part 1 of a two part series Show Notes Copra : https://www.coprarestaurant.com/ Ettan : https://www.ettanrestaurant.com/ Mamu : https://www.eatmamu.com/ Oxford : https://www.oxfordlodi.com/ Little Blue Door : https://www.statestreetmarket.com/menu/little-blue-door/

This is the second part of a two part series with Krish Ashok. Ashok is a modern day da Vinci, a genuine polymath. He's a techie a writer and a musician among many other things. He is most well known as the author of the book Masala Lab where he breaks down cooking to its first principles and busts some popular myths about the process. In this episode, we talk about the trail of curry, how it made its way from India to Britain and eventually around the world. We also bust some myths on Indian cooking and touch upon homeopathy vs modern medicine. We conclude with Ashok's thoughts on veganism and keyboard activism. We did experience audio issues while recording this episode and I apologize for that, but I hope that the quality of the content makes up for it. Contact the host and leave feedback : https://instagram.com/bala.deva06 Masala Lab on Amazon : https://www.amazon.com/Masala-Lab-Science-Indian-Cooking/dp/0143451375

Today we have with us, Krish Ashok. Ashok is a modern day da Vinci, a genuine polymath. He's a techie a writer and a musician among many other things.He is most well known as the author of the book masala lab where he breaks down cooking to its first principles and busts some popular myths about the process. This is episode one of my conversation with Ashok. In this episode, we talk about instruments in Carnatic music, lessons learned from his own experience learning the violin and his thoughts on pedagogy and future of Carnatic music. We did experience audio issues while recording this episode and I apologize for that, but I hope that the quality of the content makes up for it. Contact the host and leave feedback : https://instagram.com/bala.deva06 Masala Lab on Amazon : https://www.amazon.com/Masala-Lab-Science-Indian-Cooking/dp/0143451375

Today we have with us, Dr. Felix Bast. Dr Bast is a professor at the Central University of Punjab in Bathinda and a well known algal taxonomist. He also served as an expedition scientist for the 36th  Indian Antarctic Mission 2016-17 and has discovered seven new plant species. He was also invited as in-residence intern with the President of India in 2015 as a part of the president’s Inspired Teacher program and has won many awards from across the globe.   In this episode We sit down to talk about the story behind his unique name, how life is in Antarctica and his observations on climate change and its impact on marine life.