Wish list for 2017

Personally, I'm fed up with my New Year's resolutions. I do not have the discipline to keep them. It might be that my resolutions prove to be the mundane, unrealistic ones: abstaining from alcohol, regular exercise, losing weight and stopping procrastinating. I decided to forget about these unkept promises in the hopes that they would naturally become true without the pressure of sworn statements. But I do have a personal food forecast for the forthcoming year that can also be interpreted as a wish list. 

This year will be a year of incredible India for me. I still recall the wonderful street food and shopping tour in New Delhi, with my F&B expert friend Bikramjit Ray; the delicate ephemeral buffalo milk sweet "daulaat ki chaat" still remains with me, and I use my little pressure cooker to make the softest silky dal bought in Chandni Chowk. I also remember the idle moments with my food researcher friend and PR consultant Caroline Rowe over a drink at Hauz Khas Village, or challenging our limits in eating hot food. And above all, how I can forget the amazing tasting dinner of chef Manish Mehrotra at Indian Accent. My brief stay in Delhi was a revelation. I've wanted to go back ever since, and now is the time. The first edition of the Tasting India Symposium is going to take place in New Delhi at the end of February and beginning of March. I've already secured my place. 

It seems that I have to work hard before I leave for Delhi; after determining the gastronomic assets of the region, my consultancy for DOKAP-East Black Sea Development Agency has to be presented with a well-documented report no later than mid-February. I can predict that Black Sea region tastes will be the new discovery of Turkish chefs; there are already hints of it, and I'm...