668 - 25th - Adrak House

621 - 5th - Quesadilla de huitlacoche

Originally clicked and uploaded by - Pratosh Dwivedi - 5th June'10

529 - 28th - The bread basket

Originally clicked and uploaded by - Pratosh Dwivedi - 28th May'09

528 - 27th - Queso Manchego

Originally clicked and uploaded by - Pratosh Dwivedi - 27th May'09

412 - 31st - Grilled onions

Originally clicked and uploaded by - Pratosh Dwivedi - 31st Jan'09

We were having a "weekend" lunch at one of my friend's place and the menu was "Something grilled". While the meat-eaters were enjoying their share of grilled "arrachera" (beef) I had some othe exotic options saved for myself - grilled onions, nopales (cactus) and some grilled cheese.

There is nothing special, but I just love the taste of grilled food. The whole idea of grilling different vegetables and cheese on top of red hot coal just increases the taste of the food ten fold. God do I miss the paneer tikka (grilled paneer) at Bikanerwala in Delhi...

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368 - 18th - A "sweet" heart

Originally clicked and uploaded by - Pratosh Dwivedi - 18th Dec'08

Food is a category which has been least exposed to my camera. Though I have clicked a lot of images of fruits and vegetables but when it comes to the "cooked" form of food, I don't think I would have clicked any more than ten photos. So when I saw this bakery in Toluca with the front window all lined up with delicious "wedding" cakes I though it would be a nice idea to experiment. I entered the shop, took the permission of the owner and started clicking.

When I was done, the owner called me and told she wanted to show me something. I went to the counter to find a big album of cakes. She thought that I was interested in buying cakes and was taking photos to show them back home so that people can choose. I explained her my motive of clicking photos, gave a polite thanks and hopped out of the shop.

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311 - 22nd - Eggs of a basket

Originally clicked and uploaded by - Pratosh Dwivedi - 22nd Oct'08

This basket full of colorful eggs immediately caught my attention in a local market. I have seen white eggs, I have seen brown eggs, even some spotted eggs, but never have I seen blue and yellow and red eggs. I stopped at the shop ans asked the owner that how come these eggs are so differently colored. Guess what she would have answered ...

"These eggs are of colored hens, hence they are colored". I nodded my head, clicked some photos and walked away giggling inside.

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310 - 21st - Green Cabbages

Originally clicked and uploaded by - Pratosh Dwivedi - 21st Oct'08

I had spotted this particular field of cabbages some time back, so this time when I knew that I was going to pass by the same fields I decided to stop and click some pictures. I love seeing fruits and vegetables in fields and gardens. Nothing can match the taste & joy of plucking fresh vegetables and then feasting on them.

I wanted to pluck one cabbage from among the hundreds which were growing there but somehow resisted the temptation because there was no one around to ask for the permission to do it. So I kept myself content with capturing them in my camera and went ahead with my journey.

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309 - 20th - Cilantro men

Originally clicked and uploaded by - Pratosh Dwivedi - 20th Oct'08

Cilantro or more commonly known as "Coriander" is one of my favorite garnishing options for tasty Indian curries. I usually buy it at the local Walmart every week. But from this week onwards I think I will be a bit extra careful while eating it. That is because what I saw when I clicked this image.

This group of men had plucked these bundles of coriander leaves fresh from the field and were probably getting it ready to be sent to the market. They had the leaves tied together to make big bundles and were washing them in the stream of water before putting them on the heap. If you look at the heap, the leaves look quite attractive and clean but the water in which they were dipping and washing it was almost black with dirt. Next time I'm gonna eat it, I'll make sure I wash it at least for ten minutes under a stream of "fresh & clean" water.

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273 - 14th - Bread & butter

Originally clicked and uploaded by - Pratosh Dwivedi - 14th Sept'08

It was Sunday afternoon & I was roaming around alone in the downtown. Around 4 I decided to have my lunch and I ordered a tortilla soup in a nearby restaurant. After taking my order the waitress served the starting snacks along with a couple of Mexican salsa bowls, while I waited for the soup to arrive. Since there was no one to talk and nothing else to do, I just started playing with my camera.

So this photo, which looked quite decent to be posted here, is a result of just casual fooling around when I had nothing else to do ;)

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260 - 1st - Tuna

Originally clicked and uploaded by - Pratosh Dwivedi - 1st Sept'08

Cactus apple or more popularly known as "Tuna" in this part of the world, this fruit came quite as a surprise to me for more than one reason. Firstly the only Tuna I always knew was the fish, so when my friend first asked me if I wanted to try Tuna, my answer was a plain NO. Secondly I had never heard of a fruit from cactus. I knew people eat cactus but it also bears a fruit & that too such a tasty one was really a pleasant surprise.

These juicy, many-seeded fruits can be seen growing on the tips of huge cacti all over Mexico. They really look beautiful against the blue background of Popo.


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234 - 6th - Chiles en Nogada

Originally clicked and uploaded by - Pratosh Dwivedi - 6th Aug'08

This is the sight of the delicious lunch I had last weekend. This dish is called "Chiles en nogada". It is made up of Poblano chiles & is usually filled with a mixture of chopped meat and fruits. The white sauce covering it is made of walnut (nogal in Spanish) & cream. Finally, the red grains of pomegranate fruits sprinkled on it gives the dish the three colors of the Mexican flag - Red, White & Green.

Keeping in mind that I am a vegetarian, my friend's mother made this particular chile without any meat. It had a combination of some special Mexican apples & dry-fruits stuffed inside. It tasted fabulous & I missed the chance of having it again just by a whisker :)

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P.S. I took this picture with my N95 & it came with amazing clarity

231 - 3rd - Quesadilla especial

Originally clicked and uploaded by - Pratosh Dwivedi - 3rd Aug'08

"Quesadilla especial" is a different kind of quesadilla which is filled with a heap of vegetables and then covered with cheese. Quesadilla as you must be knowing is a famous Mexican dish made of tortillas and cheese. The most common form of this dish is a simple combination of cheese and salsa spread on a tortilla.

The one which you see in the image above is a special variety of the same and looked really tempting. Though someone cheated me and didnt allow me to eat it, I am pretty much satisfied that I got this nice shot :)

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230 - 2nd - Walnuts

Originally clicked and uploaded by - Pratosh Dwivedi - 2nd Aug'08

I've been eating walnuts since I was a child. But this time when I ate them in Mexico, I never knew that they existed in such a form too. In India we have the same in terms of appearance but very different in terms of taste. The walnuts in India are a bit dry while their Mexican counterparts are much softer and juicy & white in color. In India we just break them and eat the fruit, while in Mexico they take out the tender fruit from inside, remove the thin layer from the top of it and then eat it.

I took this photo at a local market where a lady was selling them along with other sweets and candies.

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199 - 2nd - Tender Coconuts

Originally clicked and uploaded by - Pratosh Dwivedi - 2nd July'08

There is nothing else which gives you a better respite from scorching heat than sipping on a tender coconut. Given their abundant availability and low prices, this is a delicacy which everyone can afford. Add to it the delicious "Malai" which you can savor on once the water is finished and you get a tasty heart filling treat.

I shot this neat arrangement of green coconuts at a road side vendor.

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190 - 23rd - The drowning olive

Originally clicked and uploaded by - Pratosh Dwivedi - 23rd June'08

Though the image is not clear in full size & contains a lot of noise, but I really wanted to post this one due the sheer interest I had in the way it actually looked. A green juicy olive dipped in a chilled glass of bubbling sprite. Though the olive doesn't really go with sprite, but on my case it had to, cauz I am not into hard drinks :)

The bubbles rising out of it were the one which caught my attention and made me click this one. Due to the lack of proper lighting I couldn't get a clear shot, but i was pretty much satisfied with the overall look of the image.

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145 - 9th - Fruity delight

Originally clicked and uploaded by - Pratosh Dwivedi - 9th May'08

Though this image has striking similarity with the juicy lemons, I couldnt resist myself from posting it because I didn't want my blog to miss this fabulous shot. Macros are, believe me, the toughest things to get straight & I was very happy that I got this one right.

Nothing much to write about this one, except that these fruits were lying just besides that heap of green lemons which I posted earlier. :)

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137 - 1st - Spring onions

Originally clicked and uploaded by - Pratosh Dwivedi - 1st May'08

I was cutting some spring onions for dinner the other day when it crossed my mind that these green fresh leaves will make a good photo. I just left everything as it was on the cutting board and clicked some photos from different angles. The ones taken from the top were not looking any special and didn't impress me at all. But this one, came quite well with a lot of depth and the focus nicely sitting on the few pieces just in the front.

It feels really nice when I am able to see beauty and of course some 'clickable' material in small things around me :)

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136 - 30th - Colorful delicacy

Originally clicked and uploaded by - Pratosh Dwivedi - 30th Apr'08

I was making a curry of carrot and beans that day when suddenly I noticed how colorful and eye catching the whole thing is looking. The green crumbles of beans embedded in a sort of orange background were really giving an eye warming sight.

I quickly got hold of my camera and clicked some photos. This is the best one I got.

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116 - 10th - Juicy

Originally clicked and uploaded by - Pratosh Dwivedi - 10th Apr'08

I took this photo while on a visit to my local supermarket for the weekly grocery shopping. This heap of green juicy lemons caught my eye at the first glance. I abandoned the trolley which I was carrying, took out my camera and took a couple of shots.

As has happened many times before, people around me were giving me a what-a-freak kind of look. But who cares about the people when a nice picture is at stake :) As I always say, see the full image to get the real idea.

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