Jess Food Therapy
 
Behind Tienmu's Mitsukoshi and Jasper Villa hides one of the most amazing finds in Taiwan. If you smell hard enough, your nose will eventually lead you to my newest obsession – Saffron: Fine Indian Cuisine.

To be quite honest, I’ve never been a big fan of Indian food. But looking back, that’s probably because I’ve never actually had real Indian food before. In the past, the only times I would ever come in contact with “Indian cuisine” in Taiwan would be at my school’s annual food fair or during weekend visits to the American Club. And when I say Indian food, I’m referring to samosas…JUST samosas.

Even after I moved to California where actual Indian restaurants existed, I still never went with Indian when choosing a place to eat. Lacking culinary knowledge (or balls), Indian food sounded way too adventurous for me. Burgers and fries sounded like safer bets. 


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Oddly enough, it took a full circle around the world for me to fall completely, and utterly in love with Indian food. The encounter was purely accidental but I knew it was love at first sniff. It’s funny how out of all places, Taiwan would be the one popping my Indian cherry…

It was a cool autumn day. My fiancé and I spent the afternoon hanging out around Tienmou, window-shopping and snacking here and there. As we headed towards the Mitsukoshi buildings to catch the bus home, we were suddenly hit by a gust of pungent aroma that hypnotized our every senses, disabling us to do anything but hunt the spellbinding smell down.

We found Saffron all right. That memorable day marked the first (and-never-the-last-for-as-long-as-I-live) encounter of our Indian adventure. 


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Saffron opened just a few years ago. The owner is an Indian native and has been doing business in Taiwan for many years. He’s always dreamed of opening an authentic Indian restaurant in Taiwan. I’m so thankful his dream came true!

To him and his wife Josie, what makes Saffron so delicious is the careful selection of ingredients. There are close to 80 items on the menu, and they’ve all been specially chosen to bring more than just family-type cuisines to guests in Taiwan.

They are being way too modest.

To me, what makes Saffron so damn delicious is the complete experience! From the moment you walk in the door (or in my instance, from a few blocks away), the fragrance of garlic, cumin, ginger, coriander, curry…completely envelops you. When you begin exploring the menu, you’ll find a long list of authentic Indian dishes. They may sound intimidating at first, but you’ll find that they are all heavenly delicious. As you wait and enjoy the elegant Hindu décor, you’ll find yourself inching to take a peek at the Indian chef in the upfront open kitchen. Carefully, he bakes your Garlic Naan (bread) and skews your Tandoori Chicken. By the time your plates are in front of you, you’ll find yourself hungrier than you’ve ever been before. And that is perfect, because the next step of eating will be one of the best experiences in your life.

Your taste buds will never be the same after that.

Indian food is so careful, sophisticated, and smart with such brilliant use of spices and ingredients. I mean, who ever thought of dicing up cauliflowers, mixing it with mashed potatoes and garlic, while seasoning it with turmeric, paprika, cumin, garam masala and salt? Or, what about Bhaji, Indian-styled onion rings? Instead of simply slicing and frying the onion the way American do it, Bhajis are bounded by a fragrant chickpea flour batter and then flavored with turmeric, chili powder, cumin and coriander after frying.

I’ll leave the rest to your imagination.

Over the past years, Indian restaurants have popped up left and right throughout the country. Today, I guarantee you’ll find an Indian joint at almost any department store food court in Taipei. People are loving it here and how can you blame them? Although it may not be as blatantly obvious as the 葡式蛋塔 (egg tart) or 芒果冰 (mango ice) fad, I can see Indian food subtly becoming the next culinary trend here in Taiwan.

So jump on the bandwagon and experience the best of Indian food at Saffron!
Saffron
天母東路38-6號
 38-6, Tienmu E. Rd
(02) 2871-4842

Regular Hours: 11:30-2:00pm & 5:30-9:30pm
Special Hours: Th-Sat11:30-2pm, 5:30-10pm
**closed on Monday lunch time
**credit card accepted. 10% service charge
 
It's a new year! Happy Twenty-Ten!!!

But before I move forward to the next year, I'd like to commemorate winter 2009 as being one of the best three weeks of my life. Mainly because of the people (family & close friends), the location (motherland Taiwan) and of course, the food.

Although I probably gained ten pounds this break from all the dishes I've devoured mercilessly, I hold no regret since they were shared with my favorite people. One meal in particular I will never forget, and that is the home cooking of my 84-year-old grandma.   
My grandmother was born in the countryside of Fuzhou (which is located on the southeast coast of mainland China), in a small village called Dongmen. In 1939, my grandmother escaped from China to Taiwan. She was literally on a tiny fish boat for 1 month and 4 days. The boat eventually gave out, forcing her to swim the last few miles to shore! While much of China's communism was (is) to blame, my grandmother escaped for love! She had just gotten engaged and her fiance was waiting for her in Formosa. She was twenty-five. 

Once the young lovers reunited in Taiwan, they got married within two months and had four children in the years to come. The youngest child and daughter was my mom. 

My mother has always told me that growing up, she ate nothing but grandma's cooking. Every meal was a Fujian feast. Being so far away from home and watching her four children grow up in a foreign country must have been difficult for my grandmother. Food was the only way to connect her children to her past and bring them back to their roots.

She probably never imagined it having any effect on her children's children or her grandchildren's children...


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The night before New Years Eve, my mother's side of the family all joined together at my aunt's cozy little apartment. Some met for the first time in ten years while others met for the very first time. 

It was my grandmother's idea of gathering the gang up and celebrating 2010 big. She had already started preparing all the ingredients the day before and wanted no one to enter her kitchen. She wanted all of us to sit back and relax while her, the oldest person in the room, did all the work while we reap the benefits. 

And like always, we reaped the heck out of the benefits. 

One after another the hot dishes came. Seafood and more seafood. It's no wonder since the coastal area of Fuzhou produces 167 varieties of fish and 90 kinds of shellfish. Fried fish, fried shrimp balls, octopus sashimi, steamed scallops, crabs... There was never a dull moment or an empty bowl. Even with 11 hungry adults (one being 8-months pregnant) and 3 kids, we barely cleared the plates nor stopped ourselves from eating.

All the while, I noticed my grandmother watching from the kitchen, a conquering smile on her face as she worked the wok. I'd probably do the same if I cooked half as well as her.

I am now (almost) twenty-five and engaged, yet my life is in no comparison to my grandmother's tough life then. I look at what a wonderful and eventful year 2009 has been for me and how lucky it is that I have good health, loving family, close friends, a roof over my head, a job and the best husband-to-be. I feel humble and proud for all the things my grandmother has given and given up for her husband and children, because ultimately, her sacrifices affected me.

Although we are almost 60 years apart, one thing I fully understand about my grandmother is her cooking, Fujian or not. Over the decades, it has miraculously brought together four generations of sons and daughters.

Cheers to an even better year!
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Appetizer 蔥鑤蝦米小魚
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Octopus Sashimi 章魚生片
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Fujian-Style Fried Fish 紅遭魚片
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Fried Shrimp Ball w/ Chopped Celery & Carrots 炸蝦球
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Wok-fried Pork mixed w/ Sweet Vinegar Sauce 糖醋排骨
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Kantodaki 關東主
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Steamed Scallop & Daikon w/ Mushroom 干貝蘿菠
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Stir-fried Kidney & Fried Bread Stick 腰花炒油條