JAKE DE PAUL: A TASTE OF INDIA >>>
I have a friend â€" let’s call him dad â€" who can’t cope with Indian spices. He wouldn't think twice about polishing off a bag of jalapeño-flavored potato chips, a plate of sashimi with wasabi, or the Tideflats hot dog at The Red Hot, but he stays away from coriander, turmeric, cumin and so on. The real reason for his reluctance to try Indian food, he later confessed, is that he was once dragged to an Indian buffet and the strange orange sauces and red chicken freaked him out.
I find Indian fare a visual turn-on for the same reasons "my friend" panicked (though, for the record, I'm not a buffet devotee). I like the vibrant red of a marinated tandoori chicken and the rich red-orange sauce that blankets a dish of butter chicken. The lure of food that looks sexy and packs a punch is enough to interrupt my Third Thursday Art Walk this week to catch Chef CJ Singh’s discussion on cooking with Indian spices at the Tacoma Art Museum. Singh, chef and owner of Tacoma's Gateway to India restaurant, spices up TAM Thursday beginning at 6 p.m. And as every third Thursday, admission to TAM is free.
The lecture is part of the festivities associated with TAM's new exhibit What Is a Trade? Donald Fels and Signboard Painters of South India that opened Sept. 13.