Roasted Yellowtail with Mint Jalapeño Chimichurri

Roasted Yellowtail with Mint Jalapeño Chimichurri
Photo by Leticia Alaniz © 2015

Cooking fish can sometimes be daunting for many people.  It’s as if a monster has entered the kitchen, it has eyes, fins and a tail that look a little too real undermining our ability to accomplish any reasonable dish for dinner.  I have known many people that leave the cooking of fish to the professionals at restaurants rather than cook it at home.  But with fish on the menu in our own kitchens, come stories.  

My mother used to make us laugh when she cooked fish.  She always included a good dose of superstition that was well engrained in my mind for a long time.  Many of the superstitions are based on irrational beliefs and some are entertaining legendary folktales that are in any case great fun to hear.  There is one belief that says, en martes ni te cases ni te embarques, which translates to, on Tuesday don’t marry or leave port.  In ancient Roman mythology, Tuesday was dedicated to Mars, the god of war.  It was a day considered unlucky and therefore not a good day to undertake anything important, especially for the fisherman going out to sea.  

In our household my father always resolved any conflict or dilemma by saying, “Mejor me como un salmon”, which translates to, “I’ll just eat a salmon”.  He loved salmon and I think for him a good salmon dinner was much more worth the time than any argument on any given day.  I have to agree with him on that one and I kind of follow that rule too.  Sometimes, food does resolve everything!  

Fish was always on the table especially during lent.  Every Friday, there was a very strong and delicious aroma of fish in the house and my mother’s specialty was a wonderfully flaky white fish soup cooked with oregano from the garden.  My favorite part is that she served it with toasted, hot, buttered bolillo bread that was crusty on the outside and pillowy soft on the inside.    

Sometimes, the Friday traditional meal was at my grandmother’s house where my aunts and mother would gather with my grandmother to prepare the feast.  I’m not quite sure if it took all day, but it sure did seem like it, especially when the aromas captivate and put you in a sort of trance and you have to control your urge to steal a little morsel from the kitchen when they turn their back.  On those occasions, the fish feast was quite a big parade of dishes.  There was fish cooked in several ways.  Grilled on the flat iron or clay comal (the mexican flat griddle used to cook tortillas or roast spices, chiles and meats).  Cooked whole with lots of spices, achiote, and citrus juices, or marinated with herbs, chunky garlic and a paste of adobo, and then pan fried.  Or it was cut in chunks and covered in a fluffy, snow-white batter and fried in a fragrant chile oil.  That’s called a capeado and it’s the same batter that is used when making chiles rellenos, or stuffed poblano or jalapeño chiles.

Cooking fish isn’t difficult at all.   There are thousands of ways to prepare it and it’s so healthy!  Want to know a little secret?  Restaurants, especially the fancy ones take advantage that many people don’t cook fish at home and charge quite a bit of money for a fish that can easily be cooked.  Many fish don’t even take long to cook, at the most, in a pan on the stove six to eight minutes.  Some can be flash cooked on a very hot grill and dinner can be on the table in a matter of minutes.  So much time is spent working just to hand over the hard earned money to the restaurant industry.  Many families depend on restaurants for a fish dinner and that gets expensive because that is precisely the menu item that is overpriced.

Here is a look at a beautiful yellowtail fish recipe served with a mint-jalapeño chimichurri sauce and purple roasted potatoes.  I came up with the blackening recipe for the fish and the chimichurri sauce based on the ingredients I had at hand.  Both recipes turned out nothing short of spectacular.  As for the purple potatoes… they’re buttery, soft and they glisten like little purple amethyst jewels.  They’re so good!  

Yellowtail Fish
Photo by Leticia Alaniz ©2015

Ingredients:

Yellowtail Roasted Fish

One or two whole Yellowtail fish, cleaned

2 tablespoons of chile powder (paprika)

1 tablespoon of garlic powder

1 tablespoon of onion powder

1 teaspoon ground black pepper

1 teaspoon of cayenne pepper

1 tablespoon of dried oregano

1 tablespoon of crushed fenugreek seeds

kosher salt to taste

oil for cooking

butter

Mint Jalapeño Chimichurri

1 large jalapeño seeded

3-4 garlic cloves (fat ones)

8-10 mint leaves

1 bunch of cilantro

2-3 sprigs of fresh dill

2 limes squeezed

3 tablespoons of white wine vinegar

1/2 cup of olive oil

salt to taste

Mint Jalapeño Chimichurri Ingredients
Photo by Leticia Alaniz © 2015

Preparation:

Place the yellowtail fish on a board and dry with paper towels.  In a small bowl combine the chile powder, garlic powder, onion powder, ground black pepper, cayenne pepper, oregano, fenugreek seeds and kosher salt and mix.  Coat the entire fish with the seasoning.  Drizzle a little cooking oil in a pan and let heat.  Dab a square or two of butter into the pan (don’t be afraid of butter).  Once hot, place the fish one at a time into the pan and let sizzle and blacken for about four minutes on each side.  It will become smokey, so ventilate your kitchen well or be prepared for your fire alarms to go off!  Remove the fish from the pan and place in a roasting pan  or large plate to catch the juices.  Season with a little kosher salt, it just feels good.  

To make the chimichurri it’s as simple as combining all the ingredients and pulsing in a blender 2 to 3 times.  Scrape down the sides and make sure te get all the ingredients combined.  Repeat the process until you get a thick sauce.  It will be a beautiful emerald green.  

Roasted Purple Potatoes 

Boil the potatoes whole with the skin on until tender.  Once they are soft but not too soft that they fall apart, take them off the stove and let cool a few minutes.  Slice them in big fat chunks.  Drizzle a little olive oil in a pan and heat.  Place the potatoes in the hot pan and proceed to roast them over medium high heat.  Season right over the pan to taste with freshly crushed black pepper, kosher salt and chile powder.  Dab at least three squares of butter on top and mix the potatoes and continue cooking for another five to six minutes.  They will start to glisten.  Taste for salt or eat a few on a little plate while you call the family for dinner.  That’s it!           

Tamarind Margarita

Tamarind Margarita
Photo by Leticia Alaniz © 2015

Tamarind has a very rich legacy in Mexico, but it traveled a long way from tropical Africa and made it’s way into southern India before it reached the Realm of The New Spain.  It was the Arabs who then carried tamarind pods from India and introduced it to ancient Persia, now known as Iran, the Gulf region, and even back to Egypt.  Pulp from the pods was dried, made into paste, syrups, used in cooking and for medicinal purposes.   

Like all riches, especially those we can eat, tamarind reached Europe in medieval times, introduced by the Arabs.  The journey continued until the indehiscent legume (a legume that does not split open when ripe) finally arrived in Mexico, brought over during the colonization by the Spaniards.  The tamarind tree was soon cultivated with much success in the hot tropical states of Michoacán, Guerrero, Oaxaca and Chiapas.  

Growing up, especially during festive occasions, there were always many sweet, savory, spicy and tangy candies made with tamarind pulp.  There were those that came in little pots shaped like a jarrito, or the clay pots used to slow-cook beans and other delicacies.  The varieties are in the thousands, but another one of my favorites was a flat laminate-shaped tamarind paste called Pulparindo.  Then there are the all famous diablitos or little devils, aptly named because they are shaped like a small stone, it looks black, it is so sour and as many mexican candies, it is covered in lots of dried chile, salt and sugar and it makes your mouth water bringing out the inner child.  I don’t know why they are called diablitos, but I used to think it was because only the devil could be brave enough to eat those!  

Even the little ones start eating tamarind with chile at an early age.  In order for  their their little hands to hold a sweet and sour tamarind candy, there are the cucharitas, little spoons with the tamarind dried on and covered with sugar.  The sourness tickles their little tongues and they make cute, puckering faces as they eat them!

All types of Mexican savory dishes are prepared with tamarind pulp.  A loin in a rich tamarind sauce is one of my favorites.  Grilled fish or other types of seafood fare well too.  A velvety thick tamarind sauce called chamoy, is also used in a variety of ways.  It is poured over shaved ice, especially delicious in the hot summer.  It is made into paletas or popsickles, and it is cleverly drizzled to coat the inside of a glass, right before an icy cold beer is poured.  It takes everything to another dimension.

Below is classic Margarita made with the pulp of tamarind.  The flavor is very tart with a tropical sweetness.  It’s just perfect!

Ingredients

2 oz of Tequila Blanco (Herradura is a good choice)

1 oz of tamarind concentrate 

1 oz of triple sec or Cointreau

1/2 oz of Agave nectar or simple syrup

Lime for garnish (optional)

Preparation

Coat the rim of a margarita glass or a rocks glass with a mixture of salt and dried chile, or if you prefer sugar, or even mexican Tajin fruit seasoning,  fill with ice and set aside.  Add the remaining ingredients to a shaker and fill with fresh ice.  Shake, and strain into the prepared glass.  Garnish with a lime wheel (optional).  

Cocktail - Picante de la Casa

Picante de la Casa
Photograph by Leticia Alaniz © 2015

A famous Spanish saying goes like this: Eat, drink, dance and enjoy that the world is going to end.  (A comer, beber, bailar y gozar que el mundo se va a acabar.)

As old as the mountains, people soon discovered the art of fermentation.  With that came the accidental discovery of making spirits and liquors which eventually were distilled.  To sweeten the spirits people added fruits, spices, and herbs for flavoring, and many apothecaries insisted it was good practice for medicinal purposes.  Some recipes included minerals, ground up animal bones, dried meats, fats, skins, and even hallucinogenic mushrooms!  

The origin of the modern word “cocktail” is highly disputed.  The Oxford Dictionary of the English language cites that the origin of the word “appears to be lost”.  I will explain a few that amuse me and simply are good stories to hear:

Evidently the word cocktail is formed by two words: cock, the male chicken or rooster, and tail, the cock’s tail.  The first recorded use of the word ”cocktail" was in 1806 in the United States, but keep in mind that the famous drinks, as creative and inventive in the thousands, have been prepared and drank since ancient times.  

One legendary story claims that a doctor in ancient Rome made a wine-based drink which he called “cockwine”, for which the emperor Lucius Aurelius (180-192 A.D.) went crazy for and possibly celebrated many happy occasions with the drink.

Another delirious story comes from New Orleans, the city made famous for its cocktails and legendary mixologists.  According to legend, a famous french apothecary named Peychaud served his guests a beverage that contained a secret recipe which he wrote in his recipe book.  It consists of a good amount of brandy, a little more than less, sugar, water and bitters which was to be served in an egg cup.  The apothecary prescribed it for “relief” of the head.  The drink was called the “egg-cup cocquetier” in french, which eventually was shortened to “cocktay” and then cocktail.  I assume the french word “coquette” may have been invented this way.  It has a good sound and it sounds fancy as all french words do.  In any case the word had been in use for a very long time in Bordeaux, France where the beverages were served in pitchers called “coquetel”.  

During the Mexican war, there came a legend that a very handsome american soldier paid a visit to the aztec emperor.  The emperor had a very beautiful princess daughter named Xochitl.  The emperor had his daughter offer an alcoholic drink with fruit to the soldier.  She was dressed in her finest and was adorned with the most beautiful feathers of the most beautiful birds of the region.  Upon giving the drink to the soldier, a feather fell from her hair into the drink for which the soldier was highly amused.  He liked the drink very much but could not say the princess’ name.  The soldier pronounced her name, Xochitl as “Coktil” which then became “coctel”.  It’s an amusing and romantic story but pretty far fetched.  

But what is true and without dispute is the ingenuity of the Mexican mixologists for making an amazing array of recipes for cocktails that include some of the most exotic fruits, flowers, flavorings indigenous to Mexico like chocolate and vanilla, chile peppers, and even ground up dried insects.  

Here is a cocktail guaranteed to tickle your throat and open your senses.  It’s quite spicy because it contains jalapeños! 

Picante de la Casa

Ingredients

2 oz tequila (buy a good one)

1 oz freshly squeezed lime juice

¾ oz agave nectar (simple syrup if agave nectar is not available)

12-15 cilantro leaves

¼ inch piece of a Jalapeño chile pepper

Preparation

The preparation first has to be fun! The first ingredient is to dance a little as you prepare it.  That’s what I do in my kitchen (it’s inevitable).  A little latin music may help you make the cocktail even better.  I like to use a “molcajete”, the Mexican grinding stone, but you can muddle directly in your cocktail mixer.  Slice the chile and muddle it in the mixing tin.  Hand squeeze the cilantro and the lime juice.  Add the agave nectar.  Add lots of ice.  Shake, shake, dance, dance… serve it strained in a cocktail glass with ice, or without if you want to taste more of the hot chile.  Garnish with chile slices and cilantro.  Enjoy!

Chicken with Garlic & Ginger

Chicken with Garlic & Ginger
Photograph by Leticia Alaniz © 2015

On a quick trip to an Indopak tiny market, or better said an Indian & Pakistani market, I bought among a few spices and middle eastern bread, a halal cut, skinless, whole little chicken.  It was perfectly packaged without a single piece of skin or fat, for which I thought the butcher seemed to cater to my delight, for the gourmet or discriminating cooks.  I did not have time to cook it that evening but overnight I thought about how to cook it the next day.  I wanted to try something new.  I flipped thru a few recipes in my cookbook collection and nothing really popped out for the moment.  

A french country cedar shed
built and designed by Larry Ivy
Photograph by Leticia Alaniz © 2015 

Recently, on a visit to a friend’s house over easter dinner, we talked a lot about the beauty and most amazing food of Southern France and in conversation, the very famous dish, Coq au vin was delectably and anecdotally talked about while sipping on rich, red wine and having the most fragrant, heritage-filled Spanish paella.  It was lovingly cooked in a very large cast iron skillet by my lovely friend (whom is a filmmaker and writer) of many years, Lauren.  The entire garden setting was a custom, hand built, french style shed built by Lauren’s parents.  I was transported to France which reminded me of some of my favorite films that were filmed in the region like, To Catch a Thief, Jean de Florette, and Manon of the Spring.  It’s one of the best paella’s I’ve ever had!    

Lauren Ivy Chiong's traditional Paella Valenciana

Coq au vin is one of my favorite dishes, especially since it includes wine in the sauce and so I was determined to prepare the halal chicken the french way.  In the kitchen while laying out ingredients, somehow, one thing led to another and I ended up getting exited by seeing and smelling fresh ingredients that led me to create a dish in another form.  I had a very large piece of fresh ginger, I let my nose guide me and that is how I came up with this savory version of chicken with garlic and ginger.  The recipe is so simple to make and I think it works well to make ahead if you want to prepare it for a dinner party the night before.  Oh, and did I mention the perfume of this dish?  You won't be able to resist.

I’ll save the coq au vin for another day with guests that will enjoy it with me.  Hopefully in the company of Lauren and family! 

Chicken with Garlic & Ginger 

Ingredients:

1 whole skinless chicken, about three pounds, cut into 8 pieces

1/4 of plain yoghurt (I used greek strained yoghurt)

2 small limes - juice

1 tablespoon - honey

4 garlic cloves - crushed

2 tablespoons or 2 inch piece - grated ginger 

1 tablespoon - whole coriander seeds

1 tablespoon - crushed fenugreek seeds

1/4 - teaspoon ground turmeric

1 teaspoon - ground black pepper

1 teaspoon - ground red chile 

salt - to taste

1 jalapeño - seeded and diced small for garnishing

1 to 2 tablespoons of cooking oil

2 to 3 - tablespoons of water

Method of Preparation:

1. Season the chicken pieces with salt and pepper.  
2. Heat the oil in a pan and braise all the chicken pieces until browned.  Once     browned, remove pieces and let rest on a plate.
3. In remaining oil, roast coriander and crushed fenugreek seeds.
4. Add ground turmeric
5. Lower heat, add crushed garlic and ginger, continue to roast.
6. Add honey
7. Add lime juice
8. Slowly add yoghurt and heat until it looks smooth
9. Add ground chile and continue cooking sauce
10. Add water
11. Add the chicken pieces and coat with the sauce.  Continue cooking covered another 15 to 20 minutes until fully cooked.
12. Serve and garnish with the diced jalapeño 

Enjoy with a serving of rice or a flat bread such as a thin pita, wheat tortilla, or naan perfect for mopping all the sauce off the plate.

A perfect paring would be a glass of pinot noir or a malbec.

Andhra Prawn Fry or Royalla Vepudu

Andhra Prawn Fry (Royalla Vepudu)
Photograph by Leticia Alaniz © 2013
All Rights Reserved

India is a country with an extremely diverse cuisine.  There are many regions, and each region specializes in dishes highly evolved according to available ingredients.  This is hardly surprising given the versatile cooking techniques and the ingenuity of combining flavors to shape a unique dish.  

In the coastal regions of the state of Andhra Pradesh, seafood doesn’t fall short on the menus.  The aquatic prosperity of Andhra can be attributed to its abundant water supply from the delta of the Godavari and Krishna rivers along with the great Bay of Bengal.  

The sea is home to innumerable forms of life.  Thru the years of its history man has learned to use its resources for his survival and has depended on the sea’s generosity.  From the vast array of aquatic products that can be harvested from the sea, prawn or shrimp are considered one of the most valuable.  

An early morning visit to the fish markets in Andhra proves the best possible choice in the bounty of the sea  as well as the catch from inland rivers, reservoirs, lakes, and southern backwaters.  Fishermen bring their catch for sale on the spot, for transporting around India, or for quick freezing for international shipping.

Boats have come ashore as the sun rises in coastal Andhra
Photograph by Leticia Alaniz © 2013
All Rights Reserved

The cuisine of Andhra is one of the spiciest of all Indian cuisines and it represents a culinary joy combining spices, meats and seafood of which all are abundant.  It is exotic, rich and aromatic, and when prawns come into the kitchens of expert cooks it is a delight to the senses and the soul.  

Indian cooks, especially in the coastal communities have many recipes along with plenty of imagination for improvisation with only a few ingredients.  As with all seafood recipes from anywhere in the world, Indian recipes rely on ultra-fresh seafood.  

Following is one of Andhra’s most exotic recipes for prawns: Royalla Vepudu or commonly known as Andhra style prawn fry.  With plenty of spice its for those who prefer robustly flavored dishes or for those who have a flare for  a dish that will tickle the senses all at once.  Andhra style prawn fry is excellent in flavor and with its delicate aroma, its one of the jewels of indian seafood.  This dish can be served with rice or enjoyed as an appetizer paired with a medium body craft beer such as IPA, Bock or Ale, or even a very chilled favorite Lager.  

Andhra Prawn Fry

(Royalla Vepudu)

Preparation 10 minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes

4 Servings

Ingredients

500 gms prawns, peeled and deveined

1 1/2” ginger 

3 green chiles

1 1/2 tsp of red chile powder

1/4 tsp turmeric powder

1 tbsp lemon juice or yoghurt

3 finely minced garlic cloves

2 medium, finely slices onions  

1/2 tsp fennel seed powder

15-20 curry leaves

2 tbsp grated coconut

1/2 tsp fenugreek powder (optional)

1tsp coriander powder

1 1/2 tbsp garam masala powder

1  tbsp cooking oil

salt to taste

Fishermen at a coastal market in Andhra Pradesh, India
Photograph by Leticia Alaniz
© 2013 All Rights Reserved

Method of Preparation

Grind the ginger and green chiles to form a paste.  

Marinate the prawns in the ginger and chile paste along with 3/4 tsp chile powder, turmeric powder, lemon   juice or yoghurt, and salt for 10 minutes.

Cook the prawns in just enough oil to lightly coat the pawn for 6 to 8 minutes.  Remove from heat and drain any excess liquid.

Heat oil in a pan, add minced garlic cloves and sauté for half a minute.  Add sliced onions, fennel seed powder and curry leaves and sauté for approximately 7 to 8 minutes until the onions are caremelized. 

Add the cooked prawns, coconut, the remainder of the chile powder, fenugreek powder, coriander powder, and garam masala powder.  Dry stir fry for 3 minutes over medium high heat.  Season with salt and turn off heat.  Serve immediately.

Kartik Trivedi - A Rare Interview With The Classical Composer & Artist

Maestro Kartik Trivedi
Classical Composer and Artist
Photograph by Leticia Alaniz © 2013 All Rights Reserved

For many, classical Indian Raga music and visual art are two different things.  But for Maestro Kartik Trivedi they are inseparable, one and the same, as he has delicately explored with his very own unique sound and impressionist paintings all with the touch of his fingertips on the piano keys and with a paintbrush.

Kartik Trivedi is a living legend from the Northwestern state of Gujarat, in India.  He is considered one of the most fascinating contemporary artists of our time.  As an accomplished classical pianist, composer, and painter he has been honored with innumerable awards and accolades around the world. 

Few artists accomplish so much in their lifetime and his history is nothing short of incredible.  Maestro Trivedi granted me an afternoon for a very personal and rare interview.  I am honored to share with you a rare insight into his personal world, his art and his music.

Leticia Alaniz: Welcome Maestro Kartik Trivedi.  What was your childhood like and whom was your biggest influence?

Trivedi: I was born in a small village called Lunsar on December 10th, 1937.  I remember a quiet and peaceful childhood and as early as age five I began drawing.  My father named Shri Laxmishanker Nanjibhai Trivedi, was the head school master and a fine water color painter.  He nurtured in me my visual creativity.  My mother named Sharada, was a folk singer and she was my first and most important influence in music.  She taught me the fundamentals of folk and Raga music.  Here were the beginnings of my humble life and career in fine arts.  

When I was a child, my natural surroundings were also very encouraging.  There was a very beautiful and fine lake nearby and a shrine that my mother used to take me to called 'Shri Mataji Divine'.  I used to sketch there for hours and I used a newspaper in the beginning, because I didn't have drawing paper.

Oil on Canvas by Kartik Trivedi
Photograph by Leticia Alaniz © 2013 All Rights Reserved

When I was six years old I entered a statewide art competition and won first place.  I was the number one painter and that was a very big encouragement for me at the time.  And then as time goes by, my father got transferred from one place to another, and that in a way allowed me to learn different cultural aspects.  I was very happy that I had the opportunity to meet different types of people and learn about their customs and their music.   

Leticia Alaniz:  Did you have a piano at home?

Trivedi:  I did not have a piano at home.  I was introduced to a keyboard instrument when I was ten years old called a harmonium.  It has the same keyboard as a piano but it sounds like an organ.  So I was able to learn scales just like if it was a piano.

Leticia Alaniz:  You have lived in the US many years, what year did you come?

Trivedi:  I came to America in 1967.  I went to a school, Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio and there was a very beautiful student center, and on the second floor there was a Steinway grand piano.  At night I used to go there to practice and I found lots of students interested and they would all sit around the piano and listen to me play.  I was encouraged a lot and they said, "Why don't you give a concert?  We like your music very much".   After That I had learned how to sing north Indian classical music which I play known as Hindustani music.    

Leticia Alaniz:  How did you start incorporating the piano into Ragas and into that style of classical music?  

Trivedi:  When I was in India I used to play a flute called bansuri, and I had learned how to sing classical musicals and I learned how to play the sarod, an indian stringed instrument.  When I was experimenting I found out that it is possible that someone can play the complete form of Raga music on the piano.  In my days we had maybe three or four musicians interested that were experimenting with the sound of the piano.  

I use the second pedal to sustain the sound and the third pedal to elevate the sound so it almost sounds like the sound of the sarod.  It depends on how you strike the note. And after you strike the note, one is expected to create  some kind of appropriate environment so that the Raga can sound in a most appropriate way.  

Leticia Alaniz: You're one of the few artists that has been playing this type of music around the world. Maestro Ravi Shankar was one of the first whom introduced classical indian music to the western world and in particular to the US.  Are you in any way compared to him or are you asked questions?  

Trivedi: I have a lot of respect for the late Maestro Ravi Shankar.  He is a very great composer and a very great sitar player.  I used to listen to the great sarod composers as well and when I was living in Santa Clara, I decided to study a masters degree in world music at the San Jose State University.  I worked with many great music teachers which highly influenced me into learning more.  At that time my main instrument was the piano.  Today, I have my own piano which is a german piano made by Schulz Piano Company and it is already about 115 years old!  

Leticia Alaniz:  And it still sounds good!

Trivedi:  Oh, very beautiful!  It has a beautiful sound and I just love that sound!  In America for some time I played piano in Indian restaurants.  I would play somewhere in the corner and not disturb the patrons.  

Leticia Alaniz:  You went from playing in restaurants to playing at the world famous Carnegie Hall!  Tell us more about that.

Trivedi: I performed at Carnegie Recital Hall in New York City.  I performed in the first half, I opened the concert.  And the second half, my teacher played with the sound of the sarod.  The sound of sarod is always there because the sarod always attracted me so much.  And then I also performed at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts.  

Leticia Alaniz:  No small feat!  

Trivedi:  You may not believe this but when I gave a concert at The Lincoln Center, the New York Times printed my photograph on a music page and you know, I have a very old bow tie, I loved to wear that bow tie.  I have kept that bow tie as a memento.  But my friends tell me that I look very funky! 

Leticia Alaniz: An artist is an artist!  

Trivedi: I just love that funky look!  I have a three piece suit which is now like a four piece… but that's alright…

Oil on Canvas by Kartik Trivedi
Photograph by Leticia Alaniz © 2013 All Rights Reserved

Leticia Alaniz:  An artist dresses as he must dress…  (we laughed a lot)

Leticia Alaniz:  I want to ask you about your paintings… Your art is considered very impressionistic and beautiful.  What inspires you?

Trivedi:  When I was in high school in Gujarat, at that time I had the opportunity to see the books on French and American impressionism.  From the very beginning I liked pastel colors and somehow the different sense of composition at the same time, the choppy brushstrokes and all that, you know.  The colors were so fantastic and the analyses of sunlight and light in general.  So I liked that and I immediately started working in an impressionist style.  

When I came to America, I was stationed in Cleveland, Ohio and not to far away from my apartment there is a very great and famous museum, The Cleveland Museum of Art, and that is where I saw the originals.  Until 1967 I had never seen an original.  

I used to lecture inside the museum for adult education.  I would take a group of 10, 20, or 30 people and would take them from one gallery to another gallery.  At that time I was studying to receive a MA degree in Art History from Case Western Reserve University.  My first degree is in the area of Economics and Political history that I received form Gujarat State University.  As You call Texas State we have Gujarat State which is a very developed state culturally and economically.  

I had a lot of student friends that studied art history in my lectures and they told me about Kent, Ohio.  I heard about the University and so I went there and I received a MFA, Master of Fine Arts in paintings.  At that time I was a very fine, a very good impressionist painter and I just continued to experiment in that particular style.  

Leticia Alaniz:  What painters do you consider your most influential?  

Trivedi:  One, which I would like to mention is Claude Monet.  I used to teach Claude Monet's paintings.  I taught art history classes and later art appreciation.  We analyzed and talked about different styles of paintings, cubism, impressionism, post impressionism, renaissance, baroque and all of those..

Leticia Alaniz:  In your own art work, what subject is what you paint the most?

Trivedi:  My style of painting is impressionist.  But I also paint in a very native style, a very decorative Indian style of art.  In 1960, while still living in India, I won a national recognition award.  My work was highly appreciated.  That in a way encouraged me a lot.  At that time I was working near a college near the Arabian Sea, near the seashore so I painted my surroundings.  

Leticia Alaniz: Do you incorporate mostly nature and landscapes, portrait or religious motifs?

Trivedi:  I do paint portraits, but mostly I call myself a landscape painter.  I love landscapes so much!

Leticia Alaniz:  And Speaking of portraits, I know of a very famous one that is hanging in Buckingham Palace.  

Trivedi:  Yes well you see, my few friends from London, England called me and they said that quite a few artists from all over the world have presented their paintings about the special occasion, the marriage of Lady Di and and Prince Charles.  And I wanted to do something and I found some photographs of the entire wedding procession, so I decided to do a special painting of the marriage procession.  I received a very, very nice response, it was a great honor.  Prince Charles' secretary wrote me a very fine personal letter saying that they all loved my work.  Of course that encouraged me.  

After that I did a special painting for late President of France François Mitterand and he liked my work very much and today as I understand, the painting has been sent to The National Cultural Heritage museum of France.  I feel happy, I say Voilå!  But very good, ¡Muchas Gracias!  Eternally thank you!  

Leticia Alaniz:  I understand that your paintings are also hanging in the house of late President Ronald Reagan and also with Bill Clinton, among many others. 

Trivedi:  Yes that's true!  I did a special painting for late President Ronald Reagan.  The subject is called, "Welcome Home".  When the 52 hostages came back from Iran, there was a very big procession.  In the back you see the senate building, the congressional building in Washington DC and there was so much happiness everywhere.  So I studied a couple of photographs then did a special painting.  President Ronald Reagan liked it and Nancy Reagan also liked it very much.  Another painting that I did is called "Spring Melody".  The paintings had an impressionistic touch.  A lady from California called me and told me that my paintings were put on display at the presidential library in California which is near somewhere in the Los Angeles area.  I am so happy!  A poor artist like me can do little good things in this world.  

Leticia Alaniz:  You're an amazing artist!   

Trivedi:  President Bill Clinton's painting was, "Autumn in Chicago".  I think that event was also very well covered by CNN News.  

Leticia Alaniz:  Did you get to present the painting personally?   

Trivedi:  Yes!  I met him personally!  There is a book written about me and it's called Kartik Trivedi, Contemporary Impressionist, that is the title.  That was printed in New York City and this was many many years ago.  So I presented him the book and we took a photograph and he was very kind, and he said, "I will carry the book", and so he was carrying the book with him.  An he also wrote me a very nice thanks letter.  I feel very happy and I thank him and thank everybody, those who arranged it.  And the painting I think they said they liked it.  

I presented a second painting to President Bill Clinton when there was a very big parade in New York City.  It was when the American Army came back from, let's see, from where?  Saddam Hussein's country, what is that called?  Oh my mind!  

Leticia Alaniz: Iraq, Desert Storm.

Trivedi:  Yes!  That was a very big parade.  You remind me because I may be talking wrong, I get lost!  So whenever everybody is ready I'm ready…  

Camerman Tony Quinn:  We're ready…

Leticia Alaniz:  We are rolling, but this is good…

Oil on Canvas by Kartik Trivedi
Photograph by Leticia Alaniz © 2013 All Rights Reserved

Trivedi:  When the American Army came back from Iraq I presented a painting to President Bill Clinton and Lady Clinton.  There was a very fantastic parade that I attended and did some drawings.  There were so many very fine and big American flags hanging everywhere.  That was a very wonderful subject for a painter like me, other people have also painted this subject, and so I painted that and they liked it.  This painting is also at the Presidential Art Collection a the White House.  

These are some of the things that I like.  You see, this is so funny… When I did my first painting for President Ronald Reagan, he was a very kind person to me and he used to write letters to me and I used to read, and you know the postman used to come all the way to the second floor of my apartment.  He would knock on the door and say, "Mr. Trivedi, you open the door, I have something for you!"  And I said, "Oh my god, I don't know what that could be."  But he said, "Mr. President has written you a personal letter!"  I would tell him, "I have a can of soda for you!"  And he was always so happy to get a can of soda.  You see, before President Reagan wrote me a letter, that was always a question.  Everybody used to ask me, "Is there anybody who knows you?"  And my Indian background taught me one thing, "Yeah, my god knows me", but it wasn't helping me at all.  So I had a couple of xerox copies made and then I would say, "Yeah, yeah, Mr. President knows me!"  So I would tell my friends sit down, have some tea or coffee.  It was a very interesting and funny thing.  

Suddenly, I would do another painting.  I made one when I was in Santa Clara, California, and I took a painting all the way to the White House and it was wonderful.  I enjoy doing special paintings for dignitaries, a religious leader or a great musician, a writer, or a playwright, actors, actresses.  You see, I'm a painter, I'm a teacher, I was a teacher, but now I retired I think since January 2011.  So now I play piano.

Leticia Alaniz:  You retired form teaching but not from painting…

Trivedi:  No, no, I still paint.  Recently I have written a book and I came to Dallas city because I heard that the people of Dallas city are very friendly and very generous and very loving and caring, so since the last two or three weeks, I'm experiencing their love and care and all that.  I would like to come back to Dallas some day.  

Leticia Alaniz:  You are always welcome.

Trivedi:  Thank you!  Hardly you cannot find such wonderful people anywhere else.  Music has been very much a part of my soul.  Can I talk something about my mystical experience?  

Leticia Alaniz:  Oh yes, of course!

Trivedi:  This is a most true story…  This was 1975 and I was living in Bedford, Ohio, a suburb of Cleveland, Ohio.  One day in the morning it must have been around 4:00 or 4:30.  And a very, big, golden light… I saw a golden light, someone woke me up, I was still in the bed, and the background was the white wall of my apartment, that golden light spoke to me, the language is English, and said that at one point in time I was a very famous musician in Germany.  And they said we have reserved your german house, you are in heaven, it is filled with music.  And after my death, they will take me back to my German house which has a very grand piano.  The golden light talked to me and said that we are going to take you back to music.   And the thing was so personal, so special.  

Leticia Alaniz:  It sounds like it.  So spiritual!  

Trivedi:  Yeah, why would anybody care to come from heaven, without appointment or anything in the early morning and wake me up and say, "Hi…Hey you, I want to talk to you!"  At the time, I had to have eight graduation units of the 96 I needed to graduate with a MFA, so eight units I took in music and I made a presentation.  This was music I know, this much I can play, this much I can talk and they liked it very much.  And they also gave me a scholarship.  They said, "Yeah, you are very good".  So, eventually after that I fell down and broke my fingers and took care of my fingers.  I moved to Santa Clara and I went to San Jose University and told them my story.  "I said, look I want to study music."  They said, "What do you do?"  I said, "I'm an art instructor."  So they asked me to come for an interview.  They looked at my credentials and they encouraged me to study music.  If I want to go back to 1975, I would say that the golden light was burning fire.  

Leticia Alaniz:  Well I don't think that was just a golden light because here we have proof of your recordings.  It was a dream for you, but it is a reality for your fans and those whom appreciate fine music.  Tell us about this.  

Trivedi:  The Raga Impressions!  You know I'm an impressionist painter, and when I look at the keyboard of a piano, I think, why can't I create a painting.. you see each key on a piano keyboard has a special color.  I look at the entire keyboard like there are so many colors there.  So striking a piano key in such a way, so it should create an impressionist brush stroke.  So the basic idea is, can I do that, can I be allowed to do that, and lots of great musicians say, yes it's very possible and also very acceptable because you are still working within the classical discipline.  So within the classical discipline, I play classical hindustani music.  I get a tabla player which is a pair of indian drums, and we practice and I try to create the entire mood, the Raga mood that is.  So in The Raga Impressions there is a complete presentation in a most traditional,  classical way.  But then in some cases I am running of it and creating and impressionist feeling of a Raga.  It shouldn't be very difficult to understand, that is what I'm trying to do.  Something very light, very much just searching for a light, in a most lighter way.  

Leticia Alaniz:  The cover to this collection of Ragas is absolutely beautiful and it is also one of your paintings.  Will you play one of your Raga pieces for us?  

Trivedi:  Yeah, I certainly would.  Thank you, thank you very much for asking me!  Let me tell you one thing.  I play very much in a traditional style.  You know, our classical Indian music is very monophonic, at a time you touch one note.  Western classical music is a form of compound sound which we call polyphonic.  I will do two small pieces for you and your audience.  One will be very traditional, I will try to play like a sarod.   The other piece which I will play in a Raga, at that time I created a very special romantic feeling.  My work got very much influenced by Chopin and Franz Liszt, and one I like a lot Schubert.  Here is a piano, my favorite instrument because I like the sound and it is the discipline that I belong to.  I'm a historian of hindustani music and in my studies in the classroom and outside the classroom, I love Frederick Chopin's trait, I'll do a little bit of that for you.  Remind me if forget, there is something that is not in our tradition, a heavy imposition and the introduction of the polyphonic system.  So then, I'm a student.  I'm trying to create a totally new music.  

Leticia Alaniz:  It's all unique and original.  Everything that I have heard of yours is unique.  I have never heard anything so amazing like this because there are many artists whom record a specific style but yours is totally unique. 

Kartik Trivedi & Leticia Alaniz

Trivedi:  Thank you, I appreciate your good comments and as you know a good comment always helps the artist.  A bad comment can kill the artist.  People get so much joy out of it, ahh I killed him man!  Stop!  help him, help that poor guy or poor girl!  So we need a lot of encouragement and a lot of good things around us.  By the way, soft drinks always help me, getting lost into my little world of art and music.  Sometimes one can goes inside my system, and I feel oh my god, I'm on the ninth cloud, it could be even the tenth cloud who knows!  

Leticia Alaniz:  Let's hear you play a little bit.    

Trivedi:  First what I will do is play a small Raga, then I will talk a little bit, then a polyphonic piece.

Leticia Alaniz: This is a mystical experience!   

Trivedi:  Yes, very mystical!  Oh! I'm gonna get you!  I like the sound of piano so much.

Leticia Alaniz:  Yeah, so do I…  What is this piece you're going to play for us?  

Trivedi:  It is a very traditional classical raga a Noon Raga, it is a noon melody, and I will play in a very traditional style like an instrumental solo.  Next I would like to do a special piece for you and your audience in a western polyphonic sound which is basically in a pentatonic scale.  

Leticia Alaniz:  Thank you very much for playing two beautiful pieces for me.  It has been an immense honor and pleasure to meet you and I thank you for your time and I appreciate you coming out for this very special interview.   

Trivedi:  I feel very honored to be interviewed by you and I just don't know how to say thanks, thanks a million!  

Leticia Alaniz:  It has been all my pleasure and I thank you.  May you have a long life.  

Trivedi:  Muchas gracias señorita. I hope I didn't goof too much today... 

Maestro Kartikbhai as he is respectfully called in Gujarat culture, is an artist whom had a dream since his early childhood.  Since his humble beginnings he worked hard to become an accomplished musician, composer and painter.  He has an enviable personality that flourishes with grace and comedy and if you look carefully it is exposed onto his music and paintings.  With sincerity and dedication he has lived a life of accomplishments holding four Masters degrees in Economics/Political History from Gujarat State University in India, Master in Art History from Case Western Reserve University, Master of Fine Arts from Kent University, and a Master in World Music from San Jose State University.

His piano compositions are deeply moving, mesmerizing, and emotional and they convey his message through one's body, mind, and soul.  It is music that cannot be placed in one single category.  It is a loving marriage of classical indian hindustani music and western classical.  He is a living legend, a rare musician.

Note: This is a transcript of an interview that was filmed live and unscripted.  A special appreciation for cameramen Tony Quinn and Joe Rodriguez of JR Media Group International, Yogi Patel of Pratham USA, Mihir Patel, Prerna Bohre, and David Roziere for providing the location for filming.  

Please Join for an Art Exhibition & Piano Concert By Kartik Trivedi.  

Sunday, March 24th 2013

At Windsor, 7750 LBJ Frwy. Dallas, TX 75251

Art Exhibition: 12 pm - 7 pm

Music:      5 pm - 7 pm

Salaam Bombay!

Mira Nair directed one of my all- time favorite Indian films: Salaam Bombay! (1988) which is considered one of the top foreign films ever made.  Few Indian films reach western audiences the way Salaam Bombay! touched the hearts of many in a raw look into a small slice of life of a child played by Shafiq Syed in a city of millions.  There's so much to discuss on this genuine gem of a film centered on the unfortunate adventure of an 11-year-old boy named Krishna who ends up alone in the big city of Bombay now known as Mumbai.  Krishna lives with his mother and older brother whom constantly bullies him.  One day he gets very angry at his brother after being bullied and he sets fire on his brother's motorbike.  To punish him, his mother tells him he has to pay for the ruined motorbike and that he will have to work hard.  She takes him to a traveling circus and abandons him there telling him not to return home until he has earned 500 rupees or the equivalent of little over $7 dollars.  The boy eagerly begs for work at the circus and he's taken on.  As expected, the circus boss takes advantage of him and overworks him without pay.  One day the boss sends him to run an errand and when he returns, the traveling circus has packed up and left him behind with nowhere to go.  Alone and without the money to repay for the motorbike, he decides to take what little money he had and buys a ticket at the train station to travel to the nearest city, Bombay (Mumbai).  

Shafiq Syed in the role of Chaipau in
Mira Nair's Salaam Bombay!

Upon arrival, he's robbed of his meager possessions by other homeless kids.  He follows them into the dangerous red light district where he meets and befriends Chillum, a street-smart sixteen-year-old drug pusher and addict.  The streets in this old district are not only dangerous, they're dreadful and sad, where hundreds of children live and die on the streets, many at the hands of traffickers and abusers.  At this point, Chillum gives Krishna a new name, Chaipau.  Chaipau knows Chillum is not to be trusted but he has nobody else whom he can turn to and feels even a little bit safer in his company.  Soon Chillum helps Chaipau get a job as a runner (chaiwallah) selling tea (chai).  His job is to run up and down flights of stairs with trays of tea to a community in several buildings where he discovers a dark and savage underworld of drugs, prostitution, sweatshops, and poverty.  Chaipau sleeps anywhere he can in an abandoned building and he works hard saving everything he earns.  He hides all his money behind a brick where he thinks he can keep it safe.  He has only one goal in mind and that's to return home with the 500 rupees.  

Chaipau carries on for what seems like months with big dreams of earning enough money to return back home to his mother.  One day, Chillum convinces him to tell him where his secret hiding place is and that he will help him return home.  Chaipau, innocently believes him.  But Chillum betrays him and steals all the money leaving Chaipau with nothing and a heartbreaking feeling of hopelessness after working for such a long time.

As the narrative of the film continues, the audience develops a sense of pain along with the boy, yet the director's clever treatment of the film demonstrates how cruel a big city can be to a small boy.  He encounters countless abusive incidents from the tea (chai) vendor until one day a positive light sheds hope on him to cope with his loneliness and fear.  He meets a young girl of sixteen named Manju who lives with a Madam that runs a brothel.  Sadly, the Madam has plans of an age-old custom of selling the young girl's virginity to the highest bidder.  Chaipau wants to help Manju of her miserable and sad fate so he plans to help her run away.  It will be an extremely difficult escape so he pours gasoline in the room where Manju sleeps and sets the place on fire escaping out into the streets with Manju.   

Filmmaker Mira Nair

Mira Nair's gritty treatment of the film lends itself to the telling of the story in a docudrama style allowing for full bright colors photographing the sights and sounds in all of its naturalness.  The film is so real and raw, that it provokes many emotions in the viewer.   It offers a touch of fable much like beloved Charles Dickens' story Oliver Twist.  The director mixes realism, poverty and merciless satire as a way to describe the effects of harsh, brutal day to day worries of a small but highly intelligent boy.  Child labor exists in many parts of the world and India is not unique to these circumstances.  Chaipau endures a miserable existence and escapes into the streets carving out a chance for a better life along with other children in the streets of Bombay.  He is an innocent child trapped in a world where his only options seem to be working as a tea boy.  From this unpromising setting, however, a fairy tale also emerges. In the midst of corruption and degradation, the essentially innocent Chaipau remains pure-hearted; he steers away from evil when those around him give in to it, and in proper fairy-tale fashion, he eventually receives his reward.  On the way to this happy ending, Nair explores the kind of life an orphan, outcast boy could expect to lead in the largest industrialized city in India.  It is a film that raises concerns.  Is there hope for the children?  What will be their fate?  

Leticia Alaniz and Mira Nair

Salaam Bombay! is in Hindi and it is beautifully photographed by American cinematographer Sandi Sissel.  

A chai wallah (tea) runner in a crowded market in India.  

The small clay bowls are used to serve the tea.

Photograph by Leticia Alaniz © 2008 All Rights Reserved 

The following is a poem paying tribute to Salaam Bombay! by: Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni

All day I carry glasses of tea

down streets full of holes or feet

waiting to trip me.  Above summer is singing

the feathers of black pigeons

that circle and circle. Gopi carries a knife

with a twisted snake handle.

Each time a glass breaks

Chacha cuts my pay. 

Dark windows.

Women with satin eyes calling me. The tea

thick and sweet in its rippling brown skin.

Downstairs pimps play cards

all day. I take a sip from each glass

when no one is watching.

Broken-horned cow, chewing garbage

in the alley where we sleep.

Rain soaks my yellow shirt, turns the tea to salt. 

The cinnamon smell

of women's brown bodies.

When you can't stand any more.

the pavement is soft enough.

I am hiding my money behind a loose brick

in the bridge-wall.

First thing to learn: melt into pavement

when you hear police vans.

Sometimes my skin

doesn't want

to hold in all these bones.

Chillum sells hashish

to tourists by India Gate.

It pulls you out of your body, flings you

into the sun. The night Gopi mugged the old man

he bought us all

parathas at Bansi's Corner Cafe. 

Footsteps follow me, a muffled cough.

My soles are turning to stone. I must

lie down. The night-dust is warm as Shiva's ashes. 

When I have five hundred rupees

I can go back

to my mother in Bijapur.

Till I fall asleep I watch

that fierce glistening,

the sky full of scars.