Alice in Bakeland. Premiering at the Wild Peeta Bakefest.

I really did feel like Alice, wide-eyed and slightly nervous and terribly curious and horribly fidgety, wanting to run a finger through those chutneys and nibble at the cakes and snap a cookie right down its sugary center. All that, while cradling a camera the size of a musk melon, and an outrageously oversized patchwork bag that would have been perfect in another life as a farmer’s daughter [i.e. the daughter that skips along the countryside in her swaying white petticoats with no other worry than to pick cabbages or potatoes or whatever else was ready for a-picking.]

The Wild Peeta bakefest was clearly not the place for my countryside jaunt – it was more like a fish market in there, with a number of talented home bakers out to showcase their goodies, and many, many more people who’d stopped by to support them, get samples from them, photograph them, and then hand over a 5 or 10 dirham note and buy something scrumptious from them. I got to know about the well-Twittered community event from Sally Prosser, a fellow food blogger (My Custard Pie) who I was super excited to meet for the first time – so thanks again Sally for the tip, and to the folks at Wild Peeta for organizing this super fun foodie event!

Click HERE to check out what I noshed on at the bakefest.

Author: InaFryingPan

With a family legacy of ingenious cooks, a nutritionist and chef-extraordinaire mother, and a father who introduced me to steak and caviar when I could barely reach the table, I had no choice but to acquire a keen awareness of food during my childhood years in Dubai. But it was only after I found myself on a college campus in Philadelphia – far away from home, too cheap as a student to spend on anything other than pizza, and with dorm rooms that had little rat-holes of kitchens if they even had them at all – when I developed a heightened appreciation of food. An appreciation of food that I once ate every night at the dinner table in Dubai, but that was now an entire ocean away. I lusted for the culinary treasures that lay outside the stale walls of my college dining hall, hijacked friends’ kitchens to try my hand at something, anything , remotely edible, and greedily raided different websites in search of highly-rated restaurants. With my move to New York to work for a consulting firm that secretly harbored self-professed foodies, my appreciation transformed into a passion, an addicition. I felt like everyone around me in New York was talking about food: where to get the best cupcakes, pizza slices, banh mi, kati rolls, pho, fried chicken, and every other food item out there that is just a plain old dish in some part of the world, but that’s become hyped to unforeseen proportions in New York. What fuelled my addiction over time was travel to different cities, both for work and play, which gave me unfettered access to the culinary havens of not only New York, but also of DC, Virginia, Chicago, Houston, Vegas, Austin, Seattle and even a little city called Bentonville (Arkansas!). After 9 years away from home, I’ve finally taken the leap to come back to Dubai – with not just an awareness, but genuine appreciation and passionate addiction for what I’d taken for granted as a child. Mom, I’m back to reclaim my seat at your dinner table, and to rediscover this city with its ever-expanding menu of international flavors.

6 thoughts on “Alice in Bakeland. Premiering at the Wild Peeta Bakefest.

  1. Sally says:

    Thanks for the mention – and well done for a getting a gorgeous pic in frenetic conditions!

    Reply
    1. iliveinafryingpan says:

      Thanks Sally! Honestly, most of my photos were blurry cause I was bumping into people or trying to shoot before someone walked across the frame – but glad that I could salvage a few. To be repeated I hope…over coffee and camera chat soon! :)

  2. Radz says:

    This reminds of the time we went crazy baking muffins in High Rise East. It’s funny, I can envision your madness in the kitchen while reading your recipes :) Let’s bake when I come to Dubai! – Radz

    Reply

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