About Sensual Gourmet

This site is all about me and my ever-evolving relationship with food.  It comforts and sustains; it nourishes; it defines; it separates; it attracts.

I started to gather my thoughts and opinions, under the series title and later blog “Confessions of a Cardamom Addict.”  In time, my cooking, tasting, writing and photography evolved.   Nigella Lawson (a favourite food writer) summed up things perfectly in How to Eat: The pleasures and principles of good food,

 "Cooking is just not about joining the dots, following one recipe slavishly and then moving on to the next.  It's about developing an understanding of food, a sense of assurance in the kitchen, about the simple desire to make yourself something to eat."

Sensual Gourmet marks my own on-going education of food and growing assurance in the kitchen. My not-quite-daily scullery goings-on can be found in a second journal: "Sensual Gourmet: Kitchen Diaries."

The title, I think, sums up what cooking and eating are all about: the senses---the appearance of a rambutan—its burr-like hair on a red and brown shell contrasted against the pearlescent white of its fruit, the warm, yeasty scent that fills the home when baking bread, the sound of the song of a roasting chicken as its fats clarify in a hot oven, the feel—both the nubbly tactile nature of bittermelon and the soft, melting mouthfeel of panna cotta, and of course the taste of hot astringency of fresh ginger. 

 

The Official Bio

By day, Jasmine Mangalaseril is a public relations professional for a major Canadian financial services company. In her free time, her passion for all things food-related inspires her role as a dynamic, quick-witted and insightful food blogger.

Jasmine’s current online presence centres on her food blog, Confessions of a Cardamom Addict. A repository of her culinary accomplishments and experiments, it was featured on Culture.ca, profiled on FoodTV.ca’s “Food For Thought,” and was listed on Yahoo! Canada News’ In Depth Food and Health Page.  The founding editor of FoodieBlogs and former columnist for Canada Eats, she speaks to students, professional communicators and others about communications and social media.

 

Jasmine is also a freelance writer. Click here to find out how she can help you with your communications projects.

 

Contact Me

 

The Unofficial Story

As a child I knew I was blessed with a mum who, being an excellent Indian cook, instinctively understood the role of spices in cooking.  As a child I knew I was cursed with a mum who, being an excellent Indian cook, who habitually turned everything into a curry (try explaining to schoolmates why cinnamon and gingerroot are in the meatballs).  As an adult, everything I do with food is based on what she taught (and still teaches) me—whether a reaction to or an embrace of her ideas, preferences or habits.

Much to the chagrin of my parents, I showed no aptitude for maths or sciences and opted for an Art History degree.  I spent six years in Toronto’s arts scene, doing everything from managing choirs of hormonally-charged kids, to organizing swanky soirées, to averting a nervous breakdown while amassing a wardrobe that included four ball gowns.  I left the big city to find a solvent employer and be where people really know where milk comes from.  I found both.

Instead of completing my could-be underground cult favourite, semi-autobiographical novel, I forage for chocolate, conduct kitchen experiments and try to convince my cat that olives and lemongrass aren’t kitty food.