Here I am, very near San Francisco at my son Shakir and his wife Sheila’s home, and have just finished cooking a large pot of aloo gosht. Although he spends at least a fortnight in Pakistan every two months, Shakir still misses desi food when he’s here. His longstanding request has always been aloo gosht — the dish so many of us have grown up with, and regard as comfort food.

The Bay area is a foodie paradise, not just for the restaurants, but also the food markets and fresh ingredients. A couple of days ago, We drove to Sonoma, about an hour away, to meet an old friend I had gone to school with in Paris, a lifetime ago. I had found La Salette, a Portuguese restaurant, on the internet, and was delighted that it surpassed my expectations. In fact, it was probably the best eatery I had been to in the two trips to this part of the US. I had an excellent Brazilian dish consisting of sausages, pulled beef and black beans.

Shakir had a sandwich that he described as sensational: cheese, eggs and lamb were layered between two slices of bread, and a saffron-infused sauce was poured on top. We shared the dessert, which consisted of a pot of crème brulee, one of ice cream and a third one of chopped pineapple. A delicate net of diaphanous spun sugar transformed it into a joyous display. The service was friendly and assured, and the experience was worth every penny.

A fortnight of gourmet cooking, eating and exploring restaurants

Last week, we had Shakir and Sheila’s neighbours, Paul and Jean, over for dinner, so I decided to cook my mother’s version of leg of lamb. I asked the excellent local butcher to remove the bone as I find this reduces the cooking time, and also allows the marinade to reach more of the meat. At home, I prepared a mixture of the following ingredients: yoghurt, mustard, olive oil, ground cumin, red chilli powder, salt, pepper, crushed garlic and lemon juice. With a fork, I pricked the meat repeatedly on both sides, a procedure known as ‘gudai’, and then lathered it with the marinade, and let it sit for a couple of hours before popping it into the oven on a very low setting. It was allowed to cook for around four hours while its divine aroma permeated the house.

I had followed the procedure Zain, my brother Navaid’s cook, had shown me recently in Karachi, and was gratified when Paul pronounced the dish as the best lamb he had ever had. Next time, though, I think I will cook it initially at high heat to seal in the juices, and then lower the oven setting.

Recently, Paul and Jean took us to China Village, their favourite Chinese restaurant close to Berkeley; it had a huge menu, including a dish that featured ‘umami frog’. Umami, of course, is the fifth element of flavour along with sweet, sour, salty and bitter — and I hadn’t had frog in a long time. In fact, I haven’t seen any on a menu outside of France. But when it arrived, it was with lots of vegetables, and cut up into small pieces. I was expecting frogs’ legs, the way they are served in France, but with Chinese spicing. Finding tiny bones with every mouthful certainly did not add to the experience, but ‘try everything once’ has long been my motto.

The tofu with chilli sauce was seriously good, but the outstanding dish was the Szechuan lamb: succulent and spicy, it was cooked to perfection. The egg-fried rice with stir-fried meat also went down well, and we drove back absolutely full.

Cousins who live an hour away came over to see me, and I thought as they often ate desi food, I would do something different. So I produced a saffron risotto, grilled lamb chops and baked aubergine. As you can see, my fortnight here has been spent cooking and exploring restaurants; two of my favourite pastimes. Now to England, and back to a strict diet.

Published in Dawn, Sunday Magazine, May 8th, 2016