Fantastic day in Kochi, India today. We checked out the spice market as well as the local attractions. The spices were good, but not extraordinary. But that was fine--I didn't expect to find extraordinary things very quickly.
I did find two more exceptional peppercorns when I was in Wayanad, a super hot organic Malabar and a more mellow green variety that I will be considering. Wayanad is known around the world for its amazing peppercorns.
I will be posting lots of photos from Kochi soon. But in the meantime, I thought I'd share a story. I've been working hard the last couple of days to find common musical ground in the car with Divakar's 20 year-old nephew, Akshay. He kept playing loud American rap songs which weren't doing it for me. Then this morning, he put on an Indian song and I immediately fell in love with it.
In just a few minutes, I had learned the chorus and soon the two of us were belting out the words together and laughing hysterically in the back seat of the car as we wound our way through the bustling streets of Kochi. If you happen to drive by my house next week and hear a loud Indian song blasting through the windows, you'll know where I heard it.