MY FAVOURITE MIDNIGHT TREAT
SHREWSBURY BISCUIT
By
VIKRAM KARVE
From my Foodie Archives
A Pune Speciality
Shrewsbury Biscuit
It’s almost midnight and I’m sitting in glorious solitude on my favourite sofa in the living room watching a film on TV.
Wife and kids are fast asleep inside; only my pet dog Sherry lies curled up fast asleep on her “bed” in her cubicle in the corner.
I tiptoe to the kitchen, pull out a tin from its secret hiding place, open it, take out my favourite midnight snack, and walk back to my sofa.
I have in front of me a Shrewsbury Biscuit from Kayani Bakery.
I look at the Shrewsbury Biscuit.
Embossed is the emblem of Kayani Bakery with the words Shrewsbury Kayani Bakery written all around.
I smell the crisp appetizing biscuit.
Yes, I discern that unique enticing fruity aroma – the first test of a genuine Shrewsbury.
I take a bite.
Crunchy, crisp, scrumptious – words cannot describe the tempting taste, delectable lively flavor and delightful sensation as the Shrewsbury Biscuit dissolves in my mouth.
A Shrewsbury Biscuit entices you, perks you up and leaves a superb ambrosial aftertaste, which tantalizingly lingers on your tongue for a long long time.
That is why you should never have tea, coffee, or anything else with Shrewsbury Biscuits.
It will spoil the heavenly experience.
I’ve seen people hurriedly washing down a Shrewsbury Biscuit with tea, even dipping the revered biscuit in their tea – that’s sacrilege…!
Sit quietly in solitude, focus your attention, stimulate your tastebuds, and mindfully savor the Shrewsbury.
Absorb all its distinctive characteristics – the taste, the flavour, the fragrance – in their entirety, till you experience sheer bliss.
Relishing a Shrewsbury is similar to enjoying a good wine – you lovingly admire it, caress it, air it a bit, imbibe its fruity aroma, lovingly nurture it in your mouth, then thoroughly relish it, and, finally, rejoice in the glorious aftertaste, and you will feel stimulated to a higher plane of inner joy.
As compared to Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Lucknow, and many other places, Pune is way behind as a Foodie destination.
But there are some inimitable delights for which Pune is famous, which are unique to Pune and you don’t get anywhere else.
Like Kayani Bakery’s Shrewsbury Biscuit – it’s superb, unique, matchless, delicious – I don’t think you get anything like it anywhere else in India, or, maybe, in the world…!
There are many imitators, claiming to be Shrewsbury, but genuine Kayani’s is truly supreme. No doubt about it.
If you’re dying for an authentic Shrewsbury Biscuit, you’ll have to come to Pune and head for Kayani Bakery on East Street…!
Dear fellow Foodie. The next time you’re in Pune, after you treat yourself to Shrewsbury from Kayani on East Street, try their inimitable Cheese Papri, Chocolate Walnut Cake, Wine Biscuits, Mawa Cake and other baked delights too.
And whilst you are in Pune, don’t forget Chitale’s Amba Barfi and Bakarwadi, Laxminarayan Chiwda, Budhani’s Wafers, Bhavnagri’s Shev Barfi, Dorabjee’s Biryani, Good Luck’s Mutton Cutlet Curry, Vaishali’s SPDP, Kayani’s Chocolate Walnut Cake, Marzorin’s Rolls and Sandwiches, Spicer’s Lamington, Hindustan Bakery’s Patties, Pasteur Bakery’s Macaroons, Shreyas and Durvankur Maharashtrian Thali, Sujata and Kawre’s Mastani, and genuine authentic Puneri Bhel from Kalyan or Kalpana (not the imitation pseudo bhel they concoct at Chowpatty in Mumbai).
HAPPY EATING
VIKRAM KARVE
© vikram karve., all rights reserved.
Dear Reader, why don't you have a COCKTAIL with your biscuit? To order your delicious Cocktail, please click any of the links below:
Not fair, Vikram, to right about the joys of eating Kayani's Shrewsbury biscuit, when I am so far away in Mumbai and can only dream about it. :-(
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