Craving lychees

Originally uploaded by lools.

It's a gusty, rainy, dreary day in Manhattan. I'm stuck indoors, desperately trying to check things off my growing To-Do list. All I can think of is biting into a crispy, juicy, freshly peeled lychee and rounding that off with some vanilla ice cream. Yum! Just thinking of that is lightening up my mood.

Lychees have always been my favourite fruit. Growing up in Bangalore, lychees with ice cream was a special treat from my parents when we would go out to eat. I wasn't really supposed to be eating ice cream as I suffered from bronchitis (thanks to all that horrible pollen in Bangalore) but my mom would give in from time to time to my incessant demands as long as I promised to warm the ice cream in my mouth before sending it down my throat! I remember this place on M.G. Road called Lake something that served the freshest and most succulent lychees with ice cream. We would pull up near the shop in our old fiat car, double park (M.G.Road was always humming with cars) and patiently wait for dessert to be brought to the car. I would take my time over each juicy fruit in the bowl but the lychees always seemed to disappear faster than I could fully enjoy my treat.

Whenever we go to Chinese, Japanese or Thai restaurants in Manhattan, I usually look for lychees in the menu. So far the only exceptional dishes for me have been the lycheetini at Nobu and the good old lychees with ice cream at Chinese Mirch.