Writing at the intersection of sweets, culture, identity, and emotion.

Shikha la Mode
Shikha Kaiwar
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Pumpkin Everything, Everywhere, All At Once

As a Californian, fall in London is strange. I come from a land without seasons and therefore without a sense of time. For my whole life, I relied on something else to signal that fall had begun, which doesn't exist in London—rows and rows of canned pumpkin.

Shikha Kaiwar
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Diwali, chai ganache, and questioning tradition

Every since I started hosting Diwali dinner parties, I wonder what all millennial children-of-immigrants wonder: Am I doing it right?

Shikha Kaiwar
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Does wedding food matter?

What happens if wedding food isn't an experience? What if the food is just that—food? Sustaining, necessary, straightforward food. What sort of memory do guests now have about a wedding...about our wedding?

Shikha Kaiwar
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Paris, again (and again, and again, and again)

Loving Paris isn’t special. Almost everybody loves this city because Jesus, look at it. It’s dreamy and goddamn delicious.

Shikha Kaiwar
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Finding flavour when you just can't get a break

I've been talking to many of my friends who create art—poetry, food, music, essays. They're all saying the same thing—that it's been really tough. Right when we feel a spark of creativity, the world pulls a bait-and-switch. A changing social media algorithm.

Shikha Kaiwar
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Y'all told me to watch "The Bear" so I did. Let’s talk about it.

Anyone who has worked in kitchens knows that this is not a pretty world, and this show brings that messy reality to the masses in an honest way. But a few things are missing that keep me from loving it.

Shikha Kaiwar
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She's a ten but she turns on the oven when it's 38 degrees outside.

Turning on the oven in a heat wave sounds straight up insane. But every restaurant right now is doing it; during we did it too. The thermostat would creep up and we'd watch, but only for a second because we had crostatas to bake. It was hot but the show must go on.

Shikha Kaiwar
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Aging food, aging humans (it's my birthday!)

I’m thirty-three today! And I feel….exactly the same. Thirty-three isn’t a momentous age. There are no milestones to hit, no boxes to check. At thirty-three, I am deep into adulthood but still trying to figure adulthood out. I am doing double the taxes (perks of moving abroad,

Shikha Kaiwar
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In July, food radiates possibility.

💡After a hiatus to get my mental health in order, I'm back!Every summer, I remember the Electric Daisy Carnival. It’s a three-day rave that used to take place in Los Angeles but has since moved to Las Vegas, and as the name suggests, it's

Shikha Kaiwar
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A spelt strawberry torte and the start of summer

I know it's summer when the strawberries start tasting sweet.

Shikha Kaiwar
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Travel Guide: Marrakech, Morocco

Marrakech consists of an old and new city which often overlap. The Medina is crowded, interesting, and historical, full of winding alleys, souks to shop and bargain at, and the famous Jamaa El Fna Square and Koutoubia Mosque. Prayer bells sound five times a day, and you can feel the energy of faith.

Shikha Kaiwar
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Gajar halwa is the best Indian dessert and I will fight you on this

Three days before we arrive, I Whatsapp my aunty that I want her to show me how to make gajar halwa. I text her this before every India trip—not because I've forgotten how to make it, but because making it transports me to another world where I feel as luxurious as the royalty from which it came.