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Title: Monsoon Diary: A Memoir With Recipes by Shoba Narayan ISBN: 0-375-50756-6 Publisher: Villard Pub. Date: 15 April, 2003 Format: Hardcover Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $22.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.45 (11 reviews)
Rating: 3
Summary: A reasonable "recipe"
Comment: The idea of interspersing food recipes in a novel is not new and indeed, for books depciting life in India, such treatment is aplenty. "The Monsoon Diary" tells of the author's childhood years growing up in Madras. I especially like the narration of how the author's arranged marriage took place, how she met her future hubby and how he proposed- that is quite interesting. I could not recall reading such narration from the first-person perspective. The rest of the book is quite mundane. Nonetheless, a credible debut.
Rating: 5
Summary: Does for Madras what Calvin Trillin does for New York City
Comment: Shoba Narayan's "Monsoon Diary" is about her memories of growing up in Madras, South India, before immigrating to this country, and, about South Indian food: "A Memoir with Recipes". She delivers on both counts. (You know the author is going to stick to her roots, a true writer from Madras, when she starts by thanking her neighbors: "Prabha-mami, Nagarajan-Mama, Sumathi-ka, Babu-anna, Vijaya-aunty, and Nithya-uncle").
As memoir, it is for me, an immigrant from Madras, what "Midnight's Children" is for immigrants from Bombay: stories of growing up there, scenes of life in the city, and intimate portraits of family and friends. She transported me to familiar events and landmarks in Madras: Mardi Gras at IIT, Pondy Bazaar, Alsa Mall, WCC, Music Academy, Grand Sweets, Adyar Woodlands, Ambika Appalam Depot, Hotel Saravana Bhavan and yes, even Naidu Hall ("famous for its bras and "nighties," airy nightgowns made from the softest cotton").
Narayan, a recipient of the M.F.K. Fisher award for distinguished writing, writes well about idli-sambar and rasam, but when she writes about the art of eating off a banana leaf at South Indian weddings, and riffs on the real soul of South Indian food (largely still unfamiliar to most foodies), she does for Madras what Calvin Trillin does for New York City -you want to go there right now and eat it all: puli-kaachal, vatral kuzhambu, agathi keerai, murunga kai keerai, sojji-bajji, bonda-burfi, thaiyru saadam, narthangai uruga, upma, venn-pongal, murukkus, and cheedai. But don't be intimidated by this list; according to the author's mother-in-law, only "Three things are dear to a South Indian's heart: Hot Coffee, good yogurt, and pickles."
Narayan gives an engaging account of her new life in the USA, which takes her to college at Mount Holyoke, Massachusetts; then Delton, Michigan; Boston; Taos, New Mexico; Memphis, Tennessee; Connecticut; and New York City.
Her book includes 21 recipes including some of the items mentioned above. Portions of this book first appeared, in part, as pieces published in "Gourmet," "House Beautiful," "Saveur," "The New York Times," and in "Beliefnet" on the web.
"Monsoon Diary" will fit in well on my shelf right next to my favorite memoir about Madras and writing: "My Days," by R.K. Narayan (no kin to the author).
Rating: 4
Summary: Delicious on every level
Comment: ...and I'm not even a huge fan of Indian food!
But this memoir interlaced with exotic vegetarian recipes calling for ingredients I know I'd have trouble finding even in San Francisco's ethnic neighborhoods (it would help if I knew what they looked like), is a delicious international journey of discovery, both internal and gastronomic.
Breaking through many stereotypes we Americans hold concerning Indian food, culture, religion, and famelial traditions (including arranged marriage), Monsoon Diary, full of surprisingly eccentric characters, will surely stand the test of time, nestling on cookbook shelves as well among sociological texts.
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Title: The Turmeric Trail : Recipes and Memories from an Indian Childhood by Raghavan Iyer ISBN: 0312276826 Publisher: St. Martin's Press Pub. Date: 01 June, 2002 List Price(USD): $32.50 |
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Title: Untangling My Chopsticks : A Culinary Sojourn in Kyoto by Victoria Abbott Riccardi ISBN: 0767908511 Publisher: Broadway Pub. Date: 13 May, 2003 List Price(USD): $23.95 |
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Title: Fried Butter: A Food Memoir by Abe Opincar ISBN: 156947334X Publisher: Soho Press, Inc. Pub. Date: 01 April, 2003 List Price(USD): $18.00 |
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Title: From Curries to Kebabs : Recipes from the Indian Spice Trail by Madhur Jaffrey ISBN: 0609607049 Publisher: Clarkson Potter Pub. Date: 04 November, 2003 List Price(USD): $35.00 |
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Title: Rosemary and Bitter Oranges: Growing Up in a Tuscan Kitchen by Patrizia Chen ISBN: 0743222237 Publisher: Scribner Pub. Date: 25 March, 2003 List Price(USD): $24.00 |
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