Skip to main content

Book Review.

By
Image courtesy Indianfoodrocks.com



http://www.peppertrail.com/php/displayContent.php3?link_id=186 - 33k 


I heard about this book from another Blog that I follow (indianfoodrocks.com), took my own time ordering it from Amazon.com & when it finally arrived today, I was like... 'what was I thinking, putting off buying this book'.


 I don't believe I have ever curled up on the couch & read a recipe book from cover to cover in one sitting. but then, calling this book a recipe book would be severely shortchanging the sheer nostalgic thrill it gave me. Of course, I plan to go back to page 1 & start all over again!

 This book would have been a best selling memoir had it been written by a high end celebrity chef from Food Network but the stories told by this author about her childhood in Kerala are no less in terms of captivating the imagination.

In the first 1/3rd of the book, Ms. Ramachandran talks about her idyllic childhood growing up in Kerala as a member of the  Kochi royal family. Contrary to the fairytale princess stories that one would associate with such a privileged background, she focuses on the elegant simplicity that remains a hallmark of Keralans to this day irrespective of their social background. Their food is not embellished with silver leaves, nor is it served on gold platters, just because they are royalty, a point she brings out so well in talking about her grandfathers fondness for the humble 'kanji' (p. 90), and yet it clearly is food fit for the most royal of kings.

History in school would have been so fascinating had it been explained the way Ammini skillfully weaves the rich threads of Kerala's  spice trade alliances with Europe and the Middle East. The cross pollination of Malabar  spices and new world produce such as chili peppers, potatoes & tomatoes have culminated in a culinary legacy unique to South India.

For those readers who may be daunted by the ingredients, relax, Ms. Ramachandran devotes a generous section of the book to detailed yet succinct descriptions of all the ingredients found in a typical South Indian pantry

The third dimension so well expressed in this book is the intrinsic association of food & religious/social festivals and occasions. If we were to look back at what constitutes pleasant memories from times gone by, The probability that food is somehow part of it is high. (on the contrary, how many of us have enrapturing flashbacks of food from the local McDonalds?). She stirs up memories of intimate ceremonies that many South Indians perform at home that outsiders are not privy to. One ceremony in particular that misted my vision was the 'Ammini Kozhakattai' ceremony that babies are initiated through when they begin crawling & become mobile. The prayer to the almighty is pure & simple.. 'Lord, protect this child as it begins exploring the world'. I could not help recalling the time when my late mom did it for my son, & how immensely I missed her comforting presence the next time around.

The recipes are the classic dishes that you would find in traditional South Indian families that adhere to a vegetarian diet. A refreshing aspect is that she does not make it sound orthodox and stodgy, but instead she makes valuable recommendations of pairings with beer & margaritas. There are sections devoted to breakfast dishes, main courses ( if there is such a thing in traditional southie cuisine), desserts, dishes associated with festivals, religious & social.

In conclusion, this is one book that would make a lot of us pick up the phone & call our mommies, mentally making a decision to pay more attention to what she's been telling you all along... or mentally accept selling your soul to the Devil if it bought you some more time with her..

Grains, Greens and grated coconuts is available in the us through Amazon.com (Borders and Barnes & Noble claim its a print to order.. whatever that means)

http://www.amazon.com/Grains-Greens-Grated-Coconuts-Remembrances/dp/160528016X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1284678412&sr=1-1

Comments

Post a Comment

I'd love to hear feedback from you, your thoughts, ideas and suggestions.

Popular posts from this blog

Unusual Ingredients - Unripe Blueberry Achar

By
T'was just another Summer afternoon, The kids were home for the summer holidays, getting bored, there's only so much summer reading you can force them to do, and the Indian mommy in me could no longer caution them against going out in the afternoon  (I've solemnly refused to use that horrid excuse of 'You'll get a dark tan if you stay out in the mid day sun'), and so we decided to head out to Terhune orchards for the blueberry picking. The kids never say no to outings to the orchard, they LOVE the trip there, the cute yellow dogs and the cats,  the chocolate crinkle and Snickerdoodle cookies, and they positively trip over grabbing buckets and heading joyfully towards the berry bushes... ... And there it ends, the younger one loses herself in her delightful imaginary worlds where she probably thinks she's hacking her way through virgin Amazon jungle, sighing at every branch that brushes against her legs, picks 2 or 3 berries as if they were a new as
6 comments
Read more

Sputtering back....

By
I seriously feel like this scene from the movie 3 idiots .. remember this one? The way I kept racking up drafts and eventually stopped doing that as well. Lulled into complacence by the quick high from Instagram posts. Recipe measurements hastily scribbled into a Moleskine notebook faithfully depending upon my moods. The truth is that I keep over thinking the backstories needed to make the post more interesting while in reality the truth is that ideas and inspirations just occur spontaneously (like little itches , sneezes or twitches) whenever the opportunity happens to strike. Some really cool ideas that scare the beejeezus out of me and yet prove to be utterly delightful and simple in the end. Others, that seem so trivial that I feel it wouldn't be worth crowing about -- even if there are enough other recipes in that genre that get so much publicity simply because the author happens to have the right marketing knack. So in the past 4 years that I've been
3 comments
Read more

Product Review: Ninja Mega Kitchen system and a recipe for Masala Dosa

By
 One of the biggest reasons for attending conferences is the priceless experience of meeting fellow bloggers and get an invaluable exposure to all things  culinary. This includes vendors with new products to savor and get inspiration from. I had no complaints about whatever appliances I had for making traditional Dosa (Traditional South Indian rice & lentil crepes) batter, a sturdy tabletop stone grinder that you could add the Urad dal, turn the timer on , and 30  minutes later, come back to a container full of fluffy, batter with the consistency of whipped egg whites. The The cons of this is the cleaning up, of the various parts, the roller, the grinding bin, the multiple trays on which the rollers need to be placed while transferring the rice & lentil batter, the invariable drips of thick batter on the counter.... you get the point, It takes quite a bit of time. I was pleasantly surprised when the appliance company, Ninja asked me if I'd like to try any of their
14 comments
Read more