Author: Nilanjana S Roy
Editor(s): Nilanjana S Roy
Publisher: Penguin
Year: 2004
Language: English
Pages: 363
ISBN/UPC (if available): 0143031481
Description
A delectable collection of writing on food and its place in our lives that brings together some of the most significant Indian voices over the last century.
From lavish meals, modern diets and cooking lessons that serve as a rite of passage to fake fasts and real ones, fish, feni and fiery meals that smack of revenge, this book has something to satisfy every palates.
Gandhi's guilt-ridden account of his failed flirtation with eating meant starkly complements Ruchir Joshi's toast to the senses as he describes his characters discovering a truly alternative use for some perfectly innocent shrikhand. In unique gastronomic takes on history, Salman Rushdie, Amitav Ghosh and Saadat Hasan Manto ensure that we will never look at chutney, a Tibetan momo or jelly in quite the same way again. Food becomes the less appetizing religious line of control for Abdul Bismillah's guest when a simple meal illustrates the rather thin divide between guest and host, while subtler shades of deprivation mark Anjana Appachana's Anu as she keeps a fast that reeks of prejudice. And in faraway lands, across the seven seas, the search for fresh fish accentuates the loneliness of a life without familiar moorings for Jhumpa Lahiri's Mrs Sen even as Anita Desai's Arun learns from his American hosts the importance of keeping the freezer full.
As much about food as it is about good-writing. A Matter of Taste serves up a veritable feast for the senses and food for thought to sample or devour, as one pleases.
Contents
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
INTRODUCTION: SETTING THE TABLE
INDIVIDUAL PORTIONS
SALMAN RUSHDIE
On Leavened Bread
BUSYBEE
My First Buffet Lunch
VIR SANGHVI
Past Times: First Tastes That Lasted Forever
ROHINTON MISTRY
Gustad’s Chicken
M K GANDHI
Eating Meat
FRANK SIMOES
Everything You Ever Wanted to Know about Feni but Were Too Drunk to Ask
SUDHA KOUL
Flesh in the Valley
GITHA HARIHARAN
The Remains of the Feast
HISTORY ON A PLATTER
MUKUL KESAVAN
Banquet Nationalism
E M FORSTER
The Outsider’s Thali
I ALLAN SEALY
Trotter Laws
GEOFFREY C WARD AND DIANE R WARD
English Soup
SAADAT HASAN MANTO
Jelly
SALMAN RUSHDIE
Chutnification
AMITAV GHOSH
Tibetan Dinner
FOOD AND THE SENSES
RAJ KAMAL JHA
Baby Food
ANURADHA ROY
Cooking Women
BUSYBEE
Charms of Life
RADHIKA JHA
Initiation
RADHIKA JOSHI
Shrikhand
MULK RAJ ANAND
Bread for the Sweeper
SUKETU MEHTA
Black-Collar Workers
SARAT CHANDRA CHATTERJEE
Mahesh
PURABI BASU
French Leave
ABDUL BISMILLAH
Guest is God
P SAINATH
Everybody Loves a Good Drought
MASALA MIX
VIR SANGHVI
Bhelpuri: It’s All about Texture
BULBUL SHARMA
The Anger of Aubergines
DAVID DAVIDAR
The Great Mango Yatra
CHITRA BENERJEE DIVAKARUNI
The Secrets of Spices
I ALLAN SEALY
Just Desserts
DEPRIVATION
BIBHUTIBHUSHAN BANDOPADHYAYA
Apu’s Trials
R K NARAYAN
Fasting
MANJULA PADMANABHAN
The Diet
ANJANA APPACHANA
Leftovers
MAHASWETA DEVI
Salt
ACROSS THE SEVEN SEAS
JHUMPA LAHIRI
Mrs Sen’s
V S NAIPAUL
Mr Biswas Rebels
ANITA DESAI
Shopping for More
CHITRITA BENERJI
A Barisal Winter
ATUL GAWANDE
The Man Who Couldn’t Stop Eating
NOTES ON CONTIBUTORS
COPYRIGHT ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS