Recipes are a great method of keeping culinary archives as well as a powerful form of culinary storytelling, capturing the essence of time, place, and tradition. With just a glance at an antique recipe, you can be transported back to the bustling kitchens of the Mughal era or the comforting warmth of a grandmother's hearth. In these cookbooks, written by women, food becomes more than sustenance—it becomes a portal to memories, emotions, and nostalgia. These authors delve deep into their culinary roots, preserving not just recipes, but the stories and heritage that surround them. Through their words, we discover the intimate connection between the dishes we love and the memories they evoke, all while gaining a deeper understanding of India's rich regional cuisine. Let us explore five of the most vibrant culinary writings and see what we can learn from them.
The star of Netflix's Chef's Table and the chef-owner of Darjeeling Express in London runs an all-women kitchen, creating a biryani that has people queuing up for hours. Khan recently released a cookbook titled Ammu, named after her mother. The book explores their relationship and the food that brings them together.
The book contains 100 recipes divided into five chapters for each decade of her life, starting with dishes from her childhood and ending with what she cooks for her children in London today. Khan's mother ran Lazeez, a catering service in Kolkata. The biryani recipe in the book is a very personal family recipe that Khan makes in a very old fashioned way. A lot of her food is presented with a cultural-historical context which makes it special.
Boston-based writer and food historian Chitrita Banerji is a renowned figure in the food writing world, known for works such as Life and Food in Bengal, The Hour of the Goddess: Memories of Women, Food, and Ritual in Bengal, and Eating India: An Odyssey into the Food and Culture of the Land of Spices. Her books skillfully blend memory, history, culture, religion, and personal experiences, making them both thought-provoking and refreshing, as anyone familiar with her work will attest. Her latest book, A Taste of My Life: A Memoir in Essay and Recipes, weaves together food and personal memories in an evocative way. Banerji's writing highlights how food can evoke powerful personal associations. For instance, she recalls a memorable dish from Bangladesh—a piece of hilsa baked into a savoury rice-flour pitha—describing the eclectic pleasure it brought her.
In Recipes for Life, Sudha Menon, an author and biographer, explores the deep connections between food and memory. Known for her works that delve into the ambitions and achievements of people from various walks of life, Menon was inspired to write this book after realizing that many Indian families do not document their recipes, leading to the loss of significant portions of their culinary history. She reached out to well-known Indians, asking them to share family recipes for dishes they particularly cherish—simple, everyday foods made by their mothers, filled with stories, memories, and nostalgia. The book features boxer Mary Kom reminiscing about her mother's Kopi Bhoot, Tan, and Ooti; author Amish Tripathi recalling his mother's warm and gooey Rice Khichdi served with ghee, dahi, papad, and a sprinkling of Buknu masala; and actor Vidya Balan raving about her mother's scrumptious Adai and podi. These stories celebrate the comfort and emotion tied to family recipes, making for a heartfelt culinary collection.
The fascinating anthology "Forgotten Foods: Memories and Recipes from Muslim South Asia" explores the rich culinary legacy of Muslim communities throughout South Asia. The book, co-edited by Tarana Husain Khan, Claire Chambers, and Siobhan Lambert-Hurley, brings together historians, writers, chefs, plant scientists, heritage practitioners, and literary scholars to record and preserve these communities' histories, tales, and recipes. The anthology, which includes recipes and personal stories ranging from the humble tastes of poet Faiz Ahmed Faiz to the distinctive Malay cuisine of Sri Lanka, showcases the many and sometimes disregarded culinary traditions. The culinary customs of underprivileged communities, like the Pangal community in Manipur, are also examined, and uncommon foods like Kashmir's saada saag and Kerala's jeeraga kanhi are featured. The book, released in October 2023 by Picador India, is an essential documentation of the significant influence that Muslim kitchens have had on South Asian culinary traditions.
An extensive anthology that delves into the culinary customs and cultural backgrounds of Muslim communities in South Asia and their diasporas is called "Desi Delicacies: Food Writing from Muslim South Asia," edited by Claire Chambers. Renowned authors, historians, and chefs such as Sadaf Hussain, Tabish Khair, Nadeem Aslam, and Rana Safvi have contributed to the book. The anthology explores the significance of food in Muslim South Asian homes through a blend of essays, stories, and recipes, emphasizing how culinary practices shape and reflect larger social, political, and economic contexts. The anecdotes and historical narratives in the collection provide insights into the history of beloved foods and the memories they arouse. Published by Pan Macmillan India, the book highlights the significant influence of Muslim South Asian food on the region's cultural legacy in addition to celebrating its diversity.