BOOKS OF 2022

 

HAPPY NEW YEAR folks. May all of you are blessed with great days ahead.

Well, well friends. I have run out of all sorts of apology that one can think of, let's just think of it as one of my attributes. something tells me, my readers are known for their forgiving nature.

Mine however started on a not so pleasant note, I would like to refrain from belching out deets. Keep me in your prayers and hope things get back to track. Back to the good things now: Nothing can be better than books, my one and only consistent dear friend who has never ever deserted me. It's true most of the books I collected and read is related to food (hence we are talking about it ion a public forum concerned with food), but there has been a  few de-tours as well, those shall also be talked about with pleasure. 

1. HARRY POTTER AND THE PHILOSPHER'S STONE, J.K.Rowling

There is no living or noN living human that I know who haven't relished the drops of magic elixir oozed out by the very gifted Mr. Potter and his friends. I, myself have been a convert from no-liker to an aficionado of the movie series. The book however is the first for me. 20222 had started with my second brush with Covid, this book did brought in a lot of joy.  The beautiful scarlet hard bound baby is special as it was a gift from my bestie.

2. THE PARSI KITCHEN, Anahita Dhondy

Another read from Covid times. while couple of my senses had gone for a complete toss, browsing through the glossy pages and reading through the delicious narrations from a Parsee kitchen, did make it easier to mouth the tasteless morsels of food. Great read, shall you contemplate stories and recipes together, intertwined to create a feel good story. I am yet to cook from this book, and once I do, I shall, like always share the recipe by this very talented chef.

3. DURGA, ROOP-A RUPANTORE, Purba Sengupta

A detailed descriptive read on the most loved Goddess of Bengal, Mahishashur-Mardini, a revered and adored form of goddesses Durga. Long. complex, informative & might I add in certain places a bit repetitive. I have been in love with the deity since 2020, from the time she started blessing us with her presence, reading up about her started taking its roots since then. This book btw, was an old edition, that I had collected from an online platform.

4. PARSI FOOD & TRADITIONS, Bhikoo J Manickshaw

I first heard the mention of this lady from Maneka Gandhi, the politician, while being interviewed by the pristine white clad Simi Garewal. This book is a repository of all things pertaining to the custom, tradition and gastronomical traditions. The recipes, when you read through aren't that difficult, rooted in stories of their culture, I am sure most of it will be a delight to cook, eat and feed, while sadly a few would need tweaking. But as Fate would have it, I haven't had a chance to cook from this one as well.

5. THE NON-SERIOUS GUIDE TO BENGALI FOOD, Arpan Ray

Raisa, my dearest friend had sent me this book as she felt it would eb an apt choice for me. And so it was. Not only for the affection of my friend, but this authour has outdone himself with his sense of humour and addressing all points pertaining to bengali cuisine as we bengali's know it, and how it matters in our life. The tiny chapters and the funny illustrations wouldn't allow you to put it down. Honestly I enjoyed reading it the most in 2022. No recipes, no cooking and hence no guilt.

Let me stop by to say, buy this or read this, whichever way. I loved the shade of red of the cover.

6. A TASTE OF MY LIFE, Chitrita Banerjee

Madam, allow me to bow my head in reverence. Lucid crisp writing. anecdotes of very personal moments, she almost ended up putting all those unsaid unexpressed emotions into words and how poetic they sound. My second most loved loved read from 2022. I am planning to cook the "Chirer Pulao" from pages of this book, as a mark of respect for the author. ALL I know is that my foodie friends have to have this book with them, in their book collection. For me, an added bonus: it added quite a few words to my vocab. Wanna know my most favourite line and Philosphy imparted from the pages of this book with a green cover? I will share it, even if you wish to exercise refrain:

"Marriage is a lifelong undertaking to neat together." Profound.

7. A TASTE OF TIME, Mohona Kanjilal

The must-est addition to your collection, has to be, no arguments accepted. Browsing through the pages is almost like reading through a detailed research paper. I only thank you from the bottom of my heart for writing this book. My forever reference point to go back to, during moments of confusion. Also this took the lonest time for me to finish. 

8. ANGLO INDIAN FOOD AND CUSTOMS, Patricia Brown

A legend in her own right, Patricia has been lauded for being one of the primary curators of Anglo Indian cuisine. This book takes on a journey of various stages of  important life events, as believed by the community, neatly divided into chapters. Just like the others, recipes in tandem have been marked with fluorescent green post-it strips waiting to be cooked in my kitchen. Something tells me, the Brinjal masala, recipe, is going to make the first cut. Unlike many, this book contain quite a few beef or buff recipes for the lovers of that protein. I would advice homecooks to keep it as a part of their cookbook collection, before it disapperars into anonimity, it was first published in 1998.

9. RUDE FOOD, The collected food wriings of Vir Sanghvi

Reading through the pages of this book, can almost make you feel like not so old food history and towards the end of it, one kind of enjoys the dip into the pool of old food days. Vir talks about five star properties and restaurants, then and now, which to many of us, has be an unknown territory.; But you know you can place your faith on the words of this eloquent wise man. What sets this seasoned journalist cum celebrity food author apart from a self admitted food snob is his no-nonsense attitude towards gimmicks and ability to embrace paths not trodden by many depending on his personal choices. Be it ignoring whisky and paying attention to the good old celebrated bottled Monk. 

10. BONEDI KOLKATAR DURGOTSAV, Subhodip Roy Chowdhury

A very new publication, and honestly I was quite looking forward to it. Sadly, it wouldn't be wrong to say, no matter how meagre, a bad investment. The tiny book talks about Durga puja rituals of seven old "bonedi" (as it is called in Bengali, hence the name) families of Bengali, dating back to two to three hundreds years and how they have stick to the same process, even though monetary restrictions have curtailed certain sections of entertainment observed in the olden days. The author, doesn't show promise of good research, all facts revealed here , have been available on the web. 

11. BENGALI COOKING, Seasons & Festivals, Chitrita Banerjee

I have had already sung praises for this gifted author, and this book nails it all. Here she described all that is Bengal and Bengali, compartmentalising them into months following nomenclature of Bengali calendar. Recipes that she has shared have been woven into stories, and probably after a long time it so happened, the recipes had a poetic vibe to them. As like the others this has recipes marked out, however I feel based on availability "Beguner tok" can be put to use now. However, Pulipithe and duck bhuna and Kalojeere bhorta is on my bucket list. I am not ending this without sharing an excerpt:

"Bengalis considered the people of Maharastra uncivillised, not because the latter were continuously carrying out raids in Bengal and pillaging and torturing their victims, but for the unpardonable sin of not adding phoron to their daal."

They say, God is in the details. Couldn't have agreed more!!

12. TASTE MAKERS, Mayukh Sen

An immigrant Bengali boy, while breathing in the air of a foreign land, identified, sympathised and observed the journey of seven other women, stalwarts of the food industry, whose determination, hard work provided new direction to the gastronomical world that we see today.  Food as love language can do wonders, and this book for sure makes one to continue having faith in that sentiment. Commendable how those women from different backgrounds, varied faiths & economic divisions, contributed with such profound passion, strength and conviction, overcoming their physical & family handicapped condition, that history found in Sen it's muse to express gratitude. Girl power wins.

Reading is a hobby inculcated solely by my mother, encouraged by father since he has been the sole bread earner of the family. I stuck onto this friend, through all most all moments and paths of my life. Humans have finished their guest appearances in my life and disappeared, some continue to play their roles with perfect composure, tangles matters have taken it's toll, yet my union with reading has never been hampered, even for once. This has been a sort of love, that surely has been re-discovered , thank to the varied luminaries (i mean authors, old and new). Especially the period of 2020-2022, while surviving the pandemic and the perils of my previous employment, reading was my refuge to maintain sanity. I am glad I could finish the target of a dozen books I had given myself in the begning.

2023 hopefully will bring with it more of such new authors. THE JOURNEY HOWEVER HAS STARTED......

Read on...