A Matter of Taste: The Penguin Book of Indian Writing on Food

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 and fiery meals that smack of revenge, this book has something to satisfy every palace.

Gandhi's gift-ridden account of his failed flirtation with eating meat starkly complements Ruchir Joshi's toast to the senses as he describes his characters discovering a truly alternative use for some perfectly innocent shrikhant. 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 les 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.

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