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Climbing the Mango Trees: A Memoir of a Childhood in India

Madhur Jaffrey

3.69 · Rating details · 2,127 ratings · 325 reviews

The enchanting autobiography of the seven-time James Beard Award-winning cookbook author and acclaimed actress who taught America how to cook Indian food.

Whether climbing the mango trees in her grandparents' orchard in Delhi or picnicking in the Himalayan foothills on meatballs stuffed with raisins and mint, tucked into freshly baked spiced pooris, Madhur Jaffrey's life ha ...more

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Paperback, 297 pages

Published October 9th 2007 by Vintage (first published October 6th 2005)

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Aug 13, 2011 Jennifer rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: book-club-books

For fans of Madhur Jaffrey's cookbooks, this memoir will be, well, ... weird. I have been a fan for years, ever since I picked up one of her cookbooks while living in London. She has come to feel very much of a household presence for me, and I have felt intimately acquainted with her for years through cooking and eating her family's recipes. (Which are all DELICIOUS, by the way....) I had seen some excellent reviews of this memoir on amazon, and confidently suggested it to my book club when I sa For fans of Madhur Jaffrey's cookbooks, this memoir will be, well, ... weird. I have been a fan for years, ever since I picked up one of her cookbooks while living in London. She has come to feel very much of a household presence for me, and I have felt intimately acquainted with her for years through cooking and eating her family's recipes. (Which are all DELICIOUS, by the way....) I had seen some excellent reviews of this memoir on amazon, and confidently suggested it to my book club when I saw it on a list of available books in our library's book club kits. I don't regret reading it, but I also don't regret the fact that this is a book that will go back to the library instead of on my bookshelf at home. It showed such promise in the onset, but in the end, felt like one of those 4th of July firecrackers that is just a dud. A big rocket of light into the sky and then "pffffffszzzzz"--a quiet, empty poof. I am not sure what happened for me here.......I love memoirs, and I love Madhur Jaffrey, so what could go wrong?

First of all, I strongly suspect that I would have liked this more had it not come on the heels of two very excellent book club reads, Jeanette Walls "The Glass Castle" and Jhumpa Lahiri's "The Namesake". These works are hard acts to follow for any memoir or book about an Indian family story. Having said this, I found myself frustrated because this book was not introspective enough for me. I always feel that there is a fine line with memoirs, between an author's self-focused indulgence of sharing their own inner process and story versus an external focus on their own memories of people in their lives that the reader doesn't care about. For me, this book suffers from the latter indulgence. To be quite honest, I wanted to learn about Madhur's experiences, thoughts, and feelings....not about her extended family members and what they wore and ate and said. I kept waiting for Madhur's personal story, and it never came. In fairness to the book, it IS exactly what it says......a Memoir OF A CHILDHOOD in India. Unfortunately for readers, this book isn't about the development of her interest in cooking, or the story of meeting her husband or finding her way in life, or growing old......it was about her childhood and her family lore, which left one with the distinct feeling that this book would be far more enjoyable to those who are mentioned in it than it was to me. This book is so WEIRD..... it is the equivalent of Lance Armstrong writing a book about his childhood in which he mentions riding a tricycle one day, but then focuses on anecdotes about his parents and cousins and grandparents. Who cares?

I am admittedly disappointed, but am excited about cooking some of the recipes in the back of the book for my book club. In the future, I will stick to Madhur Jaffrey's cookbooks, my favorite of which is "World Vegetarian".

On a positive note, I love the photographs interspersed throughout the book. Without them, the reader would truly struggle to even care or keep up with the extended family. Additionally, the recipes in the back are a nice touch. She does such a delightful job reminiscing about the foods they ate, and describing the aromas and flavors, that it is a treat to see that the reader may experience this too. Indeed, this is the real bread and butter of the book for me. (no pun intended!)

...more

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Jul 07, 2007 Abby rated it liked it · review of another edition

Recommends it for: fans of The Namesake and cookbook/cooking memoirs

Shelves: non-fiction

I really enjoyed this book. The descriptions of the food and spices were so visceral. However, I was left wanting much much more from this so very capable author. Jaffrey can definitely write and write well, though there were moments of frustration when she would gloss over events that she had been hinting at for the last 100 pages. The prime example is her uncle Shibudada (if I remember the name correctly) and the rift that eventually happened between the uncle and his family and Jaffrey's fami ...more

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Jan 09, 2012 Aubrey rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: reality-check, person-of-reality, antidote-think-twice-all, antidote-think-twice-read, non-fiction, 4-star, person-of-everything, 1-read-on-hand, r-2018, reviewed

This was an unexpectedly delightful breath of fresh air. Much like my most enjoyed Netflix show of the moment, 'Ugly Delicious', this work takes on my recently developed passion for cooking in a way that actually acknowledges the real world, refusing to confine the spectrum of food to a stance wholly white and wholly male. True, the cooking only really came near the end with Jaffrey's litany of recipes, but there was such a wonderful mingling of history, family meals, and coming of age in the re This was an unexpectedly delightful breath of fresh air. Much like my most enjoyed Netflix show of the moment, 'Ugly Delicious', this work takes on my recently developed passion for cooking in a way that actually acknowledges the real world, refusing to confine the spectrum of food to a stance wholly white and wholly male. True, the cooking only really came near the end with Jaffrey's litany of recipes, but there was such a wonderful mingling of history, family meals, and coming of age in the rest of the narrative that I never felt that I was missing out on much. Indeed, considering the expense and work that goes into these recipes, I can't see myself having the means to make them any time soon. As such, I feel that I did better to come to Jaffrey without having previously known her for her culinary fame, as I had more of an eye on a holistic memoir than something completely devoted to food. It just goes to show that I haven't completely lost my heart when it comes to the more casual genres of writing. My tastes are just more globally comprehensive than most.

India's one of those many countries that I've spent a good amount of time attempting to become familiar with and failing miserably for the most part. Jaffrey's memoir was more of a casual stroll compared to works that I've previously engaged with such as The Discovery of India and Women Writing in India, and so it was rather rewarding to learn about the Mughals and the Partition and the various strains of food collectively known as "Indian" without too much of a struggle. It's a shame that a large portion of this work's audience didn't appreciate this part as much. I suppose they want their chai tea and their naan bread and their tikki masala (I don't think there was even any mention of this last one) without the politics of bloodshed and imperialism that drove such cuisines to become what they are today. For example, if rendered monolinguistic, naan bread and chai tea become, respectively, bread bread and tea tea. India's large enough and old enough to fend for itself these days, but it wouldn't hurt for the average reader on this site to have a deeper appreciation of what made "curry" powder pop up in the "ethnic" section of their grocery market in the first place. It'd help prevent linguistic tragedies like the ones above, that's for sure.

One last thing I want to mention is the surprising and gratifying mention of the artist Amrita Sher-Gil, whose autobiographical compendium I've been on the look out for for some time. It's small shout outs like these that tell me I'm on the right path when it comes to autodidactism beyond the customarily narrow span of things, even if it's as simple as an esoteric name drop in a memoir written by a popular celebrity chef. Food can never be cut off from its origins, however hard white people stuffing quinoa into bahn mi may try, and it's works like these and the show 'Ugly Delicious' that gives food back to the people who worked and sweated and often literally bled to both create edible splendors and, more simply, feed the people. I doubt I'll be able to make Jaffrey's recipes any time soon, but the next time I eat "Indian" food, I'll at least be able to better appreciate it. ...more

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Oct 26, 2011 Smitha rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Recommends it for: all Indians who love food

Shelves: paperback-hardback, non-fiction, food

I devoured this book. This was a nostalgic journey through the privileged India of the early twentieth century. I got so engrossed, it was as if I had metamorphosed into the young girl who ran around orchids and kitchens and large rooms, ever inquisitive and all-absorbing. This book has rich descriptions of the food, heritage, lifestyle and architecture of the older India. One amusing thing is that, so far I was under the impression that Madhur Jaffrey is a famous Indian male chef and I was shoc ...more

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Sep 13, 2017 Rebecca rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: indian, food

A warm and comforting read . I was reminded of my own ancestral home and the variety of dishes I had in my childhood. Loved the chapter construction (small chapters) and the titles of the chapters..

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Aug 03, 2010 Adina rated it it was ok

I like books about food. I like books about India. and I like a good "growing up in ___" story. But this book didn't really any of these things well. There are many ellipses and allusions when it comes to the real drama. They are taken up but then brushed aside with a description of tomato ginger potatoes.
I loved the food description, and even how the culinary tradition of Delhi changed after partition (from dominantly muslim cuisine of the old city to creamy Punjabi). But partition, which she n ...more

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Dec 22, 2008 shruti rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

We all know Madhur Jaffrey can write a mean cookbook and we all know she can act. But did you know she can write beautiful prose too? This memoir of her childhood is richly evocative, sprinkled with memories of family and food and everything in between. And food, oh the food. Do NOT read this book hungry, it will cause you to arrive at your destination and demand to be fed immediately (not that I did that or anything.)

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Feb 28, 2011 Suzanne rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: non-fiction, memoir, kindle, book-club-2014, around-the-world-in-52-books-2014, foodie-cooking

“My grandfather had built his house in what was once a thriving orchard of jujubes, mulberries, tamarinds, and mangoes. His numerous grandchildren, like hungry flocks of birds, attacked the mangoes while they were still green and sour. As grown-ups snored through the hot afternoons in rooms cooled with weeded, sweet-smelling vetiver curtains, the unsupervised children were on every branch of every mango tree, armed with a ground mixture of salt, pepper, red chilies, and roasted cumin.”

Is your m ...more

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Jan 22, 2014 thelastword rated it did not like it · review of another edition

I regretted buying this book. The title, cover, and synopsis were all massively deceiving. The story is incoherent and the recipes are so sparse and simple that I felt cheated even though I bought it on sale. The writer could not stop droning on about how proud she was of the particular 'caste' she belongs to. A system that no-one should ever be allowed to talk about with such disturbing relish. At one point she managed a disparaging remark about Hijabis and that was pretty much all we saw about ...more

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Aug 14, 2021 Jennifer rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: international, non-fiction, autobiography-biography, historical, 2021

3.7

Mood: Watercolor-ed memories of a unique childhood in India.

Caveat: Do not expect Madhur Jaffrey to air her family's laundry, things are alluded to but never fully come into light. Some readers are going to find that puzzling, but honestly considering Madhur provided lovely descriptions of India and her experience of growing up there, I was okay with it. Clearly she wanted to write something but decided not to take the road of airing family grievances.

Read if you want/need: delicious food de ...more

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Oct 23, 2009 Denise rated it it was ok · review of another edition

I liked the idea of this book, a memoir of a childhood in India, but the execution left things to be desired. Ms. Jaffrey grew up in a very wealthy family during the British rule of India and experienced the changeover to Indian self-rule. But many important things were glossed over and instead the focus was an artistic version of her wonderful childhood. It was interesting, but not important. The thing that does stand out in the book is the authors descriptions of food. I really don't have much ...more

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Jan 01, 2015 Rhode rated it really liked it

Shelves: bio-general, places-india

I got this as a gift and turned my nose up at it, until one day had absolutely nothing else... So it was a desperation read for me. Within a few pages I realized what a fool I had been! It's a marvelous book with family lore, regional history and women's history all wrapped up in a tasty feast. ...more

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Jun 14, 2020 Morgan rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Beautiful story of an abnormal childhood in India. Jaffrey's variety of influences is unique and the way she expresses these influences through taste is truly engaging. I learned a lot about foods, history, and Indian culture. ...more

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Sep 21, 2019 Catullus2 rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: biography

A fascinating memoir which also serves as a social history of upper-middle class family life during mid century India. The descriptions of food made me hungry!

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Nov 12, 2021 Rachel C. rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: non-fiction, biography-memoir, subj-food-drink, length-short, geo-asia-south-india

A lovely memoir from Madhur Jaffrey, groundbreaking food writer and actress. As expected, the culinary details were vivid and mouthwatering.

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Dec 29, 2021 Tina rated it really liked it

This was a great memoir although i would have loved for it to continue! I felt like i every got to really know who she becomes. Either way my grocery list has gotten so long just to try the recipes! Yum!

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Nov 13, 2021 Malaika rated it really liked it · review of another edition

A very interesting and gastronomically satisfying food memoir.

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Sep 25, 2020 Lori rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

I dare u to read this book without the desire for Indian food. I didn’t know about this authority on Indian food prior to reading this book but I thoroughly enjoyed it. I learned about history(and religions)of India, Madhur’s large extended family and food. There is a large recipe section and I look forward to attempting some of these recipes.

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Jun 23, 2014 Orinoco Womble (tidy bag and all) rated it liked it · review of another edition

An enjoyable read with some mouth-watering family recipes (or near equivalents) at the back. I only knew Jaffrey from her cooking programmes of the 1980s on the BBC--and her publishers' penchant for re-issuing the same collection of recipes over and over at ten-year intervals, under different titles and with slight differences in illustrations and front matter.

The child of privileged parents of the administrative caste in Delhi, Jaffrey takes us into their world of family compounds, shared meal An enjoyable read with some mouth-watering family recipes (or near equivalents) at the back. I only knew Jaffrey from her cooking programmes of the 1980s on the BBC--and her publishers' penchant for re-issuing the same collection of recipes over and over at ten-year intervals, under different titles and with slight differences in illustrations and front matter.

The child of privileged parents of the administrative caste in Delhi, Jaffrey takes us into their world of family compounds, shared meals and festivals, picnics and parties--and food, glorious food. It's interesting that while she enjoyed hanging around in the kitchen and watching it all happen, she never got stuck in and helped out. They had many servants, and yet her mum and aunties did a lot of the cooking to get it all just right. She never seems to have actively participated until after she failed a cooking exam in highschool.

And that's what's missing here. We learn absolutely nothing about her adult life, how she became the Madhur Jaffrey of the cooking shows etc. In fact, as autobiographies go, it's very superficial in spots. Partition is touched upon, but we are given the impression that it didn't have much impact on her family. Oh, yes, they were apprehensive and scared, and one of their neighbours was shot dead (!) but the greatest impact on her little world seems to have been the self-segregation of the girls at her school.

However, Jaffrey freely admits that in her Hindi composition class she romanced instead of writing the serious compositions required, inventing people she admired, inventing "perfect" summer holidays instead of saying "We stayed in town and hung around devastated by the heat" or whatever. So how much of this autobiography was edited, sanitised, or invented? We are made aware of hostile undercurrents in the extended family (Shibudadda's disastrous marriage and cavalier manipulation of the children's loyalties) but she is content to hint and nod and say no more. I'm not saying I wanted all the gory details, but it shows a certain passive aggression on her own part that she brought it up at all, if she wasn't willing to discuss it.

I had hoped to know more about her professional career and move away from India, but the book comes to an abrupt end just as she stands on the brink of adulthood--not rounded but chopped off short. Disappointing. ...more

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Jul 26, 2012 Rachel Brown rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: memoir, india, food

A food-centric memoir of growing up in a huge Indian family in and around Delhi. Jaffrey became a teenager when India got its independence - a time of joy and horror, as the country gained its freedom and then tore itself apart in the violence that came with Partition.

But Jaffrey's childhood was more happy than not, despite the presence of a low-key but appalling family rift caused by an uncle's emotional abuse of his own children and favoritism of some of his nieces and nephews. There's not a l ...more

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Jul 13, 2008 Liza rated it did not like it · review of another edition

Shelves: owned-to-read

What on earth... so many favorable reviews. I had to give it one star because there wasn't a BARF option. I'm quite mature and eloquent, I know - no need to respond.

This book as concept sounds great - portrait of an extended family living on one compound under a patriarch, during partition and told from the p.o.v. of a foodie (as I understand it, Jaffrey is the Martha Stewart of Indian cookbooks). So far, I'm totally on board.

And then I have to read the words as Jaffrey has assembled them and go ...more

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Dec 26, 2008 Patricia rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: food, india

Madhur Jaffrey's clear, delicious, and reliable recipes are much loved at our house. The memoir also reflects her talent for clear and evocative writing. Jaffrey vividly conveys pleasures of taste and color. The memoir was frustratingly choppy though. Even the frequently evoked themes of learning and taste didn't quite manage to hold to together fascinating but disparate themes. The chapters usually fell into short chunks that often skimmed across topics that deserved more thorough development. ...more

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Nov 24, 2008 Kaye rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: food-related, biog-autobiog, 0non-fiction

For Madhur Jaffrey cooking fans, this is an interesting read, the story of her early life in India. The descriptions of food are especially good, of course, as well as the look at daily life in a well-to-do family. There are some tempting family recipes included.

Small sections of the book are quite chatty and read nicely, but the book doesn't hang together. It feels like scraps of writing hastily thrown together. An editor to help with the structure and a proofreader to help with typos and gram ...more

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Jul 07, 2010 Amanda rated it it was ok · review of another edition

After coming to the near-end of chapter seven and still not finding the story compelling, I have decided to stop climbing the mango trees. I rarely stop reading a book with the intention of never picking it up again but I don't think I will continue this one. If you have read it and think I should keep going, let me know!

It was interesting to read about the lives of wealthy Indians, as so many stories focus on the tragic poor of that nation. The family was sweet and the food references were fun. ...more

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Jan 05, 2012 Sofia rated it really liked it

Shelves: india, memoir, foodie-fun

An entertaining glimpse into Brahmin Indian life with, as expected, a dominant interplay of food. What a period to have grown up in India - the time of Partition - and what a lifestyle - picnics of 50 caravanning with servants to the hill country; extensive, planned gardens with flowers, fruits and vegetables galore; private performances of music, dance and theater... And as expected, the traditional, multi-generation, extended-family living virtually together with the resulting joys and complex ...more

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Apr 01, 2008 Toni rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: history, multi-cultural, biography-memoir, food-cooking, india

Madhur Jaffrey wrote a thoroughly enjoyable memoir of a privileged childhood in 1930's and 40's India. Along with that she provided a brief but concise history of the partition of India that I was only vaguely familiar with and appreciated for her insight. As an added bonus, Ms Jaffrey has included many recipes for dishes she not only grew up eating, but that symbolize authentic Indian cuisine. ...more

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Jun 28, 2013 Evelyn Puerto rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: memoir

Written by a food writer, Climbing the Mango Trees paints a vivid picture of growing up in India. I could almost smell the food cooking. Unlike many other memoirs, there doesn’t seem to be an overall theme. Rather, the book just covers the author’s memories. However, the vivid writing brought back my own memories of India and gave a wonderful look at everyday life.

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Mar 05, 2007 jim rated it really liked it · review of another edition

after 30 pages already in love with this memoir. the author is a well known food and cookbook writer. she shares a unique childhood of life in Delhi and the memories that food can evoke. stunning, beautifully written, and i must go out now for some indian food...

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Nov 12, 2015 Jubilado added it · review of another edition

This is an interesting description of a wealthy upbringing in India and of the experience of partition for a child. There are many references to food and recipes at the end. I missed any mention of India's poor.
...more

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Dec 13, 2008 Nathan rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: franklin-library, food

A perfect gem of a book; a small, glittering evocation of India by way of the memories of food, flavor and fragrance. Gorgeous!

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About Madhur Jaffrey

Madhur Jaffrey

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Madhur Jaffrey CBE is an Indian-born actress, food and travel writer, and television personality. She is recognized for bringing Indian cuisine to the western hemisphere with her debut cookbook, An Invitation to Indian Cooking, which was inducted into the James Beard Foundation’s Cookbook Hall of Fame in 2006.