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Recipes for Life
Remember how our mothers and grandmothers would spend time in the kitchen, sharing their stories and exchanging recipes from each other's homes without writing them down? Between chopping, sauteing, grinding and frying a varierty of ingredients, and the aroma of home-cooked food laid out on the dinner table, families forged bonds that withstood the test of time. Now the connections we made through oral storytelling have dissapeared because of rise of modern-day nuclear families where children see their parents once in a couple of months. The truth, however, remains that no matter how many countries we travel to and live in, or how many expensive meals we eat at Michelin-star restaurants, the magic of our mothers' cooking never fades away. In Recipes for Life, Sudha Menon attempts to recreate those memories and the magic of the food we grew up with and cherish. The book is replete with stories, anecdotes and recipes from the homes of some of India's much admired and accomplished people.
256 pages, Paperback
Published December 15, 2021
About the author
Sudha Menon
37 books19 followersSudha Menon is a journalist with over two decades of experience ín news and feature Writing. She has Worked in some of India’s prominent newspapers, including The Independent (The Times Group), The Hindu Business Line (The Hindu Group), and Mint (HT Media in exclusive agreement with Wall Street Journal).
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
January 27, 2022
I mean what could possibly go wrong when its all about "maa ki haath ka khana"?
May 12, 2022
I bought the book with the intention of gifting it to my mother, cooking being her forte, not mine.
I started reading it in bits and pieces, flipping over to my favourite parts and was hooked.
In Recipes for Life, Sudha Menon brings together 30 celebrities telling us about their Ma ke haath ka khana, along with recipes of their favourite foods. As we make our way through the homes and kitchens of these stars, they walk right into our hearts.
We find Aai and Ajji, Mamma and Mummy, Ma, Nani, Ba, Mum, Ammi, Manni, Umma and even an Aandyamichi (nani), all of them turning the chore of cooking into an art, an expression of affection.
What stands out in all her stories is that the best childhood memories are about simple food served with joy.
The book is a culinary journey across India - from Kathiawar to Manipur and Kashmir to Kanyakumari, though the author says she had no such design when she wrote it.
Laced with love and glazed with nostalgia that sweetens every bitterness (Like Amish Tripathi being made to eat bitter gourd at every meal for a week because he dared to push away the plate with the offending vegetable), the book is an absolute comfort read.
To call this a ‘cookery book’ or a book of recipes would be gross injustice.
I started reading it in bits and pieces, flipping over to my favourite parts and was hooked.
In Recipes for Life, Sudha Menon brings together 30 celebrities telling us about their Ma ke haath ka khana, along with recipes of their favourite foods. As we make our way through the homes and kitchens of these stars, they walk right into our hearts.
We find Aai and Ajji, Mamma and Mummy, Ma, Nani, Ba, Mum, Ammi, Manni, Umma and even an Aandyamichi (nani), all of them turning the chore of cooking into an art, an expression of affection.
What stands out in all her stories is that the best childhood memories are about simple food served with joy.
The book is a culinary journey across India - from Kathiawar to Manipur and Kashmir to Kanyakumari, though the author says she had no such design when she wrote it.
Laced with love and glazed with nostalgia that sweetens every bitterness (Like Amish Tripathi being made to eat bitter gourd at every meal for a week because he dared to push away the plate with the offending vegetable), the book is an absolute comfort read.
To call this a ‘cookery book’ or a book of recipes would be gross injustice.
June 15, 2022
A treasure chest of 'almost lost recipes' of comfort food for Indians. Very well documented.
Possibly to make it attractive to a larger audience than just the foodies, she has interviewed the Indian celebrities and their take on comfort food. All of them undeniably talk about the food they ate that was made with a lot of love by their mothers, irrespective of their social status then.
My only grouse is there should have been pictures of the food rather than that of celebrities. It would have added value for readers/foodies like me. The pictures of the celebrities are available all over the internet while the pictures of the almost forgotten food would be a tough ask.
Else a great book of recipes!
Possibly to make it attractive to a larger audience than just the foodies, she has interviewed the Indian celebrities and their take on comfort food. All of them undeniably talk about the food they ate that was made with a lot of love by their mothers, irrespective of their social status then.
My only grouse is there should have been pictures of the food rather than that of celebrities. It would have added value for readers/foodies like me. The pictures of the celebrities are available all over the internet while the pictures of the almost forgotten food would be a tough ask.
Else a great book of recipes!
October 30, 2021
This book is one such series of the love, tradition and memories which are compiled together. These reflect the personal experiences, traditions which are featured over a period. The recipes offers a variety of traditional regional flavors using the natively grown ingredients and seasonings. This gives glimpse of family traditions, relations and places. Each chapter starts with a catchy and engaging narration which are often filled with love, heart warming stories. If you are curious about the delicious recipe's all around the place which connects the people across, then this is highly recommended.
December 26, 2023
A bunch of celebrities across the spectrum get nostalgic about their childhoods through the lens of 'Mom's Cooking'
This is essentially a recipe book adorned by stories about Indian mothers. Even though they are from varied states and widely diffeferently spectrums of society, all the anecdotes sound similar and warmly familiar
This is essentially a recipe book adorned by stories about Indian mothers. Even though they are from varied states and widely diffeferently spectrums of society, all the anecdotes sound similar and warmly familiar
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews