Good Food

Some one commented that I abuse a lot in my blogs. I decided to become the good boy and talk about good things. And what else can be better than food! But then writing on the vast world of food is a laborious task and blogs are about short cuts. Thus what else could be better than writing a review on a book related to food. So here it is... Chew it up!

Rude food is a book about food and certainly not cookery. Contrary to its name, the book has a rather delicious appeal. What acts as an appetizer is, it’s not written by a Chef, neither a nutritionist, nor a gastroenterologist. The serving is by a seasoned Veer Sanghvi, a journalist, who puts forward the joy of his well tasted meals from all corners of the world. He lends his bold, adventurous and investigative journalistic instincts to his buds and Rude Food is a pleasant result of that effort.

Veer advocates, that food is good which tastes better. No matter where, how and by whom its made. One of the mouth watering examples he adds is that of the Chinese Manchurian. The only Chinese connection of this recipe is, it has a prefix reading as– “Chinese”! Born in India, it captured the not so imaginative buds of Indians. It ruled the offerings of street side Chinese bundies and eventually crawled into the menus of posh Chinese restaurants too. Ironically beyond the shores of India, no one even knows about it. Veer further adds the irony to it. In most cases the chefs who make it are actually Chinese looking Nepalis!

If I were to give a verdict, I am all hands for Veer. Any recipe that reacts positively with its consumer’s saliva, is good food. A good meal is not prepared by a good recipe. It’s made by a good intent. Cooking is not about chopping, heat, fumes, noise and dumping on a plate. It’s about cutting and slicing; tossing and frying; steam and aroma and finally, dressing and serving. Its playing with color and imagination. In literal terms its about a spicy art.

Veer used to spice up Hindustan Times Delhi edition magazine with his Rude Food articles. This book is a collection of all those articles. Similar to the art of cookery he took delicate care in choosing the ingredients for this compilation. A full course of it and you know why Durian is banned in Indonesia or how to relish Caviar. The dressing on the serving is tastefully balanced. All the articles have been compiled keeping in mind their relevance to the date.

What moved the book from the neighborhood of my pillow into my kitchen was his intelligent sprinkle of few recipes in between chapters. What made these recipes so attemptable was their simple English, easy to understand description and use of our daily kitchen terms. He made sure that fuss goes up the chimney and taste settles on the hob.

Having tasted this meal I would be honest to mention there are few servings in between where the gravy longs for few more ingredients. They are not dull but they aren’t juicy either. Its not bad or rude English but perhaps a less imaginative platter of subject and words. But then who doesn’t understand. Once in a while every chef has a bad day.

I still remember, in my childhood our scramble for the last molecule of Aloo Fry stuck to the base of wok. The hunger for it never died. Rude food pumps the zeal a notch up. The zeal to experiment with new tastes. The zeal to stretch the scope for our buds. Rude food is a must taste.