Reviews: Good Food, Good Living

review

Good Food, Good Living
Karen Anand
HarperCollins India
Rs. 299
Pp 192
ISBN: 9789350291108
Paperback /

About the book
What are the best foods to try in Singapore and Kuala Lumpur? How do you judge wines and pair them with Indian foods? What would you order in Paris if you were a vegetarian? And which cheeses would you shop for abroad if you were carrying home a hamper? These are among the many foodie questions answered by Karen Anand in her collection of food writings published over the years and compiled in this informative book.

Savour the flavours from around the world and catch up on global food trends. Also enjoy the special collection of recipes from different corners of the world woven into the articles.

Reviews:
Practical gourmet guide Business Standard
Karen Anand may not know this but she owes a debt of gratitude to a learned Telugu Brahmin and a Sikh economist. Had P V Narasimha Rao and Manmohan Singh not courageously demolished the licence-permit raj and liberalised the economy 20 years ago, her career and this book would not have found a market, for a variety of reasons. First, a book on lifestyle and one so blatantly titled would have been considered mildly politically incorrect in those pseudo-socialist times when to be poor was glorious (at least from the politician’s point of view). Second, there would have been few takers for this book since the Indian middle class (a) couldn’t have afforded many of the good things she writes about and (b) wouldn’t have had access to them even if they could. Third, the rich would access these things overseas and wouldn’t have needed Anand’s advice to do so.

So it is no surprise that the earliest of these essays, a compilation of her newspaper articles, date from 1993. It would be easy to dismiss this book as warmed-up leftovers but the publishers clearly hope to catch the rising tide of sophisticated consumerism “at the flood,” so to speak.

Today, it is almost ironical that two men with conspicuously simple lifestyles have enabled the urban, westernised upper middle class to chatter insouciantly about sauerkraut, sushi, the travails of accessing good avocado or asparagus or Camembert or Brie and the comparative virtues of Kendal Jackson versus Cloudy Bay, all of which they can consume in India.

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Cookbook Corner Hindu
Ever wondered what’s on your plate at a sushi bar? Wish you knew your Camembert from your Gruyere? Gourmet specialist, chef and food critic Karen Anand presents the essential guide to navigating the sea of haute cuisine and introduces you to exciting new culinary territory. This foodie’s bible is sure the satiate the palate of even the most exacting connoisseur.

This is for all those venturing into the culinary arena for the first time: brides, bachelors and others new to Indian cuisine. Right from tips on how to equip your kitchen, to step-by-step instructions about basic processes to planning menus, Rohini Singh guides you through your first steps in the kitchen. Essential armour for all those setting up a kitchen, this book is sure to be splotched and stained with happy memories.