Reads and Recipes


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One of my recent reads has been the ‘Restaurant of Lost Recipes’ by Haisashi Kashiwai recommended by CC. A very interesting food based book in which food detectives try to trace and recreate recipes lost for various reasons by those who come in search of the food detective agency. After a long time, I read a complete book in one go - it was un-putdownable.


First of all, it has opened a universe of Japanese dishes that I am not familiar with and I have a long list of ‘to-be-tasted’ foods. Even the variety of something as familiar as tempura it mentions, is mind-boggling. So a food trail in Kyoto is now going to be a must-do.Also, I have discovered that what I have been fondly eating at Wagamama for a while is a ten-don. The phrase, Yoroshu o agari, instead of saying thank you when served a meal is also great to adopt into regular practice. Exotic and sounds a lot more deep.


I like that Nagare (of the food detectives) points out that even in the simplest of food, there is  hard work and that is love. That one thinks of the person one is cooking for while cooking. That I think is true even for skills like knitting or painting.


Reading this had me thinking that if I wanted to recreate recipes which would they be? The first that popped into my mind was the masoor (red gram) dal we ate in Matheran. I must have been all of 8 and the restaurant I think was Diwadkar’s. I ate there again on an office picnic but the flavours were not the same as I remembered them from my childhood.


The next one would be the fish that my flatmate’s Mom would send for her. That was a speciality from the coast and the fish would be coated in rich, spicy marinade and fried in butter. I have her recipe but it never tastes the same when I make it.


And last but not least, my Papa and I went in search of some food late one night in Agra, way back in the summer of 1984. Many of the small dhabas in the market had already closed but we found one that was being closed. The owner said he was happy to serve us but at that hour and as he had almost closed his shop, he could only serve us aloo-palak and rotis. Since we were so hungry and tired, we agreed and had one of the most delicious meals I have ever eaten. Sitting out in the open and eating the hot rotis with the simple vegetable curry was an unforgettable experience. 


For now, I read The Kamogawa Food Detectives by the same author and am intrigued by the food in Kyoto. I am also trying to read a little bit more and of course, eat a little bit more. 


Links to both the books here -

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