There is nothing quite like nostalgia in music. Or in food. We recall all the songs of our youth, and can’t forget the kheer our grandmothers made. I must admit that my grandma — the one I lived with as a child — couldn’t cook for nuts, but I know all about the nostalgia that food evokes, for it has been jumping out at me from the pages of a small hillock of books.
There is a genre of books that talks about food and bygone times. Some of them, written decades ago, represent a period that’s long gone. One volume that I picked up actually consists of neatly typed pages. It’s called Indian Recipes by the Indian Embassy Ladies’ Club and Other Recipes by ICG Members .
The introduction says it all: “Through the whole-hearted cooperation and hard work of the members of Indian Embassy Ladies’ Club, Rangoon, this book has been made possible. We are very thankful to members of International Cultural Group, Rangoon, for contributing their best recipes for inclusion in this book.”
Ladies of Rangoon
I can almost picture the ladies of Rangoon, for every recipe in the book dutifully acknowledges the creator (with a respectful ‘Mrs’ attached to the name). Mrs. Viloo Shaw’s recipe for baked fish in banana leaves is there, as is Mrs. Indra Walia’s recipe for fish cutlets. Mrs. Rachel Alexander writes about her mint chutney, Mrs. Chanda Bakshi gives the recipe for Kashmiri chicken and Lalitha Nayar for pal appam.
Often, the writer revels in the nostalgia of the days gone by. So, interspersed with recipes are recollections of an army officer’s wife in The Ultimate Army Cookbook: A Memsahib Cooks by Kikky Sihota. Since it is an army wife’s book, I am not at all surprised to spot a recipe for something called ‘grenades’ in it. Turns out it’s a kind of potato cutlet, round in shape and deep-fried.
Memories ooze out of The Landour Cookbook: Over 100 Years of Hillside Cooking . Edited and introduced by Ruskin Bond and Ganesh Saili, it recalls recipes that American missionaries and others who lived in the quaint little hill station near Mussoorie, and its neighbouring villages, were known for.
“In the old days, the Landour bakers were a common sight on the road, with their trunks on their heads, selling their breads and confectionery,” the editors write, and recall how the old bakers prepared fudge, stick jaw, marzipan and meringues, among other things. “These have been passed on and, perhaps, today’s fast foods may have accounted for the demise of many of these home-made snacks from the 1930s and 40s,” they write.
Another book, American Cooking: A Celebration , has culled the “best regional and ethnic recipes from members of the American community living in New Delhi” to remind them of their food back home.
The first recipe, Flossie Flirt’s Fudge, may help you picture the “rainy summer days” back then, the book says. “We hope you will find this and many… a feast of delicious memories to celebrate time and time again.”
Ah, memories. And nothing brings it back more than music and food.
The writer likes reading and writing about food as much as he does cooking and eating it. Well, almost.
