Cookbooks are my crack.

Here’s the long-awaited (haha!!) second post. It’s been a busy few weeks but then, it’s always been a busy few weeks. Sigh. The kick in the pants I needed to get to writing again was an e-mail from Amazon.com saying that the latest Madhur Jaffrey cookbook has been released. To most people, this may not mean much, but to me it’s only a slightly less anticipated moment than the release of the latest in the Harry Potter series. So, forgive me but I have to gush!

Madhur Jaffrey's Latest Release

My love affair with cookbooks all began with the first one I bought at the Book People in Austin in 1995. I was a few short months away from graduating from college and was just getting into cooking seriously for myself, my roommate and my friends. You know….something other than ramen noodles and daal and rice. I wandered into the cookbook section, which was considerably smaller in the mid-90s than it is today, and browsed through the “International” section. There was a grand total of four Indian cookbooks and only one had pictures. "Flavors of India" by Madhur Jaffrey. I flipped the pages, went straight to the pictures and smiled in delight! The photography was lovely and the dishes were so well styled and the food…..aah…made my mouth water and made me so nostalgic for food from home.

I ran to the cashier, paid my $24.99 (a small fortune to a poor college student) and sat in the car with a pen and paper so I could start making a shopping list for the recipes I was going to try out right away. I decided to start big: “Pork with Vinegar & Spices” a variation on a dish that I grew up with and is a special occasion staple in the Indian community that I am from and “Plantain Chips”, one of my favorite snacks growing up – a crunchy, salty and spicy revelation. I made my way to HEB Central Market (the original Austin location on Lamar), where I (again) spent a small fortune on ingredients. Once in the kitchen, I followed Madhur’s directions word-for-word and she did not disappoint. Even with my weak culinary skills, the pork curry was delicious! I remember eating three bowls of the super spicy and garlicky stew with tender chunks of pork and caramelized onions that night and going through almost a whole package of tortillas to soak up the gravy. And the plantain chips? Without a mandoline to slice them wafer thin and my terrible knife skills, they didn’t turn out as crispy as I had hoped but they were still yummy.

After that, I was unstoppable. I cooked my way through “Flavors of India” all through those last months of college and through my first year post-college. Not all my attempts were successful – like the time I served my parents burnt Rogan Josh (a classic Indian slow-braised lamb dish) which they ate without complaint. But I gained so much confidence in my abilities in the kitchen and became so passionate about cooking and eating. Madhur Jaffrey’s recipes and charming prose changed how I thought about food. Fifteen years and over 100 cookbooks later, I can’t wait to get her latest book so I can relive those early cooking adventures.

Do you have a favorite cookbook or one that changed how you thought/felt about food or cooking? I’d love to hear about it.