Padma Lakshmi: Tangy Tart Hot & Sweet

By JULIETTE ROSSANT It is hard not to think of Madhur Jaffrey when picking up Padma Lakshmi's Tangy Tart Hot & Sweet (Weinstein Books 2007). They are both Indian actors with experience abroad and both write cookbooks. Padma is also a model, and host of Bravo's Top Chef. This is Padma's second cookbook following 2000's Easy Exotic - Madhur has published at least nine cookbooks. However, the comparison stops there. Whereas Madhur has been a driving force in promoting Indian cuisine, Padma is a fusionist. Tangy Tart Hot & Sweet has no boundaries in ingredients. Much like Padma's life spent in India, the US, Spain, France, the recipes focus on the connections between these cultures. I began to see the connections between South American and Asian food. Mangoes and coconuts, cumin, coriander (cilantro), and tamarind were cropping in all sorts of cuisines. The world of food seemed to be getting bigger and smaller at the same time. (p. xvii) The same idea has occurred to plenty of cooks and chefs who bring their home country's sensibilities and ingredients to bare on new country's cuisine. Padma's book is especially lighthearted and playful. She isn't a trained chef, so the recipes are straightforward and easy to follow. What's more, the book is handsomely laid out, illustrated with vivid photos by Ditte Isager and Charles Thompson. There are some shots of Padma growing up and holding food, but there are far fewer then the typical celebrity book - oddly very few of her actually cooking - and fewer sultry, modeling pictures than you'd expect. The first chapter, Appetizers, spans the globe. There are jazzed up Keralan Crab Cakes (p. 3) full of Serrano chilies, coconut and anchor (green mango powder). She serves them with Mint Chutney (p. 246) a far cry from the Chesapeake standard. Mexico comes into play with Mushroom and Goat Cheese Flautas (p. 11) in which flour tortillas are wrapped around a seasoned cheese filling The twist is that she serves is with Mint and Date Dipping Sauce (pp. 246). Padma includes a long essay about Jhoti, the Peanut Man (pp. 22-24), that is much like the food memories in Madhur Jaffrey's autobiography, Climbing the Mango Trees. She lists all the wonderful ingredients Jhoti used to mix his snacks: Jhoti would put a shell scoop full of boiled peanuts in a bowl made of dry lotus leaves. He then folded in the tomato concoction and finished it off with a squeeze of lime juice. (p. 23) Luckily the recipe for these peanuts is on page 26. The peanuts pop up elsewhere in the book, in Sea Scallops with Crushed Peanuts and Cucumber Relish (p. 84) in which the scallops are dusted with the same mango powder. There is a recipe called Singapore Noodles with Shrimp and Shitake Mushrooms (p. 88) that calls for minced red hot chili, Thai or Vietnamese fish sauce and curry powder. The ingredients stretch across Asia, just as the head notes relate that Padma tried variations of this dish in Los Angeles, South India as well as in her own kitchen prepared by her Filipino housekeeper. Opposite the recipe is a photograph displaying the ingredients – rice vermicelli, a can of curry powder, and fish sauce. All you need is a good-sized pantry and a sense of fun. If you are a fan of Top Chef and Padma, this is a must-have. Previous articles: Modern Indian Cooking: Khanna and Nayak Indian Chefs on Indian Mangoes Mangoes and Curry Leaves: Travelling Cookbook Suvir Saran Spins Indian Home Cooking Manju Mahli's India with Passion Mahdur Jaffrey: Our Lady of India, CBE [Cookbook Reviews - complete] Technorati Tags: superchefblog, Juliette Rossant, super chef, celebrities, chefs, food, restaurants, cooking, branding, cuisine, blogging, food blogging, Padma Lakshmi, Top Chef --> back to Super Chef