I am over at my nani’s (nani is the hindi word for grandmother) house for a visit, and one of my favorite pastimes while I’m here is reading through my nana’s (grandfather) old collection of recipe books.
My nana was a man who enjoyed the finer things in life, food and cooking in particular, and would often prepare complicated dishes from different cuisines, even though he lived in India in a time when many ingredients from other cuisines were not easily available. My mother often warmly recounts stories of lavish parties with detailed menus of food and drink, but also of family dinners when nana would make everybody try new things.
My nana passed this love of food onto my mom, who then passed it onto me. I will always be happy that my mom was able to experience the intricacies of different cuisines even in a time when information wasn’t so easily accessible, as she was then able to share this knowledge with me!
So, back to the recipe books.
Every time I visit, I make it a point to read through this collection, and it truly is a treasure. Old books of different cuisine full of detailed recipes and mouthwatering pictures, sometimes with ingredients I’ve never heard of, and always full of dishes I want to try.
I always want to take all of them with me, but only take two or three because I’m pretty sure my mother would not be happy paying the airline excess baggage fee!
Here are a few pictures:
My Food escapades 