Palak Patel’s book, Food is Love, presents vegetarian and vegan recipes in a novel and unexpected way. Drawing inspiration from her Indian heritage, the author emphasizes the connection between food and feelings and shows how food choice can appeal in both an emotional and sensory way. Patel is a professionally trained chef and restaurant owner, and has appeared on the Food Network and won competitions on Chopped and Beat Bobby Flay.
The introductory chapter presents the theoretical and practical concerns that are the basis of the recipes in the book. Especially valuable is the section called, My Indian Pantry, that describes the ingredients, tools and techniques needed to complete the recipes that follow. Recipes for four basic spice mixtures and a chart of step-by step Indian cooking basics are included.
The recipes make up the bulk of the book and range from chutneys, curries and dals, to desserts, snacks and drinks. Iconic Indian dishes like biryani, pakora, and lassi are included as well as reimaged ones for popcorn, ketchup, and cereal chex mix. The recipes are organized into groups based on nine emotions such as caring, nostalgic, comfort, surprising, and festive, so that the cooks can choose a recipe based on their feelings. Comfort foods, for example, include Patel’s interpretation of tomato soup, uttapam (loaded savory pancake) and a masala mule (made with bourbon and ginger beer). Each recipe includes an introduction that explains the recipe, uniqueness, cooking tips, serving size, a list of ingredients, step by step instructions, and usually a full page color photograph of the completed dish. Cooking tips are included as appropriate.
Written in a simple and concise style, Food is Love is a good introduction to plant based Indian-inspired recipes. The recipes reflect a blend of traditional Indian cuisine with modern tastes and the trend of eating healthy nutritious meals. The book is visual appealing with its clean, crisp layout and colorful photographs, that make it a pleasure to pick up and use or just read.
To buy Food is Love from Amazon.com, click here.