Reviews of Feasts and Fasts: A History of Food in India

This book is the ultimate source to understand the roots of our everyday food. A tantalising tale of culinary culture, this is one book you cannot ignore if you are a food connoisseur…

“The Best Books about Food in 2016” 

India is home to some of the most colorful, varied and flavorful cuisines on the planet, so it’s a particular shame that Americans are familiar with a pitiful fraction of it. In Feasts and Fasts, food historian Colleen Taylor Sen seeks to broaden our culinary horizons with an in-depth look at the subcontinent’s edible history through its complex web of religious, moral, social and philosophical inner workings. There’s plenty about the origins of India’s widespread vegetarian practices, as well as the evolution of spice use across both culinary and medicinal spheres. And yes, you’re going to want to eat samosas afterward.

Feasts and Fasts — A History of Food in India is Chicago-based food historian Colleen Taylor Sen’s most recent culinary outing. An ambitious effort at exploring the history of Indian gastronomy, the fascinating journey of which, this richly illustrated single volume traces from the Indus Valley Civilisation to its present incarnation. It is served as a detailed introduction to the dietary evolution of a diverse sub-continental people since prehistoric times, with generous dollops of myriad influences that have accorded it the status of a much-preferred world cuisine today.

Chicago-based independent food historian Colleen Taylor Sen’s new book, Feasts and Fasts: A History of Food in India, documents food evolution in the country. A must-have for foodies, the book packs comprehensive information on various aspects of Indian food, right from the cultivation of agricultural crops to the medicinal value of chewing paan. [READ THE REST OF THIS REVIEW AT THE HINDU]