Let's talk about food (IANS Books This Weekend)

Other than music, food is something we all love to talk about. Sensing that food leads to conversations and sharing of recipes and memories, this week IANS brings to you an assortment of traditional and modern cuisines, with a bit of advice. Take a look.

1. Book: "The Married Man's Guide to Creative Cooking"; Author: Samar Halarnkar; Publisher: Westland; Pages: 216; Price: Rs.495

This book is not merely a collection of recipes, but one man's eccentric imaginative and passionate journey in a kitchen. The author adapts, innovates, stumbles and triumphs. He pores over family recipes, finds secrets from history, relishes his roadside searches for unique ingredients and then invents the rest.

The author grew up on a diet of trotters and bone marrow, began cooking early and at 15 recorded his first victory. Enjoy this grand cooking tale that swings between his childhood in the Deccan and an adulthood spent eating his way across India and the world.

2. Book: "Everyone Can Cook"; Author: Vikas Khanna; Publisher: Om Books; Pages: 128; Price: Rs. 595

This cookbook is an ode to those who took the first step towards preserving the goodness of nature in a can so that it can reach kitchens and tables across the world, even during emergencies and nurture appetites and souls.

In this book, the author has put together easy-to-cook recipes using a variety of canned ingredients in ways never seen before. It is an ideal guide not for those who wish to quickly put together a sumptuous meal but also for beginners who wish to experiment bravely in the kitchen.

3. Book: "Is Wheat Killing You?"; Author: Ishi Khosla; Publisher: Penguin; Pages: 294; Price: Rs.399

This complete guide to gluten-free living is based on scientifically established principles of healthy eating and includes essential facts about a balanced diet that are of interest to all. It has nearly 200 quick, easy-to-follow practical and delicious recipes - pan-Indian, Oriental and Continental.

Also, this book integrates gluten-free cooking with mainstream cooking so those who can't eat gluten can lead normal lives.

4. Book: "A Sense For Spice: Recipes and Stories from a Konkan Kitchen"; Author: Tara Deshpande Tennebaum; Publisher: Westland; Pages: 282; Price: Rs.495

This is a delightful tale of food and family across three generations, a rich tapestry of recipes and stories that takes the reader from the lush Konkan coast to metropolitan Mumbai.

As India modernises furiously, the author captures the fading away of life of the idiosyncratic Konkan diaspora, a complex of uniquely tolerant cultures with quirky and mysterious histories. The community and its food are brought to life through both her grandmothers' recorded recipes, some dating back to the 1800s and are adapted to suit modern kitchens.

An open introduction to Konkan cuisine, this cookbook reads like a story, filled with humour and affection, a perfect companion for a rainy night and decadent Sunday lunch with friends and family.