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In this memoir, styled like a three-course meal with an ironic twist, she offers an absorbing portrait of a life that has intermingled with food in moving and unexpected ways. Through vividly evoked repasts with family and other meaningful gastronomic encounters in settings both personal political, Banerji reveals how food has played a defining role in her experiences of love, adventure, conflict, loss, and reconciliation. In the process, she introduces us to those dishes and drinks most special to her — Kadam Bhai’s duck bhuna, her father’s favorite tea, winter treats such as narkel naru, a chicken sandwich from memoryland — and charms us throughout with her sublime and enchanting prose.” |
Praise for A Taste of My Life “Chitrita Banerji is an absolute master of the difficult art of writing autobiographically about food; she has very few equals in the field.” — Amitav Ghosh “A book of complex flavors, by turns sad and joyous. It leaves you licking your fingers and hungry for more.” — Arvind Krishna Mehrotra “With the help of a gifted illusionist, one can indeed travel back in time and across geographies to share the dreams, sorrows and joys of someone else. This is what Chitrita Banerji has done in her delightful anthology of remembrance of things past.” — Pushpesh Pant “A deeply personal and introspective memoir, A Taste of My Life reaches beyond to the greater social consciousness that binds us to our history.” — Indranee Ghosh, The Hindustan Times “I don’t recall a memoir like this in recent times. It is a template of a culture, its eccentricities, its joyous and sad moments — a story of a community told with passion and imagination.” — Nilosree Biswas, Scroll.in “What comes through in this delightful and thoughtful memoir is how strongly and intricately Banerji’s food memories link to her identity as a Bengali Hindu brought up in a ritual-observant family… Each page in this slim book reveals interesting tidbits… A Taste of My Life is a gem from a sensitive writer with a flair for delicious prose.” — Shylasree Shankar, Openthemagazine “Food is so much more than a stage for harmonious domesticity; it is often the invisible fabric of our lives and the tangible thing that punctuates the many unsaid aspects of our existence. Banerji draws this out in each of her essays, mixing together her life’s stories and recipes into an enjoyable literary meal, and prompts readers to think of food as the central character of their lives rather than the backdrop of their dramas.” — Nehmat Kaur, Thewire.in “Food is the language of love. Every page in Chitrita Banerji’s A Taste of My Life serves to reinforce this idea. Through this book we see Banerji growing up… her relationship with her parents… and her own journeys. In all this, it is food that stays with her, offering comfort and insight into how people live and love.” — Shreemayee Das, Mint/Lounge “What it lacks in heft, this book makes up for in richness — richness of prose, richness of memories, and most poignantly, richness of emotions. Banerji all but strips down to the bareness of her soul as she recounts how vital a role food has played at various stages of her life.” — Raul Dias, The Hindu Business Line |
