The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind by William Kamkwamba and Bryan Mealer
After listening to William Kamkwamba on The Diane Rehm show, I eagerly waited for his book to appear at my local library. I picked it up anxious to partake in a “nerd wins against-all-odds” story as portrayed on NPR. My expectations were only partially met.
William Kamkwamba, the only son (with 6 sisters) of a poor Malawian farmer built a windmill to bring electricity to his home. This is an extraordinary feat under any circumstances, even more so considering poverty, famine, and lack of amenities encountered by William. William had to drop out of (first year) secondary school because he was unable to afford tuition. But he was a motivated nerd — so using the local library, he self-taught principles of physics and alternative energy. He started ground up by fashioning tools (e.g. mechanical drill, wrench) using discarded items such as nails and pvc pipes. He sourced and adapted crucial parts (e.g. Wind-mill turbine from a discarded tractor fan, pulley system from a broken bicycle chain) from the local scrapyard and single-handedly managed to assemble a working windmill. To make a long story short, William successfully brought electricity to his bare-bones family dwelling.
He then gradually improved design and set-up by using batteries, diode, circuit breakers, pulley system–to name a few. Again, all items were from the scrap-yard. The book also briefly mentions failed experiments with biogas and a water pump. Eventually, William’s efforts were recognized and he received assistance (to complete his education), encouragement, and acclaim. So this story did have a relative happy ending. Given the current mood for reuse, recycle, and conservation, this book nudges the conscience of people accustomed to wasteful living.
However, bulk (9 of 15 chapters) of the book focuses upon suffering of the Malawian poor. Horrific accounts of famine, poverty, corruption, and (alleged) witchcraft fill 150 out of 273 pages. The co-author, editors, and publisher have done William Kamkwamba no favors by subverting what should’ve been a book showcasing his spirit of innovation and technical brilliance; instead, they’ve turned a huge swathe of the book into a transcript from a 700-club show. As a result, the reader expecting intellectual stimulation (and inspiration) will be disappointed — and might be served best by skipping this book and directly checking out William Kamkwamba’s blog.
Cheap: The High Cost of Discount Culture
It is common knowledge that most items available in American stores and malls are manufactured outside the US. This ranges from small ticket items to high end consumer electronics. Distributors scout the globe to either procure or manufacture goods at prices within reach of the masses. But the author of Cheap opines that lower prices come at a steep cost. Her key points are:
1. Consumers are paying more for substandard quality goods. These sub par goods are not designed or manufactured with durability in mind. Consumers just end up accumulating low quality, unusable clutter. These cheap goods almost always defy recyclability, re-usability and repair-ability. Even worse these characteristics are often intentional, and directly affect the environment. IKEA book shelves are one example cited by the author. The author contrasts the buying of cheap goods with the practice in bygone days of saving up to purchase few high quality, durable items.
2. Mass purchase of low quality items crowds out the good quality counterparts. The result is extinction of workmanship and skill (in the segment) from the community. After all, the incentive for local workmen to persist, innovate and hone their craft is lost when pitted against inexpensive (and substandard) goods.
3. Mass retailers do not encourage or pay premium for subject matter experts on their staff. This isn’t surprising as retailers hurtle towards lowest price, and cheap goods rarely make a consumer look for advice. Quality of service is replaced by self-service.
4. The author alleges that many brands found in mass retail stores are made under the auspices of unfair labor practices overseas. The main complaint is that locals in far flung areas work ridiculously long hours for ridiculously low wages under stressful work conditions.
5. The price on price tags is only remotely connected with the actual worth of the item. The printed price is apaprently a psychological ploy to get consumers to buy products (this one really creeped me out).
Ellen Ruppel Shell also throws in some fun facts about retail history and mentions several innovations ranging from shopping carts to rfid tags.
The book however does not make for fluid reading but on the positive side provides very interesting factoids. It did briefly enthuse me to check out goods made by artisans at a local art fair. I have to confess though that one look at the price tags only redoubled my relief that I live within driving distance of a Target superstore.
Ellen Ruppel Shell’s book could be more aptly named “The case against globalization” with the byline “Why Americans pay more for shoddy items”. It is a thinly veiled anti-globalization volume punctuated with fascinating excerpts from American retail history.
My Life In France by Julia Child & Alex Prud’Homme
My Life in France is an autobiographical snapshot of Julia Childs formative culinary years in France.
Julia Child was a WASP born in an affluent family, grew up to a towering 6′ 2″ stature, and armed herself with a Smith college education. She chose to work with the OSS (precursor to today’s CIA) and was stationed in a region (Ceylon–now Sri Lanka in South East Asia) outside of her comfort zone. She suffered a “spiritual divorce” from her father over divergent political and world views (an interesting undercurrent in the book.) Her marriage to the liberal Paul Child did not endear her to her father either. She moved to Paris with Paul in the late 1940′s where her post-marriage culinary ventures led her to train at the (world-famous) Cordon Bleu school. In her spare time, Julia puttered around with different kinds of tools, produce, and techniques to extract the best taste possible. She also took initiative in documenting recipes to enhance reproducibility. These adventures set her apart as a true culinary nerd.
In addition to her formidable repertoire in the kitchen, Julia also proved to be a sharp, pragmatic and socially savvy creature with tremendous commercial senses, and over course of the next decade she tried various ways to monetize her knowledge and skills. The book is written in such a manner that I found myself rooting for Julia all the way.
Every good story has shades of the dark so that the bright shines even more brightly. In this book, we encounter simmering tensions between Julia, and her co-authors (Simone and Louisette) — together they authored “Mastering the Art of French Cooking”. The clash of personalities and divergent working methods are well documented as is a general sense of discomfort when Julia ended up with most of the limelight. It appears that Simone and Louisette provided the core of the recipes and Julia put in the effort to make these recipes accessible to the everyday American (in America). For example, Julia labored over every recipe ensuring that it could be recreated with ingredients available at local US grocery stores, and provided precise steps to accomplish the final result. This is no mean contribution. This historic book was abandoned several times by various publishing houses but after a decade it managed light of day. Julia’s persistence in getting the book published (and popularized) should also not be underestimated.
I myself am ignorant about French cuisine and I cannot pronounce, recognize or relate to the creations described in Julia’s seminal cook-book. As a lacto-vegetarian, I don’t even see myself trying out most of her recipes. Despite this, I thoroughly enjoyed reading “My Life in France”. Julia Child’s beautiful portrayal of France, her feelings for Paul, and her sheer culinary nerdiness left me feeling positive, inspired, and uplifted. Definitely recommend it.
Joy of Vegan Baking by Colleen Patrick-Goudreau
This book is a must have for vegans and lacto-vegetarians with a sweet tooth. The book is filled with beautiful pictures and recipes with easy to follow steps. Quite a few egg substitutes have been outlined. I primarily use ground flax-seeds and the technique described in the book is very useful.
To use ground flaxseed as an egg substitute do the following:
- Mix 1tbsp flax-seed powder with 3 tablespoons of water.
- Blend in food processor for 2 mins. It will become viscous.
- This is equivalent to 1 egg.
I have tried chocolate chip cookies, cinnamon walnut coffee cake (picture appended), zucchini bread and naan from this book so far. Naan was more like bread than naan so it is not the best recipe out there. I would recommend Neelam Batra or Manjula’s recipe for Naan.
Other than that, this book is a keeper.
Julie and Julia– Julie Powell’s Rantorama
This book is based on Julie Powell’s blog. The blog presented goings on with Julie’s life in general, and her experiences with cooking, using recipes from Julia Childs’ cookbook (titled: Mastering the Art of French Cooking), and culminated as the Cinderella story of a blogger who catapulted from relative obscurity into fame and money (that goes with commissioning of a book and a movie).
My expectation
As an avid foodie, I expected witty and humorous (or even frustrating) episodes that chronicle Julie’s experiences whilst applying Julia Child’s recipes.
My disappointment
The book turned out to be an unending rant about anything and everything — a rambling vitriol that spans parents, husband, job, republicans, and friends. The writing is only interspersed with episodes of cooking. In other words, the book is 10% cooking and 90% bile. I suspect that the 10% cooking part (based on Julia Childs) is the bait, and the 90% bile (to increase page count to a respectable number) is the corresponding switch. Perhaps the blog happened during a rough patch in Julie’s life and can be excused. The editors intent on conning the public should not be so easily forgiven. A whiny blog apparently doth not translate into a worthwhile (or even entertaining) book. Perhaps the publisher’s objective was simply to orchestrate a drive-through riding upon Julia Childs’ fame.
Aside: As a lacto-vegetarian, I was not the least bit entertained by various lobster killing narratives. The book leaves the reader with a hangover and restlessness.
This book is not for you if you
1. are a culinary nerd looking for experiences with Julia Child’s recipes
2. are seeking information (or entertainment for that matter)
3. are vegan/vegetarian
4. are in the habit of breathing
Best to leave this book alone.
Curry: A Tale of Cooks and Conquerors by Lizzie Collingham
This book attempts to trace the evolution of the dish “curry” through different generations. The author attributes the various waves of rulers and colonizers with providing the evolution of the Indian cuisine. This extends from the Mughals, Portugese, Dutch, French and finally the British. She takes pains to quote how the primitive and relatively flavorless pre-Mughal Indian foods were enriched over the centuries thanks to the ingredients and cooking techniques brought in by each wave of rulers. Her sources are excerpts (presented without the original context) from written accounts primarily by European travellers over the centuries. I am guessing that given the fact that she has a Phd in history from Cambridge she has primarily sourced her content from the libraries there. Unfortunately history is written by the rulers and we have a euro-centric monologue going on in this book.
She sources westerners who scoff at and denigrate cultures that they do not understand or cannot relate to. It is a part of their colonial propaganda to convince natives of their own superiority. This book reminds me of another nauseating book along the same lines but in a different genre called “Freedom at Midnight” where the story around Indian Independence was narrated to convey the following points
1. That Indian society was uncivilized before the arrival of the British
2. British are responsible for everything good in India
3. The Indian rulers were all self-indulgent and corrupt across the board.
4. The native Indian population has nothing in their culture to feel good about
What is incredible is that the source for the books is from Lord Mountbatten’s personal library. The book rants on about the sexual excesses of the Indian rulers while portraying Lord Mountbatten as a morally upright citizen. Nothing could be farther from the truth as can be commonly read on his wiki page.
Anyways, back to the curry book, here are my takeaways.
The following hurts the credibility of the book:
1. The sources are primarily European. There are no parallel accounts from Indian scholars around the same period.
2. The author takes pains to quote a lot of negative things about the native Indian lifestyle, food and mannerisms.
3. The author barely mentions the encyclopedic expanse (Gujarati cuisine, south Indian cuisine, Bengali sweets) of Indian cuisines and is fixated on the “curry”, probably because it helps further the colonizers propaganda to shame the native population into submission.
Some interesting things in the book
1. How curry reached Japan and how it has morphed into “curry raisu”.
2. How curry dishes are spreading throughout the world.
In short, this book does not provide a wholesome view of India through the ages. It is skewed to what message it wants to send. This curry smells foul.
Climbing the Mango Trees
I recently read “Climbing the Mango Trees: A Memoir of a Childhood in India” by Madhur Jaffrey. The book shows an India different from the one that I grew in. This was pre-independence India and Madhur J’s family was very well off financially and was very well connected. They lived in absolute luxury. Their clothes, mannerisms seem to be Anglicized. She narrates how her enterprising family through generations held on to their socio-economic standing despite the shift of rulers.The rulers could be as disparate and distant as the Mughals and the British but the family adapted to the changing rulers and tried fitting in by adopting the lifestyles of the rulers of the moment. There were breaks in fortune in between, however an enterprising member would emerge and restore the family to its grand state. The lifestyle was definitely upper class. Just to give an idea, all the cars owned by Madhur J’s family were American and that too in pre-Independence India. The outline and the framework of this book is in upper-class, pre-independence India. In the next layer she projects the dynamics of growing up in a large joint family, with all its members having their own quirks and the effects on those around them. It is a beautiful portrait.
The book shows India in a decent light, which is refreshing considering the multitudes published to make it look otherwise. The book ends with her deciding to go to Miranda House to pursue a college degree. I eagerly wait for a sequel.
Ganapati Bappa moriya and Kuzhakattai dough
I love Ganesh Chaturthi. Growing up appa and I would go to the city market around this time to purchase a Ganesha murthi. Arrays of Ganeshas would look out from the various shops. Ganeshas of different sizes and based on different themes. Ours usually would be upto 15 inches tall. Appa would lead the pujas while amma was in charge of preparing the area and making the neivedyams, I was primarily focussed on enjoying both. Kuzhakattai (rice dumplings with jaggery or lentil based filling) are one of my favorite dishes in Iyer cuisine as a consumer and the ones I dreaded preparing the most due to the scope for error involved. Not any more. As luck would have it, I stumbled upon Viji Varadarajans “Festival Samayal” on my last India trip. I followed the recipe for the the dough, urad and coconut fillings from the book to the great joy of my family. I am listing out the recipe for the dough covering from Vijis book.
Preparation time: 30 mins
Ingredients
Rice 1 cup
Water 2 cups
Lukewarm Milk 1/2 cup
Salt 1/8 teaspoon
Sesame oil. 1 tablespoon
Procedure:
- Pour boiling water on the rinsed rice and it it sit for 20 minutes.
- Blend to a thin batter along with the milk, salt and oil.
- Pour the batter into a pan and cook on medium low for around 12-13 minutes. The batter will form a dough ball and almost all of it seperate from the pan. Empty onto a wide dish. Let the dough cool for less than 5 minutes.
- Rub oil on your palms and knead the dough to blend the residual dough.This dough will be used to make the outer covering for the dumplings.
Other tips:
- I steam these in a steamer basket on medium high for 7-8 minutes.
- If the outer covering is undercooked, micorwave for 1 minute.
Whole wheat dinner rolls
I stumbled upon Nikki Goldbecks “Cooking What Comes Naturally” at a used book store. The vegetarian menu plans and accompanying recipes in the book and quite helpful. My first attempt was the “whole wheat rolls” which I must say turned out quite well. This brings us a step closer to reducing intake of highly processed ingredients (all purpose flour).
Time of effort: 30 minutes
Time to table 2 hours
Ingredients:
Milk 1 and 1/4 cup
Salt 2 and 1/2 tsp
Honey 1/4 cup
Butter or oil 1/4 cup
Water 1/2 cup
Dry yeast 2 tablespoons
Whole wheat flour 4 cups
Procedure:
1. Heat milk and water to around 120 degrees farenheit. Add the salt, honey, butter/oil and set aside.
2. Mix yeast and flour
3. Add the liquid mixture to the dry mixture gradually and knead for 10 minutes to form a dough. Cover with damp cloth and let it erst for 45 minutes and let it rise. The weather is pretty warm in my region due to which I do not need to do much to get the dough to rise.
4. Grease the pan/sheet in which you plan on baking the bread. Form the dough int0 balls of around 2 and 1/2 inches in diameter and line them up, leaving some 1 inch space between them. Baste with butter. Cover with damp cloth. Let the dough rise for 1 hour.
5. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees farenheit and bake for 15 minutes.
Enjoy
Cookbook review-Ajanta Regional Feasts of India
This book is geared towards non-indian culinary enthusiasts aspiring to regale their guests and or family by cooking regional Indian feasts. The recipes do call for ingredients that will typically only be availible at an Indian store. The layout of the book is a visual treat. The author has prepared a sample feast menu from a few of the Indian states. Key Indian states such as Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Karnataka and Kerala that also have a strong culinary tradition have been left out or placed under the ‘South India’ umbrella. I did try out ‘Alu bonda’ and ‘Puran Poli’, the alu bonda came out quite well while the puran poli was an approximation of the authentic version (thuvar dal and sugar were used as opposed to channa dal and jaggery). In some of the recipes, the step-by-step photos do not extend all the way to the last step. Overall I would recommend it to newbie North Indian cooking enthusiasts.
Here is a pic of the Alu Bonda made using the recipe from the book.
Aloo Bonda and filter coffee
