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TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 24, 2009
  • Posted: Thu, Jul 16 2009. 11:37 PM IST

The house of food

The ‘Samaithu Par’ books, meant for those exiled from their homes, is a testament to the spirit of its creator Meenakshi Ammal

Samanth Subramanian

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Ramkumar and her family continue to publish the book more as a labour of love than anything else—a fine testament to the spirit of Ammal. “I’ve heard stories of how, on Deepavali, people would start coming to her house at 5am, and she’d spend the entire day making special dishes like Kanjivaram idlis, special sweets and savouries, serving everybody herself,” Ramkumar says. “Her cooking was about just pure love and affection.”

samanth.s@livemint.com

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Arun Said:


Samaithu Par (Cook and See). Would it not more accurately translate into 'Try Cooking.'?

Posted On 7/18/2009 11:40:53 PM
Ashwin Said:


Really fascinating.Always saw this book at home when growing up..never imagined such a wonderful story behind this.

Posted On 7/19/2009 1:15:03 PM
voxpop Said:


This book is a bible of tamil brahmin cooking, NOT of "south indian" cooking. 'south india' has four states and cuisines that vary not simply by sate but by district, sub-district, religion and caste .... this is so for "north india", "western india" eastern india" ... the least a reviewer can do is be conscious of this when writing ...

Posted On 7/19/2009 1:22:06 PM
Samanth Said:


Arun: It would, you're right. But the publication house itself translates the "Samaithu Par" title into "Cook and See" for its English volumes. So we went with their version.

Posted On 7/20/2009 11:10:48 AM
Samanth Said:


Voxpop: I quote Meenakshi Ammal Publications' own subtitle: "A comprehensive treatise on traditional South Indian vegetarian cooking."

Posted On 7/20/2009 11:12:37 AM
dhika Said:


I married a tamilian and was introduced to their cuisine through 'Cook and See' gifted by my father in law. It has survived 27 years and is still my guide. I love the quaint style of writing, for example- cut coconut like teeth - in the prepration of Thavalavada - and the ollocks measure used throughout. Wonderful article

Posted On 7/20/2009 10:58:59 PM
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