A Taste Of My Life: A Memoir In Essays And Recipes

From a two-time winner of a Sophie Coe Award in Food History

One of the most celebrated culinary historians of our time, Chitrita Banerji grew up in a Calcutta home devoted to food. From there she went to Harvard as a graduate student, then to Dhaka soon after the 1971 India–Pakistan war, and later returned to the US, the passage of these years inspiring a fecund writing career.

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 and 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 favourite tea, winter treats such as narkel naru, a chicken sandwich from memoryland – and charms us throughout with her sublime and enchanting prose.