A review by mweis
On the Curry Trail: Chasing the Flavor That Seduced the World, by Raghavan Iyer

informative

5.0

*I received an eARC via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.*

I really loved this! In fact I ordered a physical copy before I even finished the eARC and I am sending copies to several friends.

 

Iyer starts by giving a little background on what curry is and how this dish traveled worldwide. The recipes are then separated by region, starting with Asia then going to Africa and the Middle East, Europe & Oceania, and then ending with the Americas. Each section starts with a little comment about what that region’s dishes will include and before each specific recipe, Iyer writes a little background of the region or the recipe. I loved that touch a lot. For one, I love knowing the history of food and for another I upheave been fortunate enough to travel to several of the places mentioned so it allowed me to reminisce a little. 

 

Another thing I really liked was that Iyer acknowledges the problem around the idea of “authenticity” when it comes to global food. In the beginning he talks about how food is dynamic and how dishes change all the time so that even a “representative” or “national” dish has variations depending on the chef, which I have found that to be especially true with Asian cuisines. Even something as simple as a curry blend can be so different depending on the chef and palette, so I love that he acknowledges that.