Monday 30 January 2017

'Saves me the trouble...'

Chennai Book Fair 2017
Irene Shilpa, II MA English

“The only source of knowledge is experience”
- Albert Einstein 

I visited the book fair on the last day. Since there are many piled up unread books on my shelf, i didn't want to buy a new one. But i was very much eager to visit the stalls and glance through the pages. As i stepped into those stalls, i was astonished to see the huge collection of a great variety of books. I sensed a feeling of warmth around me as if the voices behind each book were reaching out to me with their tender hands drawing me closer to pick them up. The very sight of those books were indeed a feast to my craving appetite of reading. I was also quite surprised by the large number of people gathered – both young and old – even in this digital age where e-books are preferred.


This time i selected two books that can help me to cater my taste. yep! I bought two culinary books by favourite chef Dhamodaran. I came home with a great hope that those dishes on the description photo will be on my plate if i keenly follow the guidelines. Watching videos from YouTube and cooking is entirely different from reading and flipping through the pages of a book and cooking. It felt like the chef was right next to me whispering into my ears. 

I never felt alone. Also it enabled me to experiment innovatively with a variety of dishes. The chef's book was mainly focused on south Indian style non-vegetarian dishes. Initially i was confused, but later as i applied the tips and carefully followed the instructions I gained confidence. Any beginner can be benefited through that book as it's simple and clear. I liked the way the chef didn't complicate the way of teaching. He made it very easy to comprehend and fun to cook. I enjoyed a lot exploring my new hobby.

Cooking is an art, but all art requires knowing something about the techniques and Materials. And books are the never failing friends and mentors us tenderly in any field that we want to master. These books which i bought will be useful for my lifetime and save me from troubles :) i learnt to cook a lot of dishes and to my surprise they tasted really good as well. Now that i have learnt that cooking is also an "Art," i have decided to educate myself reading more culinary books. Indeed this year's book fair has helped me to discover my new passions giving extra qualification and life survival skills.

“A cook is creative marrying ingredients in the way a poet marries words.”

P.S: i have attached my photos of dishes that i cooked reading the book.

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