From the Archives:
On Climbing the Mango Trees: A Memoir of a Childhood in India by Madhur Jaffrey

If you are at all interested in the wonderful world of food and cooking (which clearly you are since you're sharing your time with me here), you're aware that the genre of the year is the narrative: those sometimes whimsical, very personal, and often surprisingly frank looks behind the scenes of our favorite chefs' kitchens.

A few notable titles that come to mind are Heat by Bill Buford (who doesn't love hilarious stories of Mario Batali's rather, um, "blue" commentary on particularly picky guests?) and Anthony Bourdain's The Nasty Bits. Then came The United States of Arugula, David Kamp's exploration of American gourmet tastes, which finally allowed us "foodies" to stand proud and proclaim that, yes, we really do prefer yellowtail sashimi and Kobe steaks to fish fingers and fast-food burgers.

And now, thanks to Madhur Jaffrey,…
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