Eatdrink #82 March/April 2020

eatdrink: The Local Food & Drink Magazine
March/April 2020 | 57
Books
Be My Guest
Reflections on Food, Community and the Meaning of Generosity
By Priya Basil
Review by DARIN COOK
Be my Guest: Reflections on Food,
Community and the Meaning of
Generosity (Canongate Books,
2019) by Priya Basil is an eloquent
book crafted with the same precision as the
eye-catching porcelain plate on the front
cover — gold and cobalt hues on a platter are
fashioned into garlic, wooden spoons, foliage,
forks, beans, serving pots, pasta bowls, and
human hands. The swirling design mesmerizes
and draws you into the book, where the
captivation with the visual is replaced by
an enthralling cascade of words about food,
religion, culture, love, politics, family, and
cooking — all set at a global dinner table that
is clearly Basil’s comfortable place to bring
thought-provoking ideas.
Basil is a true global citizen with a melange
of cultures influencing her tastes as a food
lover, author, and activist. She was born in
England to Indian parents who moved to
Kenya to raise her. Living in Berlin as an adult
after marrying a German, she now dabbles in
the Sikhism of her ancestors as it relates to
treating all humans equally and altruistically
serving the community. But
her deepest cravings always
come back to her mother’s
cooking, her most favourite
dish in the world, the essence
of her mother, the taste of her
home: the creamy curry dish,
kadhi. She writes, “Each bite
holds the flavour of the past
and the present, a lifetime
of my mother’s love, her
unstinting hospitality.”
Kadhi and many other
traditional Indian dishes are the
taste of home for Basil, which
has unfolded from her maternal
grandmother’s kitchen. Her
Author Priya Basil
grandmother’s
unconditional
desire to cook
for others is
legendary in
the family.
“She wields
ingredients
like weapons
and has
made food
the front line in a
fight for first place in the affections of
family.” This often meant not letting others
in on the secrets of her recipes. Even though
being asked for a personal recipe is the ultimate
compliment, her grandmother hoarded them
in her brain and Basil tells us “if she was ever
cornered into explaining how to make a dish,
she deliberately left out key ingredients or
crucial steps.” She never owned a cookbook and
never wrote down any of her recipes.
Whether or not a recipe comes from family
secrets or a cookbook, Basil writes, “The food
that is cooked for you is imbued with an
ingredient no recipe can list,
no culinary sleight of hand
can substitute: hospitality.”
In her book, she delves
deeper into how hospitality
has many dimensions and is
not just about inviting guests
for dinner — although it
is that in spades for Basil,
who would undoubtedly
be an outstanding hostess.
Hospitality is also about
accepting refugees fleeing
from war-ravaged countries
by giving food, shelter, and
safety in the welcoming
arms of another culture or