The Hundred-Foot Journey

Not for me.

It has the feel of a memoir. But as a work of fiction it was sort of puzzling. I kept waiting for Hassan to revisit the Indian cuisine of his youth, to revitalize old fashioned French styles with new flavors. The whole book feels like a lead up to this - from Hassan's apprenticeship to Madam Mallory, to his close friendship with Verdun, the master of traditional French styles. But instead Hassan fully assimilates into French cooking and culture, deciding to cook food simply in their natural juices, whatever that means. (It kind of sounded like spa cooking - steamed vegetables and fish with a sprinkling of herbs?) The book ends with winning a coveted third Michelin star. The award feels empty - we've already seen Mallory driven to grief and rage in search of it, and Verdun to suicide at it's loss. What is the point? For the book to close in celebration of Hassan's restaurant award just felt sad.

Also, the book has some really gross and pointless passages that overshadow the rest of the book, like “Papa was cursed, ever since he was a teenager, with an unattractive rash of blackheads, pimples, and boils across the broad expanse of his hairy back, and while Mummy was alive, the duty of popping the worst offenders fell on her. “Squeeze,” he yelled at Mehtab. “Squeeze.” Pap scrunched his face, Mehtab pinching the boil hard between her painted nails, the two of them yelping in surprise when the offending item suddenly exploded.” This is disturbing and gross.