Feasting, Healing: Reclaiming Your Life Through Cooking, is a literary feast for the senses which invites readers to embark on a transformative journey centered around the profound connection between food and well-being. In it, editor Jhilmil Breckenridge eloquently opens the door to resilience and self-discovery with a powerful assertion: "Everyone needs to eat to survive, and everyone has access to a kitchen." This statement sets the stage for an anthology that explores cooking as a universal coping mechanism, emphasising its low entry barriers and transformative potential.
Breckenridge's insight recognizes the kitchen, not merely as a functional space but, as a sanctuary where diverse individuals navigate and triumph over stressful conditions through the art of cooking or baking. The anthology becomes a testament to the democratising power of the kitchen — a place where people from all walks of life find solace, empowerment, and a means to navigate the complexities of their existence. Through poignant narratives – both fictional and real — the author weaves tales of individuals finding solace, control, and empowerment within the sanctuary of their kitchens. The act of cooking becomes a therapeutic endeavor, offering not only physical nourishment but also a balm for the soul.
One of the book's standout themes is the trance-like submission that culinary activities demand, depicted vividly through the acts of cutting, chopping, peeling, slicing, stirring, and kneading. These rhythmic motions, set against the backdrop of the kitchen, create a sensory symphony that resonates with readers, immersing them in the comforting embrace of culinary therapy. The prose captures the lulling rhythms, sounds, and smells of the kitchen, transporting readers into a world where heightened senses contribute to a meditative and healing experience.
Kathakoli Dasgupta’s piece, entitled ‘Food in a Foreign Land’, recounts her journey of developing a love for food by observing her grandmother cooking in the kitchen in Calcutta. Fondly reminiscing, she recalls eagerly anticipating the flavors of dishes like rui maachh bhaja, alu bhaja, along with masoor daal and bhaat. This experience not only kindled her passion for food but also instilled the confidence to venture into starting her own catering business. Saima Afreen’s ‘A Portrait of Beetroot Soup’ is a particularly poetic and whimsical piece of writing in its elevation of simple slices of beetroot to something with myth-like healing powers. She treads the line of time, dipping into the past, with her father’s love for chuqandar ka halwa bringing about memories of a red Calcutta donning Marxist flags, and then taking it all the way back into the annals of history, where beetroot was said to be offered by the Greeks in 300 BCE at the temple of Delphi to Apollo. For Saima, cooking is creation, and in it, she finds peace. The anthology is also home to poetry, and among them, is Sumayyah Malik’s ‘Give Back You Heart/To Itself’, as an answer to Derek Walcott’s ‘Love After Love’, in which she writes, “we will greet today, over the toast of imperfect coffee with added sugar…”
The second half of the book is works of fiction, featuring longer works such as Jonaki Ray’s ‘Biryani Questions’, whose protagonist finds himself in an abusive relationship, and chooses to seek comfort in simple biryani cooked and shared with his parents.
Feasting, Healing, carefully curated under Breckenridge's guidance, celebrates the simplicity and accessibility of cooking through personal narratives. A testament to the transformative nature of culinary experiences, this book leaves readers with the feeling that the familiar embrace of the kitchen might just be the place of healing they have been seeking all along.
Buy the book here.
