Tag: Autobiography

Best Books on Food!

Taste by @stanleytucci.
A book, that you would enjoy reading not just if you like eating, but if you like cooking too! The tone used in the book, the way it has been written, takes us back to his childhood days and memories! This book has Taste on every page, while some pages are sweet, some are Bitter. The whole read is a meal! You wouldn’t like to miss it!

The Food Mood Connection by @drumanaidoo
Haven’t you always said or heard? I am in the mood to eat this meal today for lunch, Breakfast or Dinner.
Well! Food and Mood does have a connection and this book highlights how it affects us. An interesting book on focusing correlation between Mental Health, Food and Diet.
Research and written by Uma Naidoo who has studied nutritional & lifestyle psychiatry at Harvard.

Pancake in Paris by @craigcarlsonauthor
A story of an American who lived his American dream in Paris!
By starting a cafe – Pancake in Paris!
This story is about how he succeeded in living his dream and the challenges he faced in getting the right ingredients and introducing a Breakfast meal that wasn’t part of the French culture.
A good American breakfast.

How I Quit Google to Sell Samosas @munafkapadia
The Story about Borhi Kitchen – A home experience of cultural cuisine, that started a decade ago and gained popularity for the food and the experience it, it later also grew with food experience as a delivery service and for Catering at events! With a simple idea of bringing in local cultural food. This is an inspirational story set in India, Mumbai since it’s also a challenge to diversify from well-paid jobs to starting something of your own. This book also highlights the challenges one faces in the Food & Beverages and Hospitality business.

Forgotten Foods @taranahusainkhan
A book on looking back at some of the food specialities that aren’t very popular these days and are well known only in certain parts of the country.

Series To Stream on Netflix and Chill!

  • • Unorthodox : 

The series was inspired by and is based on, the Memoir Unorthodox: The Scandalous Rejection of My Hasidic Roots by Deborah Feldman.  Satmar Movement in a  Hasidic group(Community), is a  Jewish Group that arose as a spiritual revival movement in Western Ukraine in the 18th Century and spread across Eastern Europe rapidly. 

Today they are found in Israel and USA originating from the city Satu Mare Romania where it was founded in 1905 by  A Rabbi Joel Teitelbaum.  

Following WW 2 it was re-established in NY becoming one of the largest Hasidic movements in the world. It’s characterised by strict religious codes – rejection of Modern Culture and Anti-Zionism (Movement of Jewish people that supports re – Establishment of and support for Jewish State in a territory)

 a Hassidic community In Williamsburg, Brooklyn  NYC. 

Teachings – Emphasises God’s exist in the universe and the need to follow all religious practice and spiritual practices.

This series is the first series in Yiddish for Netflix and adapts and represents Jewish culture.  it’ represents the culture very authentically. The  Music Academy Barenboim-Said-Akademie is an actual location in Berlin, Germany where  Bachelors &  Artist Diploma in Music is studied  Jews & Muslims play classical music together, as a whole utopia. We were inspired by this idea, as the sort of institution that could only begin in Berlin.”

And in case you have read the book and are in two minds whether you should go ahead with series or not. How different is it?

Then you could watch the making of Unorthodox a twenty minutes episode on Netflix itself. 

And if you would just want to watch a movie instead to understand the Jew community you could watch. One of us – A movie you can watch. helps you identify the community and the who experience of the series is very 

  • High Seas : 

High Sea – Netflix series is a mystery period drama series in Spanish. 

Created by : Ramón Campos & Gema R. Neira

Plot:

The show is completely set on a ship Bárbara de Braganza and as the journey begins from Vigo Port to Rio De Janeiro. 

There are few incidents taking place. The first season is a complete breeze with every episode ending in a dramatic twist waiting to be unfolded in the next episode. 

The episode is 45 minutes each. The show is two-season long with eight-episode each and the whole journey is an exciting, thrilling and keeping you on the edge.

Who Will like watching this?

Audience Who like Mystery Thrillers.

The Characters 

In the show, the characters are introduced just at the right moment & the backstory or references about them are given when needed.

In case you have already watched this show or would like to watch another series on the same lines  There are a couple of more shows by the creators on Netflix itself  Cable Girls, Grand Hotel & Velvet. 

The creators particularly love periodic drama and Have done well with the whole production & storyline. I am sure you would love these shows. 

Set Design & Production – Is very periodic and gives us the sense of a luxury cruise.

The lighting is very cinematic with the long shot of the ship on the water in the evening is the most beautiful shot in the series. 

The moment the crew pull the lever to adjust the ship is also very important details that have taken care of the whole set design.  (Slow, Half and full alphabetically written ) 

The costume, styling of the character is very retro and giving you the sense of the series set in the 1940s. 

The Music & Background score is suspenseful.  

The show offers a cast That not only good looking but with most of the Spanish actors being established models & well known Spanish actors.   

Born a Crime -Trevor Noah Book review!

Born a crime @trevornoah is an interesting read giving insights on how it is growing up in South Africa. 
This book indulges in the stereotypical South African life and it also describes how interesting place South Africa is. The book is titled “Born a Crime” Because in South Africa his mother was black and his father was white…. 

The immortality act 1927 is the reference to why Trevor Noah was born a crime. 

1.Any European male who had illicit carnal intercourse with a native female, and any native male who had illicit carnal intercourse with a European female…Shall be guilty of an offence and liable on conviction to imprisonments for a period not exceeding five years …
2.Any native female who permits any European male to have illicit carnal intercourse with her. And any European female who permits any native male to have illicit intercourse with her shall be guilty of an offence and liable on conviction to imprisonment for a period not exceeding four years …

The style of the book written is interesting every chapter has a brief summary of what the chapter is about.
South African are divided into different tribes like Zulu, Xhosa,Tswana, Sotho, Venda, Ndebele, Tsonga and Pedi are just a few of them.  
Just like our Indian caste system has the Kshatriya who was known as the warriors & kings The Zulu tribe in South Africa to are known as the Warriors & like the Bhramin priest and the academics the Xhosa are the thinkers in South African tribe. 
Trivia : 

1. Streets  in Johannesburg are named after cars 
Jaguar streets, Ferrari street etc…
2. Rockery street is also known as the main strip in Johannesburg is one of the popular street filled with restaurants & bars.
3. Chinese in South Africa were classified as black and Japanese as white as they wanted Japanese fancy cars & electronic to be imported.


If you want to read something totally different this is the book! Stories from South African childhood. Interestingly this is my second South African author who I have read and realised personal stories are so interesting to read. The 1st South African Book I read was the tales of the metric system by Imraan Coovadia and the blurb of the book had caught me the attention but what lacked in the book was the storytelling. 

Over 10 chapters and 40 years—from 1970 through the end of apartheid, the election of Nelson Mandela, and the 2010 World Cup—multiple narrators provide varying perspectives. Each chapter showcases a short period of time, from a few hours to a day, in a character’s life. The small moments captured by Coovadia are snapshots of South Africa’s cultural change. 

But Trevor Noah doesn’t disappoint you at all. It’s funny, Interestingly told the story of his life in South Africa.