A Film About India's Cookbook Queen Premieres
A Film About India's Cookbook Queen Premieres
Plus: Ebony magazine's famously groovy test kitchen finds a home.
Howdy cookbook fans!
And welcome to your Tuesday news digest! For those of you who are new here, thanks to the cookbooks of The Bear, this is what Stained Page News is normally about. Cookbook news, book deals, new releases, ephemera. Make yourselves at home, and welcome!
Lots of cookbook news today so let’s go!
This issue is brought to you by Picky Eaters, a brand-new card game for ages 8+ where players compete to make the tastiest meal for 5 picky dinner guests. Get groceries, prepare recipes, and use special items to throw the perfect party. But be careful — your fellow players might sabotage your feast! Foodies, grab your copy of Picky Eaters on Kickstarter right now!
I don't know if we have enough recipes for it, but I can guarantee you that I'm working on my own cookbook. I've been working on it for some time, and I have such a curated, beautiful collection of recipes. I'm deep in going through my old journals right now. I have all these journals and I gave these to The Bear, for the writers to page through just to see how chefs are insane and my crazy notes. But yeah, I've been trying to do a cookbook for a long time.
—Speaking of The Bear, this was how Courtney Storer, the show’s culinary producer, responded when Vanity Fair asked her if there was a The Bear: The Cookbook on the way. [VF]
Film Celebrates India’s Cookbook Queen Tarla Dalal
Tarla, a biopic based on the life of Indian celebrity chef, TV star, and incredibly prolific cookbook author Tarla Dalal, was released on July 7. It stars Huma Qureshi as the titular character, who wrote over 100 books in her life, starting with 1974’s The Pleasures of Vegetarian Cooking, and sold over 10 million copies over the course of her career. She also ran an incredibly popular recipes website, TarlaDalal.com. Dalal died in 2013 at 77.
Adorably, to celebrate the film’s release, Qureshi’s restaurateur father has launched a menu item that Dalal was known for at his Delhi restaurants, Saleem’s. Batata Musallam are stuffed potatoes cooked in a rich sauce, and were Dalal’s vegetarian riff on Murg Musallam, which is typically made with chicken. I couldn’t find her recipe for it online, but here’s her version made with eggplant. She also made it with cauliflower.
Tarla has gotten kind of middling reviews, but most agree Qureshi is the highlight. (My favorite headline is “Interesting life, but the movie required some tadka to rustle hard.”) You can stream the film if you have a ZEE5 subscription now. (If you see it pop up on any of other US-based streaming platforms, let me know in the comments?)
GET THIS BOOK The University of Arkansas at Little Rock has released The Juneteenth Celebration Cookbook 2023, featuring recipes from the university’s faculty and staff, as well as the broader community, that celebrate Juneteenth. Proceeds go to the school’s annual Juneteenth celebration, in addition to diversity initiatives. You can get a copy of the book for $20 here. [UALR]
Late to this, but the National Museum of African American History and Culture has acquired the extremely groovy test kitchen (above) from Ebony magazine. Also here is a very cool searchable museum online exhibit thingie for it?![NMAAHC]
UK publisher Quarto has launched Carnival, a food and wellness imprint. [The Bookseller]
How to find good recipes online. [Wired]
UNC Greensboro has released a cookbook based on its archival collection, with recipes that go back 100 years. [WGHP]
Cookbook review: Cook It Wild by Chris Nuttall-Smith. [Skagit Valley-Herald]
Cookbook review: Knife Drop by Nick DiGiovanni. [Glam Adelaide]
How church cookbooks build community. [Slurrp]
How food (including cookbooks!) helps fandoms stay connected. [Mint Lounge]
Okay that’s all for me for today! Y’all have heard from me three times in five days so I’m gonna cool my jets for the rest of the week. See you again Tuesday!