Sonal Singh On Sonal's Table
Book title – Mrs K M Matthew’s finest recipes
Publisher – Penguin eBury Press Pages – 224 Language – English
Genre – Recipes
Author – Mrs Matthew
Available on – amazon.in
Purchase link – https://www.amazon.in/Mrs-Mathews-Finest-Recipes-Mathew/dp/0143453122/ref=sr_1_fkmr2_1?crid=78QGPI6K91X2&keywords=mrs+matthews+finest+recipes&qid=1692339148&sprefix=mrs+matthews+finest+recipes%2Caps%2C189&sr=8-1-fkmr2
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About the author – Mrs K. M. Mathew (1922-2003) is the bestselling author of Flavours of the Spice Coast and more than twenty other authentic and highly popular cookbooks in Malayalam and English. She was the founder editor of Vanitha, the leading Malayalam magazine for women.
About the book – Mrs Matthew has single-handedly introduced generations of culinary fans to the spicy palate of Kerala cuisine. This book is a fantastic collection of authentic Kerala recipes that Mrs Matthews gathered from across the state of Kerala, often travelling to small, remote places in search of these culinary gems. This book catalogues all of her best recipes which have been presented for the reader in a simple, elegant format.
The book is divided into ten sections – snacks, breakfast items, egg dishes, meat dishes, seafood dishes, vegetable dishes, rice dishes, payasam and puddings, soups and jams/pickles/chutneys etc. The book is a cornucopia of information and I confess, I took my time to review this because I was so busy trying out as many recipes as I could. I have thoroughly enjoyed learning from this volume. I may have tweaked a few recipes to suit my family’s palate but for the most part, I followed the book. Some recipes are more cosmopolitan in their consumption in India/abroad whilst there are others which are more traditional and endemic to the region. I enjoyed experimenting with the latter more.
The book has some beautiful photos by Sumanth Kumar AR
Some of my favourites – Kerala meat fry with bits of coconut (first time that I used coconut with meat), pork vindaloo (I have made this many times earlier but Mrs Matthew’s recipe had a distinctly different flavour to the Goan dish), Trivandrum Chicken (a simple yet flavourful recipe), Malabar fish curry (a beautifully aromatic dish), Idichakka Thoran (a dish made with jackfruit and coconut – superbly scrumptious).
This is a book with culinary wisdom passed down through the ages. It makes for a wonderful gift and is a must have in your kitchen bookshelf if you love to cook and experiment with cuisines.
