Padma puts her heart and soul into her second
cookbook,
Tangy Tart Hot & Sweet.
With each recipe she shares a story about its origin or gives personal tips on how to prepare it. Her
cookbook includes personal snapshots of family and friends - even Padma herself. Her love for food and her culinary gift of cooking comes from her mother, who was famous in South India for “being able to whip something up out of nothing.” In her own kitchen, Lakshmi prefers “fresh ingredients, clean flavors that stand out on their own, and healthy dishes of some unexpected spice.” Some recipes take a few minutes to prepare, like
Chilled Cucumber Soup. Experienced - or adventurous - cooks can attempt the more elaborate dishes, like
Moroccan Bisteeya, which is curried chicken pie. A few of the meals require exotic ingredients not found in your everyday grocery store (fenugreek seeds or yuzu juice anyone?). From salads to seafood to side dishes, Lakshmi shares kitchen secrets to help you create delicious foods with
international flavor. Learn how to make Za’ atar powder or peel a pomegranate. Or discover Padma’s most prized secret weapon in her pantry (page 156). Throughout the book are mouth-watering photos that take you on a culinary journey of around the world.
Lakshmi is an award-winning author, internationally known actress and model, and host of the sensational hit TV show
Top Chef on the Bravo channel. Her first cookbook,
Easy Exotic (1999), was awarded Best First Book at the World Cookbook Awards.