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Love, Loss, and What We Ate by Padma Lakshmi

I chose to read Love, Loss and What We Ate because I thought that love and loss would make for interesting topics to read about and of course, was curious about food as well. In her book, Lakshmi talks about her failed marriage, her illness, her childhood and family, her young adult life and career aspirations, and her daughter. In the midst of all these topics, she always finds a way to weave the topic of food into her writing. She talks about how certain foods comforted her and brought back memories and how her desire for food keeps her moving forward in life. Her thoughts on food are very novel to me because she has gone all over the world tasting all kinds of unique foods. She talks about how she has had cheap food, expensive food, European food, American food, and Indian food. She has also been on a few cooking shows. Whenever she feels down, Lakshmi goes for Indian food full of spices that reminds her of her mother and her upbringing in India.

 

I really like how Lakshmi was able to effectively integrate her stories together while keeping food always a relevant topic. She would be talking about some of the foods she had in her kitchen and what she was doing with it and then suddenly it would take her back to India as a child, where she first experienced a certain spice she remembered. Instead of writing about her childhood in a single chapter, Lakshmi does this consistently throughout her book, giving little glimpses into her childhood one food and memory at a time. She writes about the location she grew up in, the family she grew up with, and all the fun memories with food she grew up with. She talks about how she got to taste all kinds of European food during her time as a model in Spain and Italy. On top of all that, Lakshmi talks about traveling often between India and the US and how her identity both as an Indian and an American has been shaped by food.

 

I would recommend this book because of the relatively straightforward way she writes and because of her life story. By reading her book, I personally got an insight into what life is like for an Indian girl living in the US and how her culture, which wouldn't let her eat meat, affected her childhood. Lakshmi goes from being the bullied daughter of a single, poor Indian mother to being a model and TV host, and ends up knowing some of the most rich and influential people in the world. She shares what life lessons she learns from each stage of her life and how she experienced food through each part. Perhaps most college students wouldn't be able to relate to her life story, but the ways in which she brings herself through some of the most depressing and painful periods of her life are worth reading about.