Read.Eat.Listen: Bend

It's been a week of listening to the world news: to Lance & Oprah, President Obama's inauguration, Beyonce's lips, Hilary testifying about Benghazi... a lot to process. Above the din, a few things have caught my ear  to provide some inspiration
Read: I heard a review of this book on NPR and rushed to find out more. "Bend, Not Break: A Life in Two Worlds," is Ping Fu's story of surviving the hell that was the Chinese Cultural Revolution,  being exiled to America (for her research on female infanticide) and going on to become the influential CEO of Geomagic. Here's a story for crazy times!
Eat: Goa Fish Curry. A couple years ago, I tacked on a few weeks' time in Goa, India, after several months spent in Mysore. Kwame flew out for that part of the trip, which involved more beach time than yoga. As many of the best places to eat are in the beach shack restaurants that line the beach, and many a sunset dinner involved the local fish curry. Since a birthday is going on 'round here, a Goan curry is in the making (albeit without the beach shack dining room). I didn't do any cooking in Goa, so I'm happy to have a copy of Niloufer Ichaporia King's  'My Bombay Kitchen'. The book is a good foodie read period; I'm glad to finally cook something out of it!
Listen: Of Monsters and Men 'King & Lionheart'

Comfort Reads: Cookbooks & Essays

I don't know how anyone could not fall in love with Niloufer Ichaporia King after reading one or two pages of My Bombay Kitchen. The woman has a joy de vivre that permeates her thouroughly introduced and detailed recipes, providing a read that's nourishing on more than one level. Subtitled " Traditional and Modern Parsi Cooking" even the non-cook stands to benefit from reading the pages full of advise on ways to steam perfect rice, the purported Parsi obsession for eggs and proper limeade, which draws equally on Indian culture and the farmer's market ethos of the Bay Area. The book was prominently displayed at Boulettes Larder when I stopped in after Christmas for some chai spices. One of the cooks told me 'that's a great book," and indeed, another chef with high standards, Alice Waters, who has eaten many a King meal, wrote the foreword. Both the kick-off piece by Waters detailing King's home-cooking, extensive knowledge, and ties to Chez Panisse, as well as the lengthy introduction about Bombay and coming to the states by the author, could have fit into the new volume of "The Best American Essays." Curated by another fave writer Susan Orlean, the essays I've read thus far are—many culled not-too-surprisingly from The New Yorker and more than one from a culinary magazine —offer up more odes to the senses...as well as comfort during edgy times.