‘Love, Loss and What We Ate’ is a sensuous smorgasboard of bitter-sweet immigrant life, zesty globe trotting experiences, spicy culinary adventures, fiery relationships and savoury soul searching quests of model, actor, writer, producer, social activist and in her words “culinary spelunker” Padma Lakshmi. Tracing her journey from her life as an Indian immigrant in the 80s, the memoir is a warm, candid, open hearted story of an unequivocally non-conforming woman in the world of high fashion and haute cuisine. I have always found Padma Lakshmi’s persona quite fascinating. So when I decided to give her memoir a read,I realised that she is much more than the ex-trophy wife of Salman Rushdie. Lakshmi’s story is the story of every woman who dares to make her name or claim an identity in the turbulent world of media and glitz. Wearing her heart and her scar, proudly on her sleeve, Padma Laksmi spins a poignant tale spanning four decades and multiple geographies. Interspersed with mouth watering recipes culled from memory and experiences, the memoir is a delectable spread of rich and vivid emotions telling us how food helps to create our own versions of home. I enjoyed how she takes the reader from her nomadic and hedonistic days as an upcoming international model to her culinary celebrity days as a judge at Top Chef and later as a columnist for New York Times, a writer, a TV producer, and an activist, raising awareness on Endometriosis. She is one of the first celebrities to have spoken about the ailment. With every turn of a page one sees the unfolding of the layers of Lakshmi the character in the narrative of her own life. This is one of those rare books which one should not literally judge by the cover. A memoir that celebrates food and life.
Amrita Satapathy 