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Appetite for books
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Nita Mehta has written dozens of pocket-sized cookbooks. CHITRA SWAMINATHAN on her recipe for success
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Pic by T.A. Hafeez
LANGUISHING LADLE wielders, amateur cooks and wannabes excitedly lapped up every word she spoke and went home with piles of books penned by her. And Nita Mehta, who has dished out almost 100 cookbooks, many of them hot-sellers, was obviously all smiles.
At the Park Sheraton recently to judge a cookery contest organised by Sakhi Mandal, she patiently signed autographs and answered incessant `kitchen' queries. Sample these: Nitaji can you come again on the substitute for gelatine you mentioned? Why don't you start classes here, at least once a month? Can I use Amul cheese instead of the original Italian ingredient in cheesecakes? What's palak aachari?
Says the middle-aged housewife-turned-writer, "Because of my home-science background I combine new-age nutritive values and traditional taste in equal measure in my cooking. And my recipes are tried and tested before they go to print."
Nita has a kitchen at her office too — stocked with gizmos and garam masalas. "The cooking space is more valuable to me than my living or drawing rooms," she says matter-of-factly.
With an intuitive flair for blending and grinding, she cooks up her own recipes and with her special touch makes even generic preparations taste better.
Nita feels with tourism gaining momentum globally, people's appetite for the delicacies of distant lands has increased amazingly. "And not surprisingly, food festivals and speciality restaurants are feasting on the fad."
Nita herself eats out often to experience variety flavours and cuisine cultures. "When I visit my daughter in the U.S., I end up spending most of my time in the grocery stores."
But her family has nothing to complain about. Besides treating their taste buds everyday, she has also been churning out bestsellers. "I always feel the family deserves best. Hence, all my exotic and experimental varieties are first laid out on the dinner table."
Nita's gastronomic career had a cold start. She used to teach ice-cream making and took to wielding the pen at the insistence of her students. From taking one full year to finish her first book, "Vegetarian Wonders" ten years ago, today Nita manages to work on two or more books simultaneously. Besides, she also runs a publishing house, Snab.
Her next offering, "Learn To Cook With Nita Mehta", will serve as a valuable guide to starters. The recipes are explained step-by-step and depicted pictorially. It also has basic details about cereals and spices, along with the usual queries. "I don't want my readers to be in the kitchen all the time, racking their head over a long list of ingredients or complicated procedures."
Pocket-sized books, practical tips, economically priced and easy-to-make recipes are the ingredients her success story is made of.
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