His partnership with director James Ivory has yielded a succession of acclaimed and award-winning films, including A Room with a View, Howard's End and The Remains of the Day. But Merchant's talents extend into the culinary world as well, as evidenced by this exquisite collection of over 100 recipes from his native India.

The New Indian Cuisine for Fearless Cooks and Adventurous Eaters Ismail Merchantýs Indian Cuisine, the celebrated producerýs first collection of recipes, was hailed by the New York Times as one of the ten best cookbooks of the year. Now, in Ismail Merchantýs Passionate Meals, the author leads fellow cooks further along on his odyssey, offering over a hundred new, tantalizing recipes. The collection opens with a series of delicious appetizers to whet dinersý appetites, from refreshing lassi to spicy vegetable fritters. Main courses, including meat, poultry, or seafood, represent the author at his most creative, lending American staples like veal, turkey, and even hamburgers exciting new dimensions. Passionate Meals closes with a selection of Indiaýs superb breads, pickles, chutneys and sweets, which Merchant, following Indian custom, shares as a gesture of goodwill and friendship. For grand entertaining, as well as for casual and delicious cooking out of the ordinary, Ismail Merchantýs Passionate Meals is a welcome reminder that food still has the capacity to nourish and be an adventure.

Ismail Merchant's account of the filming of A Room with a View is really a song in praise of the Tuscan table. For while Merchant recounts the problems - both hilarious and daunting - in trying to shoot a movie in the crowded tourist mecca of Florence, his most passionate prose is reserved for those moments - and there were many of them - when he and his cast and crew stopped to sample the bounty of the Tuscan countryside and the world-famous creations of the Florentine kitchen. Accompanied by production shots and stunning still life photographs by Derrick Santini, Ismail Merchant's text lets the reader wander behind the scenes in the shooting of a major motion picture. We learn how, for example, a "view" was created from a room that, in fact, had no view, and how, amid angry demonstrators and hungry pigeons, fully dressed stars and extras managed successfully to complete the famous scene in the Piazza Signoria. But between takes, Ismail Merchant always returns to the table, whether it is set at Florence's famous Il Cavallino restaurant or in the stately Villa Maiano, whether it is really only a picnic spread out on a hillside or tripe eaten on the street. And, when not at the table, Merchant is in the markets, sampling the fruit and vegetables fresh from the farm that give Tuscan cooking its unique character. When the tale has been told, and the last meal eaten, to satisfy the reader's inevitable hunger, Merchant provides seventy recipes from antipasti to desserts that can be successfully prepared in any kitchen.

Tantalizing, Exquisite, And Remarkably Original Dishes From A Talented And Imaginative Master Chef Ismail Merchant Draws On His Childhood Memories Of Exquisite Indian Food To Create Quick, Delicious Meals. Included Here Are Hors D'Oeuvres And Drinks (Mustard And Chive Prawn Bites, Beer And Lemon), Soups (Ginger Broccoli Soup In Just Twenty-Five Minutes), Fish, Poultry And Eggs, Meat (Lamb With Onion And Tomatoes In Less Than Forty-Five Minutes), Vegetables, Salads, Rice, Lentils, Sweets (Cinnamon-Brandy Baked Pears, Sweet Saffron Rice), Pickles And Chutneys-Tasty, Fast-Cooking Meals Delivered In Clear, Easy-To-Follow Recipes, Along With Ismail'S Insider Anecdotes About Films And Stars. A Wonderful Book By A Brilliant And Passionate Cook. 'It Is An Exemplary Work And One Of The Most Original Departures From What You Normally Expect A Book On Indian Cooking To Be. It Is Not National. It Does Not Deal With Traditional Concepts. And It Is Not Regional. It Is Simply One Man'S Inspired Notion Of What His Native Land'S Food Should Taste Like. It Is Tailored To His Own Sophisticated And Remarkably Original Palate. And The Recipes Are Easy To Follow.' -Craig Claiborne

It was when traveling on assignment in India that journalist Stephen Henderson first learned of soup kitchens operated by Sikh houses of worship (or gurudwaras). After volunteering for a week at the Gurudwara Bangla Sahib in Delhi—which feeds 20,000 men, women, and children every day—Henderson became curious to research global gastrophilanthropy, or the very different ways in which hungry people are served free meals around the world. When newspaper and magazine work dispatched him to places across America and abroad, Henderson would add days to his itineraries to learn about local customs of charitable cookery. This intriguing series of field reports reveals the clamor, chaos, and compassion of kitchens in places such as Iran, Israel, and South Korea, as well as those in Austin, Los Angeles and Pittsburgh. While the recipes, culinary methods, and clientele may vary, all the soul-stirring experiences share a common theme: a great way to show love to the needy is through the gift of food. Written with a huge heart, and an even bigger appetite, these chapters—sad and funny, sometimes both—may inspire you to embark on your own acts of gastrophilanthropy. Now released in paperback, Stephen Henderson's revised edition adds two new chapters reflecting on the COVID-19 pandemic and its effect on food insecurity and homelessness. His latest perspective demonstrates even further the necessity for all to step up in any way they can. After all, someone, somewhere, is always hungry.

A KCRW Top 10 Food Book of 2021 A Minnesota Star Tribune Top 15 Cookbook of 2021 A WBUR Here & Now Favorite Cookbook of 2021 The James Beard Award–winning and New York Times best-selling compendium of the paper’s best recipes, revised and updated. Ten years after the phenomenal success of her once-in-a-generation cookbook, former New York Times food editor Amanda Hesser returns with an updated edition for a new wave of home cooks. She has added 120 new but instantly iconic dishes to her mother lode of more than a thousand recipes, including Samin Nosrat’s Sabzi Polo (Herbed Rice with Tahdig), Todd Richards’s Fried Catfish with Hot Sauce, and J. Kenji López-Alt’s Cheesy Hasselback Potato Gratin. Devoted Times subscribers as well as newcomers to the paper’s culinary trove will also find scores of timeless gems such as Purple Plum Torte, David Eyre’s Pancake, Pamela Sherrid’s Summer Pasta, and classics ranging from 1940s Caesar Salad to modern No-Knead Bread. Hesser has tested and adapted each of the recipes, and she highlights her go-to favorites with wit and warmth. As Saveur declared, this is a “tremendously appealing collection of recipes that tells the story of American cooking.”