'The Hundred Foot Journey' by Richard C. Morais

'The Hundred Foot Journey is the story of Hassan Haji, a boy from Mumbai who embarks, along with with his boisterous family, on a picaresque* journey first to London and then across Europe, before they ultimately open a restaurant opposite a famous chef, Madame Mallory, in the remote French village of Lumiere. A culinary war ensures, pitting Hassan's Mumbai-toughened father against the imperious Michelan-starred cordon bleu, until Madame Mallory realizes that Hassan is a cook with natural talents far superior to her own.

Full of eccentric characters, hilarious cultural mishaps, vivid settings and delicious meals described in rich, sensuous detail, Hassan's charming account lays bare the inner workings of the elite world of French haute cuisine, and provides a life affirming and poignant coming-of-age tale.'

I found this book absolutely delicious! Beautifully descriptive, colourful, tasty and melodramatic, it reminded me of the Mexican movie 'Like Water for Chocolate' based on the novel by Laura Esquivel (I have not read the book, but now will as it is one of my favourite films of all time).

Told in the first person by Hassan Haji, 'THFJ' had me from the first paragraph -

'I, Hassan Haji, was born, the second of six children, above my grandfather's restaurant on the Nepean Sea Road in what was then called West Bombay, two decades before the great city was renamed Mumbai. I suspect my destiny was written from the very start, for my first experience of life was the smell of machli ka salan, a spicy fish curry, rising through the floorboards to the cot in my parents' room above the restaurant. To this day I can recall the sensation of those cot bars pressed up coldly against my toddler's face, my nose poked out as far as possible and searching for the air that aromatic packet of cardamom, fish heads and palm oil, which, even at that young age, somehow suggested there were unfathomable riches to be discovered and savoured in the free world beyond.'

This first paragraph was only the beginning of a wonderful, evocative journey that I did not want to end.

Morais's prose is deliciously descriptive:

'Mummy never looked so beautiful. She wore a pink sari, her gold sandalled feet curled under her thigh, across her face the soft, sweet smile of ghee.'

'Mummy sat on the blanket, curled into herself like a pink pomegranate'

and writing about his first love:

'And that night, after a good bounce, we slept with her bottom pushed up against my groin, contentedly curled up together like a pair of Moroccan crescent pastries'

'The Hundred Foot Journey' is a novel about race, prejudice, envy, love, giving and acceptance and of course food and cooking at the highest level. It is full of rich characters and is moving, colourful and has many laugh out loud moments.

I could write so much more but will leave it to you to read this gorgeous novel.

I give it 10/10.

* I had to look up the definition of picaresque - it means 'involving clever rogues or adventurers'