Mrs K M Mathew's Finest Recipes Hardcover – 3 July 2023

Always been a great fan of Mrs. Mathew right from the days where we had been buying this manorma weekly magazine.Her recipes are traditional and simple to understand and implement.

It is not hardbound as stated but paper back

Mrs K. M. Mathew (1922-2003) was the leading cookbook author of Kerela, who has written twenty-three cookbooks in Malayalam and English, and several columns. She travelled across Kerela, visiting homes and restaurants, then experimenting at her home, later shifting from the oral telling of recipes to written instructions.To the point instructions, additional tips for better cooking, and the love of sharing good food recipes, the book has it all. The author has covered snacks, breakfast items, egg and meat dishes, seafood, vegetable and rice items. We also get the payasam and puddings, jams, pickles, chutneys and chutney powders. Several of the dishes mentioned are quite unique and interesting, others as common as a Paratha. But it's the added charm that's added by Mrs. K. M. Mathew, her special ingredients that transform the dishes.Food was sacred for Mrs K. M. Mathew. She never wasted it and created a new wonderful dish out of the leftovers. This book coming after 20 years of her demise is an attempt to introduce her cooking style and recipes with the newcomer chefs and the young generation. We also get to see illustrations and photographs for several of the featured dishes. A truly delightful cookbook to be cherished.

"Mrs. K.M. Mathew's Finest Recipes" is a special book that celebrates a cooking expert from Kerala. The book tells us how she learned and created amazing recipes. She changed how recipes were shared and wrote them down so everyone could understand. This book collects her best recipes, keeping her legacy alive and inspiring new cooks. If you like trying new foods and learning about traditions, you'll enjoy this book.

Disclaimer - I received a copy of this book from Penguin Random House for review purposesAbout the author - Mrs K. M. Mathew (1922-2003) is the bestselling author of Flavours of the Spice Coast and more than twenty other authentic and highly popular cookbooks in Malayalam and English. She was the founder editor of Vanitha, the leading Malayalam magazine for women.About the book – Mrs Matthew has single-handedly introduced generations of culinary fans to the spicy palate of Kerala cuisine. This book is a fantastic collection of authentic Kerala recipes that Mrs Matthews gathered from across the state of Kerala, often travelling to small, remote places in search of these culinary gems. This book catalogues all of her best recipes which have been presented for the reader in a simple, elegant format.The book is divided into ten sections – snacks, breakfast items, egg dishes, meat dishes, seafood dishes, vegetable dishes, rice dishes, payasam and puddings, soups and jams/pickles/chutneys etc. The book is a cornucopia of information and I confess, I took my time to review this because I was so busy trying out as many recipes as I could. I have thoroughly enjoyed learning from this volume. I may have tweaked a few recipes to suit my family’s palate but for the most part, I followed the book. Some recipes are more cosmopolitan in their consumption in India/abroad whilst there are others which are more traditional and endemic to the region. I enjoyed experimenting with the latter more.The book has some beautiful photos by Sumanth Kumar ARSome of my favourites – Kerala meat fry with bits of coconut (first time that I used coconut with meat), pork vindaloo (I have made this many times earlier but Mrs Matthew’s recipe had a distinctly different flavour to the Goan dish), Trivandrum Chicken (a simple yet flavourful recipe), Malabar fish curry (a beautifully aromatic dish), Idichakka Thoran (a dish made with jackfruit and coconut – superbly scrumptious).This is a book with culinary wisdom passed down through the ages. It makes for a wonderful gift and is a must have in your kitchen bookshelf if you love to cook and experiment with cuisines.

”She did not even recommend any complex or elaborate recipes to her readers because, for her, simplicity and taste came before novelty. She even avoided using words like 'foodie' and 'cuisine'. 'Simple good food was her motto.”- Thangam Mammen, Mrs. K.M. Mathew's Finest RecipesThe foreword is eloquently written giving a gist of her rich legacy. The discipline of her craft is something that will inspire even novices to throng the kitchen to try out and relish recipes.The cookbook covers a wide range of scrumptious delicacies from authentic South Indian to fusion dishes made from a base of egg, vegetables, meat, and rice. Culinary insights on preparing the spice mix, kneading the dough, and gauging the gruel thickness are included.Mrs. K. M. Mathews has perfected the art of cooking and understood the science behind it. She extends her culinary knowledge to the next generation. The simple way in which she has described preparation of food will immediately make you feel at home. The splatter of the oil, the sauteing of the ingredients, marinating the meat, separating the egg from the shell induce a mental foodgasm.From the kitchen of the multidisciplinary talent, Annamma Mathews comes a Culinary Bible that boasts of tastes and spices from around the world and is deeply rooted in Kerala authenticity. She leaves behind a legacy of unmatched versatility and warm hospitality that was a hallmark of a glorious era gone by.This is the kind of book you have to read page to page, cover to cover lest you miss out on an important part of history.