GONE WITH THE VINDALOO

Vikram Nairs novel is a lunatic romp that begins as a colonial adventure and ends with the conquest of the West by Indian fast food. Like a runaway food processor it rounds up pink colonial sahibs ambitious wogs pedigreed bawarchis gross desi public-school boys a Russian heroine called Svetlana godmen and Woodstock and pures them into a lavatorial epic. If you want to read funny foodie fiction that takes the pleasures of the flesh seriously this is your novel. MUKUL KESAVANKalaam by caste a spinner of yarns discovers by delicious accident that he has a God-given flair for concocting the most delectable recipes a gift that he passes through his son Param to his grandson Pakwaan the true inheritor of his passion and talent. It is Pakwaans signature Vindaloo tempered to mouth-watering perfection that catches the fancy of everyone who tastes it including Svetlana a nirvana-seeking Russo-American who is convinced that this dish (and its very exotic creator) is the answer to the Western worlds craving for all things exotic. But what adventures await the starry-eyed Pakwaan in America the promised land of possibilities? A rollicking ride through a centurys worth of history Gone with the Vindaloo follows the lives times and exploits of three generations in a family of cooks. Delightfully subversive and consistently irreverent this many-layered debut serves up imperialism consumerism packaged food and the very art of storytelling in a flavour all its own.''