Madhur Jaffrey is most famous for her cookbooks on Indian cuisine, but in her memoir Climbing the Mango Trees she takes the reader through the highs and lows of growing up in India and Kampur. From childhood through adolescence Jaffrey recounts her youth and all the delicious food she ate along the way.   

What I enjoyed most about reading Climbing the Mango Trees was the informal, comfortable way in which Jaffrey shares her stories with the reader. You get the feeling that these wonderful tales are being shared by a friend over a long lunch. Jaffery invokes wonderfully detailed images of dusty book-filled rooms, the tart spicy taste of an unripe mango dipped in paprika, or the hot dry heat of a summer garden. You are drawn deep into her memories from the moment you open the book.  

Jaffery uses food as punctuation for her stories, the tastes and smells that bring her childhood back to life for her. Her childhood was one of privilege, coming from a well-off family in colonial India; she tells us her family history and legends. Jaffery primarily shares tales of her large extended family: uncles, aunts, cousins, brothers, sisters, grandparents, and parents all seem to have their story and place in her mind, as well as the heartbreak of first love and summer vacations.   

At the end Jaffrey also includes several family recipes for her favorite dishes in Indian cuisine. For me this really enriches the reading experience. While you read Climbing the Mango Trees Jaffrey talks about all the wonderful things she ate growing up and it simply makes your mouth water. What better way to get a taste of India then to try one of her recipes if you can’t afford the travel expenses? Jaffery provides food for the stomach as well as the mind.  

Climbing the Mango Trees is engaging and warm, the kind of book that you can loose yourself in as you travel somewhere completely exotic or wonderfully familiar.