Cook & See Part One

by S. Meenakshi Ammal

Pioneering book on South Indian vegetarian cuisine

Genres: Cookbooks

Paperback

About the author

S.Meenakshi Ammal is a pioneer in cook book writing in India. Way back in 1951, when cook books were not an accepted or popular genre in Indian publishing, she charted a new path by coming out with the first volume of her legendary "Samaithu Par" in Tamil. Literally meaning "cook and see", this book was meant to be a guide to young brides who were Setting up home on their own. This book was immediately lapped up, and there was a lot of demand for more such guidance. In line with this, Meenakshi Ammal came out with two more volumes of Samaithu Par. The second volume dealt with more recipes, while the third volume focused on various festivals and the preparations for these festivals.

All three volumes became instant successes, and there was no looking back. It was interesting that, with the advancement of time,
and the emancipation of women, the books started to become as much of a handy reference to men as they were to women. Many young students venturing out to the USA for their studies packed these books before they packed anything else. These books served indeed to remind many of our youngsters away from our country, of home and family.