Street Food of India: The 50 Greatest Indian Snacks - Complete with Recipes [Hardcover]

Sephi Bergerson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 31, 2010

Meetha lassi and bhel puri; paneer tikka and masalas, chutneys, and samosas. All visitors to India are greeted by an astonishing display of roadside snacks throughout the country: from the teeming lanes of Old Delhi to the hot, dusty streets in the remote countryside.  It is painfully hard to resist the smells and sights and tastes of this roadside food, prepared in front of customers’ eyes with the freshest ingredients and a good helping of panache and showmanship. The acclaimed photographer Sephi Bergerson has been tracking down the very best street food in the country, which has been his home for the past seven years. This book is a celebration of this splendid everyday cuisine and a virtual feast in itself. With authentic and detailed recipes for the simplest and tastiest dishes in the repertoire, using ingredients easily found in the West, this serving will inspire and intoxicate in equal measure.  

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Some of the photographs in this book are so beautiful they look like carefully crafted dishes made for a glossy magazine shoot...the recipes are delicious and can easily be recreated using ingredients found in the West . . . a pure pleasure."-- Sunday Telegraph

"This wonderful blend of both cookbook and photo journey is a feast for the palate as well as the eyes. " --Tuscon Citizen

"Mr. Bergerson accomplishes the rare feat of capturing how people eat, not just what" -- Florence Fabricant, New York Times

 

"A beautiful new book...lovely photos" --- Bob Batz, Jr., Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

About the Author

Sephi Bergerson is an independent photographer based in New Delhi since 2002. Previously a commercial photographer and president of the Professional Photographers’ Association in Israel, he received the Hazel Greenwald award for documentary photography in 1991 and was nominated for Photographer of the Year in 1998.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 192 pages
• Publisher: I. B. Tauris (August 31, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 184885420X
• ISBN-13: 978-1848854208
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 10.5 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #114,084 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #35 in Books > Cookbooks, Food & Wine > Regional & International > Asian > Indian
  • #46 in Books > Arts & Photography > Photography > Photojournalism

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

36 of 45 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars If only there was a way to package sounds and smells to go with the photos, September 10, 2010

By 

S. Chopp "FullStopIndia" (Midwest) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Street Food of India: The 50 Greatest Indian Snacks - Complete with Recipes (Hardcover)

Limiting oneself to just 50 of the greatest Indian snacks is a feat in itself. Add to it rich, colorfully detailed photos of individual snacks direct from the streets of various cities across India, and you have this substantially sized hardcover book good enough for the coffee table or kitchen collection.

Actual photos taken around Bombay, Delhi, Amritsar and Varanasi, show readers just how ingrained street vendors are in the Indian palette. And while the selections truly are some of the best snacks, many of which I have sampled, a broad representation from all corners of the country are missing.

DIY recipes are included for the most passionate to attempt in recreating at home. But, as any lover of street food will attest to, part of the joy in handing over your cash in exchange for a freshly steamed momo or fried samosa, is the experience of eating with others in the open as the world passes.

First time travelers will enjoy comparing their notes while learning a bit more about the food represented in the book. Locals and repeat tourists will read the book as a trip down memory lane; Memories of places where you drank the best cup of chai, or encountered a night of restless pain at the hands of tainted food just a few hours earlier. Either way, it left me hungry and eager to return to the streets.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wah!! ek dum perfect!! (WOW!!! absolutely perfect), January 8, 2011

By 

Thyla - See all my reviews

This review is from: Street Food of India: The 50 Greatest Indian Snacks - Complete with Recipes (Hardcover)

I got this book as a gift for Christmas. Everything about this book is great..The dishes look delectable and the writing through out the book is easy to read, informative and nostalgic for those who have eaten in the streets of Delhi. It is a great coffee table book with incredibly candid shots of Delhi street vendors selling the food. After perusing the book, I did make a couple of the items featured in the book and consulted the recipes too. hmm..hmm..good!!! It makes for a great gift.

7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great photos, March 7, 2011

By 

asiana (Chicago) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Street Food of India: The 50 Greatest Indian Snacks - Complete with Recipes (Hardcover)

Great photos of India, but the recipes are not specific enough for me....I cook Indian food very frequently and find that Julie Sahni's recipes, although long, make for delicious outcomes each and every time compared to those in this book.