Khabaar, Madhushree Ghosh
Khabaar, Madhushree Ghosh
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Khabaar
An Immigrant Journey of Food, Memory, and Family

Author: Madhushree Ghosh

Narrator: Deepti Gupta

Unabridged: 7 hr 2 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 04/04/2022

Synopsis

Khabaar is a food memoir and personal narrative that braids the global journeys of South Asian food through immigration, migration, and indenture. Focusing on chefs, home cooks, and food stall owners, the book questions what it means to belong and what does belonging in a new place look like in the foods carried over from the old country? These questions are integral to the author’s own immigrant journey to America as a daughter of Indian refugees (from what’s now Bangladesh to India during the 1947 Partition of India); as a woman of color in science; as a woman who left an abusive marriage; and as a woman who keeps her parents’ memory alive through her Bengali food.

About Madhushree Ghosh

Madhushree Ghosh works in oncology diagnostics and is a social justice activist. Her work has been awarded a Notable Mention in Best American Essays in Food Writing and a Pushcart Prize nomination.

About Deepti Gupta

Fluent in Hindi, Urdu, and English, Deepti Gupta has an international career spread across India, Singapore, Pakistan, and the United States. As a narrator she brings an open and curious perspective to the author's work. Her natural global/international accent makes her a great choice for an author who is writing to appeal to a global readership/listenership. As an actress she has earned praise from the New York Times for her performance in the feature film Walkaway, and also stars in Record/Play (a sci-fi love story) which was an official selection at Sundance 2013. She earned her MFA in acting from the University of Texas at Austin, an MA in theater studies from the National University of Singapore, and BA in English literature from Delhi University. Besides working as an actress and voice talent, she also works as a consultant with corporate firms and businesses to help expand and deepen their diversity and inclusion strategies.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Kiran on June 26, 2022

Khabaar (The word for 'food' in Bengali) is a unique fusion of cookbook, narrative, and memoir. Ghosh has used the bonding power of food to reflect on continents, share her personal story, and fuse cultures that are in contact thanks to the dispersion of the Indian diaspora. The stories which hit ha......more

Goodreads review by Litsplaining on June 26, 2023

Solid use of blending the present and past to ruminate on how food plays apart in our lives from different points of view. One of my top reads of 2022! I talk about this book in this blog post: [URL not allowed]......more

Goodreads review by Sashika on June 06, 2022

Thank you @booksparks for the gifted copy ❤️ Reading this book felt like a hug from home. Being a south Asian girl, in a faraway country, the book felt very relatable, some of the lines hit me right on the spot. While reading this, I learned that the author was the first girl from her family that cam......more

Goodreads review by Courtney on January 27, 2022

This memoir felt like a beloved aunt covered me in a weighted blanket on a couch next to a fire, placed some steaming chai in arm's reach and asked me if I wanted to hear a story. Ghosh's writing is superb-- but it doesn't call attention to itself. You don't realize what a spectacular writer she is......more

Goodreads review by Jody on January 28, 2022

Ghosh's Baba once said, "The previous generation guides the newest generation." Ghosh honors that wisdom in the stories she tells in Khabaar. In this powerful memoir, food connects generations of Ghosh's family across distances both geographical and emotional. A rich exploration of Bengali cuisine a......more

Quotes

“Deepti Gupta is a soulful voice for this feminist memoir about migration, food, and staying true to one’s choices. As narrator, she is a believable stand-in for the author.” AudioFile

“Ghosh writes especially well through her memories, from tender to terrifying…Ghosh clearly sees the downsides of food culture—indentured servitude, racism, oversugared and watered-down variations of her favorite dishes—but her mood is also often celebratory.” Kirkus Reviews

“[A] new, very powerful, and entrancing work. I highly recommend it. It’s unforgettable.” Luis Alberto Urrea, author of The House of Broken Angels

“More than a story, a political history, or a family legacy, as Ghosh takes the food essay into entirely new directions.” Alexander Chee, author, How to Write an Autobiographical Novel

“Wildly original. With her scientific sensibility, chef’s palate, and poet’s heart, Madhushree Ghosh has given us a singular and spectacular read. Mira Jacob, author of Good Talk

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