OP: American-Hindi Cook Book

Supreme Press, 1956. Hardcover. Fair.

To help ease the transition into expat life, the American Women’s Club of New Delhi compiled recipes with ingredients readily available in Indian markets. The resulting American-Hindi Cook Book (1956) includes familiar American dishes—waffles, tomato aspic salad, refrigerator rolls, pizza, meatloaf, and chili con carne—as well as a few adventurous steps toward local favorites—shrimp curry, idlis and dosas, tandoori chicken.

Printing the text in both English and Hindi, the Women’s Club hoped to open a door of cultural exchange so that recipes could be shared with Indian cooks or friends. A glossary of common food words with their Hindi translations and phonetic spelling is also included at the end.

Our copy can only be described in Fair condition, as it has become disbound, split at the front hinge. The boards, once pale blue, are now heavily darkened about the edges. A previous owner’s name to the front free endpaper. Though it will require some careful handling, it is a pleasant browse. This copy hails from the personal collection of store founder Nach Waxman.