The Hundred-Foot Journey

by: Richard C. Morais

Published by: Scribner (July 6, 2010)

Reviewed by Beth Cummings

The details are delectable! Richard Morais, former Bureau Chief and Senior Editor for Forbes Magazine, has penned a wonderful tribute to gourmet French and down home Indian food in the form of a novel.

In The Hundred-Foot Journey, the main character, Hassan Haji tells the story of how he came to be a three-star chef in Paris. Initially his family had a small restaurant in Mumbai. Most of the family worked there, including his grandmother and mother. When racial tensions against Islamic Indians caused a family tragedy, the family pulled up stakes and moved to Lumière, a small French town in the Alps. Here the family began the area's first Indian restaurant.

Hassan's talent as a chef brought him to the attention of local gourmands and classic French chefs. The book details how Hassan Haji transformed from an Indian curry cook to a nationally known success.

While the story is interesting on its own, Richard Morais own interest in gourmet foods becomes evident in his use of descriptive details. He gives such wonderful depictions of various foodstuffs that the scent of food cooking nearly wafts off the page. He is also very particular in his descriptions of the various restaurants that play a part in the book. His initial intent was to write a book that could be turned into a film about fine food, and thus the reader gets to see the scenes fully through the writers eye.
I enjoyed this novel a great deal, in part because I am also fond of reading about food and about different cultures. Although some readers could feel bogged down by the detailing, I'm sure that there are others like me who would find the book to be a delightful trip behind the scenes in the French restaurant world.

Beth Cummings gives this book 5 stars