溫馨食物

COOKING is a sensual experience. It has the power to comfort， unite and anchor a family in tradition. In his new novel， Amit Majmudar uses food to tell a larger story about life， death and the immigrant experience.

At the centre of the book is an unnamed Indian mother who makes dahi the traditional way， curdling each new pot of yogurt with a spoonful from the one before it. To ensure this “dynastic succession”， she smuggled some in a test-tube when she emigrated from Gujarat to Ohio. Now， with two grown children who have their own families， she “colonises her grandchildren with the magical cultures”. This small but significant attempt at cultural continuity becomes more meaningful when she is diagnosed with terminal cancer. Feeding her family allows her to maintain some normality during “the slow sloppy business of dying”.

As the narrator grows weaker， her daughter， Mala， becomes determined to learn all of her mothers recipes. A doctor like her father， she is strong-willed but deferential. They fight， but they always have done. “Harshness， paradoxically， is intimate.” The ailing mothers son Ronak， however， rebuffs the familys traditions. He lives as a “gambling banker” in Manhattan with his pale-faced American wife. His affection for his mother is more distant. Despite these slight fractures， the mother longs to preserve the semi-dysfunctional status quo. But her cancer casts everything in shadow， and tests the relationships that matter most.

The narrative is slow， but sumptuous with recipes and reflection. Mr Majmudar， who is also a poet， imbues his prose with phrases and metaphors that linger with the warmth of spices. Tension rises from the pages as his characters struggle to enjoy the present with the knowledge that everything must soon change. But the simple repetition of cooking and eating brings the family together， softening the hard edges like boiling water on rice.

Was America better for the family or did the move make everything harder？ “This country gave us clean quiet luxury and charged us nothing but our children，” the mother observes. Mala and Ronak are in many ways alien to their parents， and sometimes to themselves. Ohio has offered them wealth and opportunity. For nourishment and love， they have the bowls of dahi and dishes of bhindi at the family table.

烹飪是一種感官體驗(yàn)。傳統(tǒng)上認(rèn)為，它具有慰藉、黏合和支撐一個(gè)家庭的力量。 在他的新小說(shuō)中，艾米特·瑪吉穆德通過(guò)食物講述了一個(gè)關(guān)于生命、死亡和移民經(jīng)歷的宏大故事。

故事的中心是一位無(wú)名的印度母親，她用傳統(tǒng)的方式制作家鄉(xiāng)的酸奶，即從之前一罐酸奶中取用一匙來(lái)發(fā)酵新一罐酸奶。在她從古吉拉特邦移民至俄亥俄州時(shí)，為了保證酸奶的“世代更迭”，她悄悄用試管帶入了一些老酸奶?，F(xiàn)在，隨著她的兩個(gè)孩子長(zhǎng)大成人并組建家庭，她“開(kāi)始給孫輩們灌輸這神奇的文化”。這舉動(dòng)雖小，卻對(duì)文化連續(xù)性非常重要，尤其當(dāng)她被確診為癌癥晚期時(shí)，更顯得意義重大。在“緩緩步入衰亡的過(guò)程中”，給她的家人灌輸這種文化使她在一定程度上保持了正常狀態(tài)。

隨著主人公漸漸衰弱，她的女兒馬拉決心學(xué)習(xí)她所有的食譜。和她父親一樣，她是位醫(yī)生，意志堅(jiān)強(qiáng)卻又謙恭。她們總是爭(zhēng)執(zhí)不斷?！昂苊艿氖?，這種摩擦也是親密的表現(xiàn)?！被疾∧赣H的兒子羅納克卻抵制家庭的傳統(tǒng)。他是一個(gè)“投行家”，和面青唇白的美國(guó)妻子住在曼哈頓。他對(duì)母親的感情比較疏遠(yuǎn)。盡管有些許裂痕，這位母親依然渴望能維持這半失調(diào)的家庭現(xiàn)狀。但癌癥給一切都籠罩上陰影，考驗(yàn)著最重要的親情。

小說(shuō)敘事節(jié)奏很慢，但充滿(mǎn)了對(duì)烹飪以及沉思的描寫(xiě)。瑪吉穆德也是一個(gè)詩(shī)人，短語(yǔ)和隱喻混合著調(diào)味品的溫香，彌漫在字里行間。文中的角色努力享受著當(dāng)下，相信一切將會(huì)很快改變，情節(jié)愈加充滿(mǎn)張力。不過(guò)烹調(diào)和用餐的簡(jiǎn)單慣例能讓一家人聚在一起，軟化矛盾，就像沸水煮大米一樣。

來(lái)到美國(guó)讓這個(gè)家庭更好，還是讓一切更糟？母親評(píng)述說(shuō)：“這個(gè)國(guó)家?guī)Ыo我們清靜祥和的享受，沒(méi)有索取我們?nèi)魏螙|西，但帶走了我們的孩子?！瘪R拉和羅納克與他們的父母在很多方面都大相徑庭，有時(shí)候與他們自己都格格不入。俄亥俄州給予了他們財(cái)富和機(jī)遇。至于食物和愛(ài)，家里的餐桌上有一杯杯的家鄉(xiāng)酸奶和一碟碟的羊角豆。