NOVEL THOUGHTS
………
HARCOURT, 2002
(available in paperback from Harvest, 2003)
SIXTEEN-YEAR-OLD PI PATEL, the son of a zookeeper in Pondicherry, India, is a keen observer of animal behavior. Born of agnostic parents, Pi is fascinated by spirituality, and at one point declares himself to be a Hindu, a Muslim, and a Christian. When his father decides to move the family to Canada, Pi, his parents, and his brother, Ravi, board a Japanese freighter for North America and take some of the zoo animals with them. When the ship sinks, Pi finds himself adrift on a lifeboat in the Pacific Ocean with several animals, including a 450-pound Bengal tiger. Thus begins a seven-month odyssey at sea before Pi lands in Mexico. Pi’s background in zoology and animal psychology, and his father’s instructions about handling tigers, become critical to his survival.
“This book was born as I was hungry,” writes Pi in the opening of the novel, and hunger and starvation become a central theme in Life of Pi. A vegetarian, Pi is forced to compromise his principles, as he depends on fish and turtles to keep him alive. “A fish jumping out of the water was confronted by a famished boy with a hands-on, no-holds-barred approach to capturing it,” writes Pi, who quickly loses his revulsion at touching sea life: “I descended to a level of savagery I never imagined possible.”
Pi is able to filter seawater, and becomes an expert in gathering food for himself and his unusual shipmate, using a cargo net to lure fish. He tames the tiger by asserting his authority—letting the tiger know that he will provide food if the tiger behaves.
Dawn Epping hosted the Dallas Gourmet Book Club’s Life of Pi dinner meeting. When Epping hosts the group, the menu selection, a joint effort of Epping and her husband, Dennis, can begin as early as a month in advance. The Eppings selected tandoori shrimp, tying together Pi’s Indian heritage and his constant craving for Indian food with the marine theme of the book. Pi’s treats while floating on the Pacific included shrimp and crabs plucked from the bottom of his raft.
The tandoori shrimp was a huge success with the Dallas Gourmet Book Club: “One of our members who grew up in Bangladesh said that the flavoring was perfect and the ladies nearly licked the plates clean,” says Epping.
“Timing the food for book club can be a challenge, but I am fortunate to have a husband who enjoys cooking and helping me entertain,” says Epping. “The group is thrilled when I host because they know that Dennis will be cooking. Generally, we are cooking right up until people begin arriving. Then he quietly slips out and takes our children out to dinner. Within about an hour and a half, he is back to begin assembling and plating dessert.”
The Eppings followed a recipe for tandoori shrimp from The Williams-Sonoma Complete Entertaining Cookbook: The Best of Festive and Casual Occasions (Weldon Owen, 1998). We have adapted this recipe from the Williams-Sonoma book. Because most people don’t have a tandoor (a clay oven), this recipe is designed for the grill. You can also broil the shrimp if a grill is not available.
NOTE: You can use 1 teaspoon red chili powder, which can be found at Indian groceries, in place of ½ teaspoon ground cayenne pepper. It is bright red and moderately spicy.
Wear plastic or rubber gloves while handling the chiles to protect your skin from the oil in them. Avoid direct contact with your eyes, and wash your hands thoroughly after handling.
1 tablespoon ground cumin 1 tablespoon sweet paprika ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper 3 tablespoons minced fresh ginger |
½ teaspoon salt ¼ teaspoon ground turmeric 2 serrano chiles, seeded and minced (see note) 3 or 4 cloves garlic, minced 1 cup (8 ounces) nonfat plain yogurt 3 tablespoons fresh lime juice |
For the shrimp |
|
1½ pounds large shrimp, peeled and deveined About 12 bamboo skewers for grilling |
2 tablespoons vegetable oil Lemon or lime wedges |
Combine all the marinade ingredients in the bowl of a food processor and process until blended to a smooth paste. Transfer to a large, nonreactive bowl.
Dry the shrimp well with paper towels and toss together with the marinade. Cover and refrigerate 1–3 hours.
Soak the bamboo skewers in warm water for at least 20 minutes (this prevents them from burning on the grill). Prepare a fire in a charcoal grill.
Drain the skewers and remove shrimp from marinade. Thread the shrimp onto parallel skewers in a ladderlike arrangement (this simplifies turning them on the grill). You should get 4–5 on each pair of skewers. Leave at least ½ inch of space between shrimp. Brush the grill rack with oil and place the shrimp on the grill. Grill about 2 minutes per side. Do not overcook.
Serve immediately with lemon or lime wedges.
Yield: 8 to 10 servings
NOVEL THOUGHTS
The Austin, Texas–based New Book Club pondered Yann Martel’s Life of Pi over a catered Indian dinner that included curried chicken, lamb meatballs, and saag paneer, a spinach-and-cheese dish.
“Life of Pi was a very unusual book,” says Young, “with endless discussion possibilities about the themes of the story, the characters, the language, the background, and the reasons Martel wrote the book.” A book such as Life of Pi that presents big issues, such as the existence of God, the ability of humans to survive adversity, and the nature of reality, has a lot to offer a book group, says Young. “Martel starts out by claiming, ‘This is a story which will make you believe in God,’ a claim that provoked much debate. Did he make us believe in God, and if not, why not?” says Young. The group concluded that the book was more about the choice to believe in God than about the compulsion to believe, and spent some time exploring the question Martel raises of what constitutes reality and how people process and interpret their experiences.
OATMEAL BISCUITS
Depleted and dehydrated during the first few days on the lifeboat, Pi dreams of masala dosis with coconut chutney and other Indian treats. Instead, he finds a survival kit on the lifeboat containing food: Seven Oceans Standard Energy Rations from “faraway, exotic Bergen, Norway,” a far cry from the spicy Indian treats he craves. Pi’s first morsel of food in days is a bite of fortified biscuits of “baked wheat, animal fat and glucose” designed to keep seafarers nourished. “Two nearly square biscuits, pale in colour and fragrant in smell. Lord, who would have thought? I never suspected. It was a secret held from me: Norwegian cuisine was the best in the world!” writes Pi.
Norwegian oatmeal biscuits were made with dried milk and sugar, providing sustenance for long voyages at sea. Our oatmeal biscuits recipe (see p. 121) for Endurance, the true survival story of explorer Ernest Shackleton and his crew, would also be a fitting food accompaniment to Life of Pi.
Silicon Valley Book Club members have a fondness for southern Indian food and prepared an Indian feast for the group’s discussion of Life of Pi, including sambar (vegetable gravy), uttapam (lentil crêpe topped with vegetables), chutneys, potato masala (potato curry), fresh figs, and ice cream. “The meal gave a flavor of the type of food that the main character was longing for throughout his days at sea, and reflected the delicious variety of food available to him as a vegetarian at home in India,” said member Jan Seerveld.
