"The Hundred-Foot Journey" is the story of Hassan Haji, a boy from Mumbai who embarks, along with his boisterous family, on a picaresque journey first to London and then across Europe, before they ultimately open a restaurant opposite a famous chef, Madame Mallory, in the remote French village of Lumiere. A culinary war ensues, pitting Hassan's Mumbai - toughened father against the imperious Michelin-starred cordon bleu, until she realizes that Hassan is a cook with natural talents far superior to her own. Full of eccentric characters, hilarious cultural mishaps, vivid settings and delicious meals described in rich, sensuous detail, Hassan's charming account lays bare the inner workings of the elite world of French haute cuisine, and provides a life-affirming and poignant coming-of-age tale.
The movie made me hungry, and the book also made me hungry with its detailed descriptions of food as it's being prepared. The book is so much sadder, though, and I think I would have liked to see Helen Mirren play the book's version of Madame Mallory instead. I'm still curious as to what the reviews of this book and the movie were in France. The book alludes to the poor reception of immigrants and foreign cuisine in France, but it doesn't dwell on those facets. My French host family had been appalled that I was reading a book about Algerian immigrants in France because that wasn't "real French culture," and I wonder what they would have made of this story about Indian immigrants succeeding in France's restaurant world.
