Asha Gomez’s new cookbook draws parallels between Southern India and the American South

My Two Souths hits bookshelves this month
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Asha Gomez My Two Souths
Puffy ginger hoecakes

Photograph by Jason Varney

Southern India and the American South are thousands of miles apart, but Spice to Table chef Asha Gomez sees an abundance of similarities between her family home in Kerala and her adopted home, both hot and humid places where hospitality reigns. Gomez, with the help of writer Martha Hall Foose, expands on the cultural connections in her debut cookbook, My Two Souths: Blending the Flavors of India into a Southern Kitchen, which hits shelves this month. Find recipes for Down South Goat Biryani, a deeply fragrant rice dish that is as respected (and takes just as long to prepare) in India as barbecue is in America; butternut squash soup perfumed with clove and ginger; chile-lime grilled catfish fillets served with watermelon-mango chowchow; and even Gomez’s legendary three-spice carrot cake.

This article originally appeared in our October 2016 issue.

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