Madhur Jaffrey and the Trap of Perfection
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
At 90, the author, actress, and culinary icon knows she is so much more than her many accomplishments — but she won't stop pushing herself for more.
Adrianna Newell
Madhur Jaffrey and the Trap of Perfection
Welcome to Season 1, Episode 12 of Tinfoil Swans, a new podcast from Food & Wine. New episodes drop every Tuesday. Listen and follow on: Apple Podcasts, Google, Spotify, iHeart Radio, Amazon Music, TuneIn.
On this episode
When Madhur Jaffrey published An Invitation to Indian Cooking in 1973, she had no idea that half a century later, the book would not only still be in print, but also get an anniversary reissue that will welcome future generations in the vast and varied cuisine of her homeland. In the 12th episode of Tinfoil Swans, Food & Wine's executive features editor Kat Kinsman finally meets her lifelong culinary hero and gets some sage advice from the writer, teacher, and actress about self worth, righteous anger, perfectionism, and what actually matters to you when you turn 90.
Related: A Lesson in Live-Fire Cooking from the Legendary Madhur Jaffrey
Meet our guest
Madhur Jaffrey is a Delhi-born author, educator, television personality, and actress. Her groundbreaking cookbook An Invitation to Indian Cooking has been in print continuously since 1973 and was inducted into the James Beard Foundation's Cookbook Hall of Fame in 2006 — the same year her memoir, Climbing the Mango Trees, was published. Jaffrey has a storied career on the stage and screen, with multiple appearances in the films of James Ivory and Ismail Merchant (who she is often credited with introducing), as well as recent highlights such as roles on New Girl, And Just Like That, I Feel Bad, and the Mr. Cardamom video for the song "Nani." Jaffrey was named an honorary Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 2004 in recognition for her contributions to cuisine, acting, and cross-cultural understanding.
Meet our host
Kat Kinsman is executive features editor at Food & Wine, author of Hi, Anxiety: Life With a Bad Case of Nerves, host of Food & Wine's podcast, and founder of Chefs With Issues. Previously, she was the senior food & drinks editor at Extra Crispy, editor-in-chief and editor at large at Tasting Table, and the founding editor of CNN Eatocracy. She won a 2020 IACP Award for Personal Essay/Memoir and has had work included in the 2020 and 2016 editions of The Best American Food Writing. She was nominated for a James Beard Broadcast Award in 2013, won a 2011 EPPY Award for Best Food Website with 1 million unique monthly visitors, and was a finalist in 2012 and 2013. She is a sought-after international keynote speaker and moderator on food culture and mental health in the hospitality industry, and is the former vice chair of the James Beard Journalism Committee.
Related: Rocco DiSpirito Believes Restaurants Are a Public Service
Advice from the episode
Breaking free
I think it's the breaking from the traditional role of the woman that I was yearning for, though it took many forms before I got to the one I found. But it was just, "I cannot be like my mother." I adored my mother, but I was not going to be like her. I was going to do something with my life, and I copied different people at different times, but then eventually I found what I wanted to do.
The spice of life
I used to do my cookery television show on one day, and the next day everybody was cooking that dish. I remember a notice in the paper saying, "The green coriander has run out in Manchester," because I had cooked lemony chicken with green coriander the day before.
"It's not what I do that makes me at all. It's what I am."
Self definition
I don't see anything in terms of my identity and career. This is the odd part. Those things don't make me. Something else makes me, and I don't know what that is. It's not what I do that makes me at all. It's what I am. Everybody can define that in any way they want. It has also to do with the way I love my kids and my grandkids and my parents. It has to do with all of us as a family, and that's who I am. I'm part of this big Indian family from the north of India. That's who I am. I don't think my work defines me. It’s not your accomplishments. It's just who you are as a part of the family that you're continuing to be a chain in.
Perfectly fine
I'm a restless workaholic and want to be the best always in the sense that I'm a perfectionist. It's not that I want to be the best competitively, but I'm a perfectionist. It can be a trap, and I've seen it be a trap for other people. But I'm good about that in the sense that I say, "As perfect as I can make it." That's what I can do.
Mix and match
I like Indian flavors. I want to mix them with my other flavors. So what we are creating — and magazines are doing a lot of this — they are putting together what I feel is clever but undigested, untested aspects of different cuisines into one dish and experimenting with that. Everybody's sort of loving that. So everybody's experimenting, but the results of the experiments we may not know for another 100 years. So there is this hodgepodge of cooking that you see everywhere in every magazine. And I'm slightly questioning where this is all going.
About the podcast
Food & Wine has led the conversation around food, drinks, and hospitality in America and around the world since 1978. Tinfoil Swans continues that legacy with a new series of intimate, informative, surprising, and uplifting interviews with the biggest names in the culinary industry, sharing never-before-heard stories about the successes, struggles, and fork-in-the-road moments that made these personalities who they are today.
Each week, you'll hear from icons and innovators like Guy Fieri, Padma Lakshmi, David Chang, Mashama Bailey, Enrique Olvera, Maneet Chauhan, Shota Nakajima, Antoni Porowski, and other special guests going deep with host Kat Kinsman on their formative experiences; the dishes and meals that made them; their joys, doubts and dreams; and what's on the menu in the future. Tune in for a feast that'll feed your brain and soul — and plenty of wisdom and quotable morsels to savor.
New episodes drop every Tuesday. Listen and follow on: Apple Podcasts, Google, Spotify, iHeart Radio, Amazon Music, TuneIn.
These interview excerpts have been edited for clarity.
Editor’s Note: The transcript for download does not go through our standard editorial process and may contain inaccuracies and grammatical errors.
For more Food & Wine news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter!
Read the original article on Food & Wine.
