Interview with Chicago Author Colleen Taylor Sen

ocal Author Colleen Taylor Sen recently sat down with us to answer a few questions about her new book Curry: A Global History.

PC:  What inspired you to write a book about curry around the world?
Sen:  The short answer is that the publisher (Reaktion Books) asked me to write it as part of a series on the global history of various foods. The longer answer is that I have written a lot not just about Indian but Asian food in general and am fascinated by the way dishes are transformed as they travel around the world.

PC:  Do you have a favorite type of curry?
Sen:  well made Thai curry is the apogee of the curry experience.

PC:  Did you have any interesting experiences while researching this book that you might like to share with us?
Sen:  Curry is popular in some unlikely places, for example,  Japan and Germany, where currywurst – grilled sausage covered with tomato sauce and sprinkled with curry powder – is one of the most popular street foods. I tried it for the first time during the kristkindlmarkt in Chicago last December where it was sold by some vendors from Germany. It was pretty good!

PC:  What is your favorite book?
Sen:  Anna Karenina.

PC:  What was the last book you read?
Sen:  Jahajin by Peggy Mohan, a novel about Indian immigrants to Trinidad and their modern descendants.

PC:  What one word do you love?
Sen:  Translucent

PC:  What one word do you despise?
Sen:  Networking

PC:  Often, when writing or publishing work, writers and editors will be striving to please or impress a very specific one-person audience, be it their mother, their spouse, or their high school English teacher. Who were you thinking of in this way when you were working on Curry: A Global History?
Sen:  My high school class in Toronto.