In a world where the term "celebrity chef" is used to describe anyone who has ever cooked in front of a TV camera, Madhur Jaffrey is the real deal. Since publishing her first book, An Invitation to Indian Cooking (Knopf) in 1973, she has earned her celebrity by cooking (winning five James Beard Awards), writing (more than 15 books including, most recently, Climbing the Mango Trees: A Memoir of a Childhood in India), and acting (appearing in more than 20 films, including Merchant Ivory's Heat and Dust.) She is the featured speaker at the Cornwall Library's Food Glorious Food Festival on Saturday, June 20, at 2 PM. ($20 admission benefits the library) If you've cooked Indian food at home or gone to a curry-themed dinner party, you owe a debt to Jaffrey. As Jonathan Reynolds wrote in The New York Times in 2003, "People who I thought knew nothing about cooking enjoy a hands-on relationship with her food. If Julia Child almost single-handedly brought serious French food into American homes, and Marcella Hazan brought other-than-meatballs Italian, and Jane Grigson miraculously salvaged some British food from unpalatability, then there is no question that Madhur Jaffrey not only changed the way this country views Indian food but also affected the way restaurants do, too—more than anyone." Food Glorious Food is an all-day affair that begins at 9:30 AM with a sale of cookbooks and used "batterie de cuisine" as well as the de rigueur silent auction (you can bid on a lunch for four at the Conde Nast cafeteria with Gourmet editor in chief Ruth Reichl, the ever-generous Austerlitz weekender.) You can bring your knives to be professionally sharpened by Nick Jacobs, shop the Cornwall Farmers' Market, and attend a cocktail party ($20) with hors d'oeuvres prepared by local residents who will have the recipes available for sharing. Food, Glorious Food FestivalJune 20 Cornwall Library 30 Pine Street, Cornwall, CT
