On the kitchen shelf

Mona

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The host of Junior Masterchef has a special surprise this Children’s Day, which incidentally is his birthday too! The latest tale to come out of this famous chef-cum- writer’s pen is called The Milk Moustache.

Vikas Khanna sure has a way with words. Now that we have known and admired his meteoric rise from his grandma’s kitchen in Amritsar to making it to Junoon in Manhattan, Chef Vikas now surprises us by whipping up colourful stories that connect cooking and culture. His last book Utsav, a magnum opus on festivals of India, got a ‘starry’ release at Cannes Film Festival.

The Milk Moustache seems like another delightful fable that combines pleasure with principle. “A delicious tale served up by Chef Vikas Khanna. When the children of the village refuse to drink milk one day, it makes Kali, the cow, very sad indeed. And, it is up to Jassi, the local milkman’s daughter and Kali’s best friend, to find a way to end milk strike and lift Kali’s spirit gain. Sumptuously illustrated and simply told, this heartwarming tale of goodwill and friendship is chock-full of Vikas Khanna’s trademark charm,” reads Khanna’s tweet. There are other characters—Rang (the butterfly), Sur (the nightingale) giving Kali and Jassi company. This story of ‘cycle of life, nourishment, love and friendship’ has been published by Penguin and is second in the series after The Magic Rolling Pin.

Would The Milk Moustache do to milk what Popeye did to palak (spinach), remains to be seen but our Michelin star chef already has his fans on Facebook being certain of it…

mona@tribunemail.com