Curry Chronicles- Dal or Dhal, not Dull
[hr] There are many shades of dhal and numerous ways to hull and split it, but as Rustum Kozain reveals, when the budget is low and the palate is in need of fulfilment there is nothing quite like a well-cooked, lovingly seasoned legume. It makes for “royal eating”. [hr] Somewhere in the mid-1990s, I found […]
Adult Alphabet
‘R for rent, S for sex, T for evermore taxing things….’ Rustum Kozain‘s poetical dictionary (abridged) makes the traditional dictionary hiccup, divulging the sex within the standard definition and the power imbalances in the pronunciation key. A is for apple, Ava and Adam; B is for their banishment, far better than Eden. C is for […]
Sexing Africa, Again
[hr] Dominique Malaquais spins together Lil’ Kim, burkas, Muslim women, Somali Mata-Haris and the Great Female Mutilation Hoax to arrive at a veiled essays-in-fragments that confronts western fetishes, fallacies and fears around African womanhood and sexuality. Her veil is not about shrouding; it is about being alive to mourning, outrage, sadness, and hope. As she […]
Hanging Participle
By Anna Kente I am becoming. I have the proof. Documents, photos, evidence. Raise the right and you are an American. They give you a passport. Your new identity. You are Tri-lingual. Name how many: one. two. three. Stripes are there on the U.S. flag? And you learn the Preamble, Bill of Rights, First Ten Amendments. […]
The Curry Chronicles, Part 1
[hr] Rustum Kozain dishes up some definitives on the many incarnations of curry and the art, or science, of making it real. [hr] The world of curry is confusing. The root of the word, “curry”, is from the Tamil ka’ri, which means sauce/ gravy/ relish – a generic term. And so even a stew (the […]