About the Book

When Tayaru Pulugurtha arrived in Calcutta from Andhra Pradesh as a bride in 1969, she had never cooked a meal. What she built, slowly and with quiet resolve, was a kitchen that would become the heart of a family—and a bridge between two worlds.

The Inheritance of Taste is part memoir, part culinary archive, and part cultural history. Through recipes handed down, anecdotes remembered, and objects lovingly preserved, this book, penned by her daughter Nishi, traces the life of a Telugu family that made Calcutta home. Food becomes a site of belonging, where language, memory, and identity are negotiated and held together.

Written in the shadow of loss and Alzheimer’s, this is not merely a collection of recipes, but a testament to inheritance: of taste, of resilience, and of love. Each dish carries a story, and each story keeps a life alive.