Book Review | A Quirky Thriller About Illegal Foods!

Kash Mirza is just another ordinary boy from Bangladesh who dreams of making it big in the USA. He starts off by doing ordinary little jobs at bars and restaurants, till he meets Adair who helps him out of a potentially nasty racist situation. They strike up a friendship and set up a business together in 2008: A restaurant that specialises in game meat, and it does very well indeed till the economic crash a few months later.

When Adair (who claims he has the ears and wallets of New York’s elite) cannot help, Kash has no choice but to take a massive loan from a Russian mob boss — but of course, he cannot repay it on time. Warnings come in savage beatings, and a chopped finger. That’s when his life turns extraordinary.

Kash attempts to lure wealthy people to his restaurant by appealing to their appetite for the unusual. Things like peacock meat, horse-meat burgers, etc., are on the menu for private parties — fortunately, Kash’s Korean chef Kang remains impassive and turns out bordering-on-illegal spreads. Rumours start spreading on social media, “Thanks to our emerging niche as the go-to fixers for the deviant epicurean cravings of the super-rich…” and grim food inspectors pay visits.

This makes matters worse, and that loan still has to be repaid, or else. Fortunately, Kazakh billionaire Viktor, one of Adair’s rich contacts, is a member of the exclusive Miner’s Club, where a handful of billionaires pull out all stops to entertain each other with the most unusual meals ever—it’s not just fun parties, it’s serious competition: “One needed imagination to impress this crowd.” Viktor certainly is not impressed when Kash tries to sell him the idea of serving dangerous food, “food that can kill you if not handled properly”. For example, dismembered baby octopus served raw and writhing — their suction pods can latch onto the insides of the throat and choke inexperienced diners to death. Finally, Kash comes up with a very unusual idea that puts his restaurant squarely in the illegal zone, Viktor buys it, and before you know it, you’re reading a gritty thriller, not a pleasant book about New York and foodies.

While the plot is as gripping as baby octopus suctions, there’s another side to this story, a softer side: Kash’s not-so-happy childhood in Bangladesh, his warm reception by Mrs Zaman in the USA, a lovely landlady to fellow Bangladeshis who make it there, and the strong bond between these immigrants. Kash himself is an interesting character, as grey as the food he serves — we see that in flashbacks to his childhood, and in the present as well. A must read that will make you feel very queasy but very, very curious too.

Carnivore

By K. Anis Ahmed

HarperCollins

pp. 306; Rs 499