Aâu00c2u0080u00c2u0088young Morvarid in her mother Sheila’s arms along with her cousins and Ramu the elephant, outside her family home Krupalaya in Mysore

While growing up in the 1960s and ’70s, Morvarid (Persian: pearl) Fernandez’s father, Farrokh Irani, would often monitor the amount of mustard that his children helped themselves to over dinner. He maintained that Mr Colman (the founder of the famous Colman’s mustard) was a wealthy man because most take far more mustard than needed. “And that’s true! Check the evidence on dinner plates after the party,” writes 61-year-old Fernandez in her debut book, ‘Seasoned’ For Family And Friends (Notion Press, '750). On another page, she states, “An old cookbook of my mother’s (Sheila) recommends that while roasting masala ingredients, the husband should be out of the house, ‘as the pungent odour of roasting red chillies causes a lot of sneezing and loose temper!’”