June 19
Ahmed Salman Rushdie's Birthday
 

Sir Ahmed Salman Rushdie is one of the most popular novelists and essayist. The Indian/British author set much of his early fiction in  India. A dominant theme of his work is the story of the connections, between the Eastern and Western world. His fourth novel, The Satanic Verses (1988),  centered on the adventures of two Indian actors who fall to earth in Britain when their Air India jet explodes. The book lead to accusations of blasphemy against Islam and demonstrations by Islamist groups in  several countries. Some of the protests were violent, with Rushdie facing death threats and a fatwā issued by Ayatollah Khomeini, then Supreme Leader of Iran, for being “against Islam, the Prophet and the Quran.”

In response to the call for him to be killed, Salman was forced into hiding under the protection of the British government and police who asked him to use a secret alias to call him by. He thought of writers he loved and combinations of their names; then it came to him: Conrad and Chekhov—Joseph Anton. However, the author became very outspoken on the fatwā's censoring effect and as the threat to freedom of expression for all artists.

When Ayatollah Khomeini suggested that if Salman "apologizes and disowns the book, people may forgive him", Salman issued  an apology regretting "profoundly the distress the publication has occasioned to the sincere followers of Islam. Living as we do in a world of many faiths, this experience has served to remind us that we must all be conscious of the sensibilities of others." However, on February 14, 2006, the Iranian state news agency reported that the fatwa will remain in place permanently.  Salman reported that he still receives a "sort of Valentine's card" from Iran each year on February 14 letting him know the country has not forgotten the vow to kill him. He was also quoted saying, "It's reached the point where it's a piece of rhetoric rather than a real threat."

Although Salman has not been physically harmed, others connected with the book have suffered violent attacks. Hitoshi Igarashi, the Japanese language translator of the book, was stabbed to death on July   11,1991; Ettore Capriolo, the Italian language translator, was seriously injured in a stabbing the same month; William Nygaard, the publisher in Norway, barely survived an attempted assassination in Oslo in October 1993, and Aziz Nesin, the Turkish language translator, was the intended target in the events that led to the Sivas massacre on July 2 1993 in Sivas, Turkey, which resulted in the deaths of 37 people.

In his 2012 Joseph Anton, which was his alias (the book is written in the third person, as if a ‘biography’ of Rushdie/Anton), Salman tells the chilling story of how he and  family live with the threat of murder for more than nine years. However, there are also some lighter moments, such after graduating from Cambridge University, Salman wrote a satirical and as of yet unpublished novel about Indira Gandhi, the third prime mister of India,  who transforms into a movie star  and" at one point...grows her dead father's penis.""

To celebrate Salman's birthday, we suggest making the Satanically delicious appetizer, Devils on Horseback,. Most recipes use pitted prunes (though dates are sometimes used) stuffed with mango chutney and wrapped in bacon. Other recipes stuff the prune with cheese in place of the mango chutney. We prefer chorizo as a filling. Pair it with a viewing of Then She Found Me (2007) in which he plays Dr. Masani.
 

Devils on Horseback

1. Soak prunes in red wine  for 3  or more hours.
2. Gently fry chorizo in olive oil and hot sauce until cooked. Remove and drain on paper towels.
3. Drain the prunes and stuff each with equal amounts of the cooked chorizo.
4. Wrap each prune with a slice of bacon, secure with heavy toothpicks soaked in water.
5. Arrange the prunes on a slotted baking pan and broil about 5 inches from the heat till the bacon is crispy, about 10 minutes, turning once. Drain briefly on paper towels. Serve immediately.