BOOK REVIEW

Curry � A Biography

By : Lizzie Collingham

London : Chatto & Windus, 2005

Curry � A Biography is a wonderful read for anyone interested in the culinary history of curry and Indian food as we know it from the multitudes of Indian restaurants.  Lizzie Collingham, a Cambridge-trained historian has written an authoritative history about curry.  It is well-researched, well-written, and accessible to all.

More then that, she has presented a framework in understanding many of the popular �ethnic dishes� that we enjoy today.  Through her research, she has corrected the misconception that popular Indian dishes as those found on the Indian restaurant menu, such as curry, chicken tikka masala, vindaloo and chai are authentic Indian food.  Rather they are creations arising from the British and Portuguese influence in India several centuries ago.  In this thread, she continues to untangle the history of Indian food from the Moghul Empire in the 14^th century through to the Portuguese arrival in India in the 15^th century to the British Raj. 

She starts her story unravelling the myth of chicken tikka masala which was �a mongrel dish� invented by an enterprising Indian chef in a British Indian restaurant. Thus this was the theme.  The biryani, the crown of Mughlai cuisine was an Indian inspiration of the Persian pilaus, as the Mughals hailed from Central Asia.  The vindaloo is a Goan adaptation of the Portuguese dish carne de vinho e alhos, or meat cooked in wine vinegar and garlic.  Curry a convenient name for all spicy stews, and curry powder the all-in-one mixed spice seasoning popularised by the British during the British Raj. 

As she expounds on the history of Indian food, she wrote of the introduction of foreign ingredients to Indian cuisine, such as tea, potatoes, cabbage and tomatoes.  Most importantly, we learnt of the introduction of chilli pepper by the Portuguese, which today is a pre-eminent spice in Indian cuisine. 

Besides exploding the myths concerning many Indian dishes which we are accustomed to, she has masterfully weaved a story based on the social history of the Europeans and the aristocratic Indian classes in India from the 14^th century.  She wrote of how food is perceived and eaten by each group reflecting their cultural mores.  The book is enlivened by many first hand accounts from the first Mughal Emperor Babur, to Elizabeth Gwillin, the wife of a Madras judge in early 19^th century.  Interspersed throughout the book are some recipes from some very old cookbooks to provide the reader with a sense of how a dish is cooked in that era.  At the same time, she provided with each chapter some recipes customised for today�s kitchen should the reader be inspired to whip up a korma or a vindaloo. 

Although Lizzie Collingham had made this book accessible to the general reader, her scholarly approach with compiled notes and bibliography made her book a seminal study on Indian culinary history.  She may have focused on Indian culinary history from the perspective of the Mughals and the Europeans, and perhaps to some at the expense of indigenous Indian cuisine.  But this account really merits another book which can look at Indian food history stretching back thousands of years ago.   

From her account of the chosen period and her account on how the British has adapted curry into its national cuisine, she has provided for the culinary historian or enthusiast a framework in which to look at food that is eaten in many post-colonial communities.  Not every post-colonial countries will follow the same trajectory, but it is worthwhile to think and research more deeply how these �foreign influences� of colonial powers, such as the Portuguese, French, British or Dutch have on the cuisines of Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Macau and many other countries today.

I enjoyed reading Curry very much and only wish that more scholars will tread on this path shedding light on the history of the food we eat in Asia.

January 2006

www.singaporefoodhistory.com / Copyright 2005 Ai Ling Sim-Devadas