In the Gender, Sexuality, Feminist, and Social Justice Studies (GSFS) 401 Winter 2020 semester class on Food, Gender, and Environment taught by Dr. Alex Ketchum, students are analyzing the ways that food accessibility and environmental threats are gendered, sexualized, and racialized within the global context. As part of the course, students visited McGill’s archives and special collections to have a hands on experience with historical cookbooks (more on that here: http://www.historicalcookingproject.com/2020/02/field-trip-to-mcgill-rare-books-and.html). The Special Series of Student Posts is a collection of student reflections on what information we can glean from cookbooks.
The book I have chosen for my blog post is entitled Indian Curries Soups And Sandwiches by Cecilia Peel. This book was published in 1930. Though, it was not the first of its kind. It was mainly published with the aim to regenerate the level of confidence amongst cooks, that Wyvern’s book provided before going out of print. Arthur Robert Kenney-Herbert, known more commonly by his penname “Wyvern”, was a British soldier who served in the British Indian Army, and wrote on articles on regional cooking(David 1970). Wyvern’s writing style presented the recipes in such manner that made the consumption of Indian curry look easily accessible. In fact, the curry recipes of the book have been reprinted from Wyvern’s “Culinary Jottings from Madras”, a book which is a compilation of his articles (Cecilia, iv). Since the British rule in India, there has been high demand for authentic Indian curry recipes by European cooks (iii). This is one of the many books of that colonial era, which could meet that demand. In fact, India’s colonial history increases the historical significance of this book. On one hand, the British troops were attempting head over heels to anglicize the Indians. The theory of orientalism was predominant here as, Europeans were blinded by these ideas about the Middle East and about East and Southeast Asia, that these societies being mysterious, never changing, or not able to develop in a modern way without the Western help. On the other hand, they kept on getting influenced by elements of this “oriental culture”, especially the cuisine.
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I had my eyes on this cookbook since it was presented amongst the collection of rare books and archives, and the cover page had attracted me. I found it very interesting how a book titled “Indian Curries Soups And Sandwiches” could supposedly be from someone who had a very Western name like “Cecilia Peel”. As I read through the cookbook, I learnt that Mrs. Peel was mandated to supervise the production of this book (iv); whereas, the recipes therein were inspired by the local Indian cooks. Some of the recipes, such as for curries (whether it be meat or fish) and chutneys (whether it be mango or tamarind), have been left authentic, whereas other dishes (such as bone stock soup and egg-chutney sandwich) have gone through a confusing attempt to be made European friendly. Such has been the case for several other sandwich recipes This book also contains recipes which are entirely inspired from entirely European cuisine, such as for celery and macaroni soup recipes.
As from the initial attraction I had to the cover page of this book, I felt the nostalgia in finding recipes of the dishes that I have eaten as I grew up in a South Asian family. Most of these recipes have been in my life since my childhood. It was interesting to discover how the recipes have not evolved since then. The same recipes were passed down through generations for the authenticity to persist, though there might be a few changes in terms of the cooking techniques. A recipe required the spices to be grinded manually, for example by stone. We have electric food processor now that can make cooking faster and easier. There are various tips in this book, directed to its readers, so that the dish can turn out to be tastier when cooked. I noticed that the same tips are still widely used by South Asian home cooks, including my mother and more recently myself. Slow cookery is one of the tips that has been provided for home cooks, when they are attempting to make curry (13).
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The recipes I have chosen are fish curry and mango chutney. As the book suggests, they are to be accompanied with rice or papadums (14, 22). Although, as per my personal experience, they taste better with rice. Fish curry with rice is the staple food of the country where I was born. Hence, I knew the recipe by heart.
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At first, we begin by heating oil in a skillet over medium heat. Then we sauté chopped onion until lightly browned. Then on a separate bowl, we mix garlic, cinnamon, bay leaf, ginger, sugar, salt and curry powder. Here comes the tricky part where we must make the curry powder. For that, we need to grind turmeric, coriander seed, cumin seed, poppy seed, fenugreek, dry ginger, mustard seed, dried chilies, black pepper corns. The reason why I have not included specific measurements for the curry powder as it has been suggested that we prepare the curry powder in bulk, at advance so we can conserve and use them as needed (in order to not lose the essence). We then stir in the mixture to the skillet, following by the addition of fish pieces, tomato paste, yogurt, and coconut milk. We finish by bringing to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer. On a side note, the author has clearly mentioned the key to a tasty curry is to add a fair amount of stock/ broth (6).
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Then for the chutney, we must cut the mango into thin strips in order to mix them with a teaspoonful of finely minced onion, one chopped green chili, one parsley.
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Later, we must immerse these ingredients with a dessertspoonful of vinegar in which a pinch of sugar and salt has been added according to taste (21, 22).
Nevertheless, British cultural appropriation of curry continues today. The United Kingdom celebrates National Curry Week every October. It’s so popular because it actively contributes to the British economy. For this reason, it wasn’t surprising when in 2001, when Chicken Tikka Masala was referred as a “true British national dish” by then British Foreign secretary (Mukherjee 2019).
Bibliography
David, Elizabeth (1970). Spices, Salt and Aromatics in the English Kitchen. Harmondsworth: Penguin. p. 169.
Peel, C. (1930). Indian curries, soups and sandwiches: a complete guide for European housekeepers. London: W. Thacker & Co.
Mukherjee, D (2019), The British Curry, Historic UK
Curry, Chutney, Childhood and Cheers!
by Lamia Taskin Bushra
I had my eyes on this cookbook since it was presented amongst the collection of rare books and archives, and the cover page had attracted me. I found it very interesting how a book titled “Indian Curries Soups And Sandwiches” could supposedly be from someone who had a very Western name like “Cecilia Peel”. As I read through the cookbook, I learnt that Mrs. Peel was mandated to supervise the production of this book (iv); whereas, the recipes therein were inspired by the local Indian cooks. Some of the recipes, such as for curries (whether it be meat or fish) and chutneys (whether it be mango or tamarind), have been left authentic, whereas other dishes (such as bone stock soup and egg-chutney sandwich) have gone through a confusing attempt to be made European friendly. Such has been the case for several other sandwich recipes This book also contains recipes which are entirely inspired from entirely European cuisine, such as for celery and macaroni soup recipes.
As from the initial attraction I had to the cover page of this book, I felt the nostalgia in finding recipes of the dishes that I have eaten as I grew up in a South Asian family. Most of these recipes have been in my life since my childhood. It was interesting to discover how the recipes have not evolved since then. The same recipes were passed down through generations for the authenticity to persist, though there might be a few changes in terms of the cooking techniques. A recipe required the spices to be grinded manually, for example by stone. We have electric food processor now that can make cooking faster and easier. There are various tips in this book, directed to its readers, so that the dish can turn out to be tastier when cooked. I noticed that the same tips are still widely used by South Asian home cooks, including my mother and more recently myself. Slow cookery is one of the tips that has been provided for home cooks, when they are attempting to make curry (13).
The recipes I have chosen are fish curry and mango chutney. As the book suggests, they are to be accompanied with rice or papadums (14, 22). Although, as per my personal experience, they taste better with rice. Fish curry with rice is the staple food of the country where I was born. Hence, I knew the recipe by heart.
At first, we begin by heating oil in a skillet over medium heat. Then we sauté chopped onion until lightly browned. Then on a separate bowl, we mix garlic, cinnamon, bay leaf, ginger, sugar, salt and curry powder. Here comes the tricky part where we must make the curry powder. For that, we need to grind turmeric, coriander seed, cumin seed, poppy seed, fenugreek, dry ginger, mustard seed, dried chilies, black pepper corns. The reason why I have not included specific measurements for the curry powder as it has been suggested that we prepare the curry powder in bulk, at advance so we can conserve and use them as needed (in order to not lose the essence). We then stir in the mixture to the skillet, following by the addition of fish pieces, tomato paste, yogurt, and coconut milk. We finish by bringing to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer. On a side note, the author has clearly mentioned the key to a tasty curry is to add a fair amount of stock/ broth (6).
Then for the chutney, we must cut the mango into thin strips in order to mix them with a teaspoonful of finely minced onion, one chopped green chili, one parsley.
Later, we must immerse these ingredients with a dessertspoonful of vinegar in which a pinch of sugar and salt has been added according to taste (21, 22).
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| Rice, Mango Chutney and Fish Curry |
Nevertheless, British cultural appropriation of curry continues today. The United Kingdom celebrates National Curry Week every October. It’s so popular because it actively contributes to the British economy. For this reason, it wasn’t surprising when in 2001, when Chicken Tikka Masala was referred as a “true British national dish” by then British Foreign secretary (Mukherjee 2019).
Bibliography
David, Elizabeth (1970). Spices, Salt and Aromatics in the English Kitchen. Harmondsworth: Penguin. p. 169.
Peel, C. (1930). Indian curries, soups and sandwiches: a complete guide for European housekeepers. London: W. Thacker & Co.
Mukherjee, D (2019), The British Curry, Historic UK