Paper Palate

I’m taking you at your word. I’ve read neither Curry or Indian Food. It really is curious that one of the better tomes on Indian Food was published by the same company. Was it edited by the same ensemble?

I saw Curry in the bookstore a few days ago and it piqued my interest. I’m glad I didn’t pick it up now. I think I would have been rather upset to find it written with a heavy Western slant.

I may still check it out from the library but do my best to take everything with a grain of salt. I’m not sure though. I think I’ll follow your praise and look up Indian Food instead.

Thanks for the review.

Tara, Curry is a good book, in that it follows the Indian diaspora (which was caused by British imperialism) across the world, and the spread of curry from its homeland across the globe, where it has become indispensible to the cuisines of many nations, including Japan, the West Indies and the UK. However, the book is -not- the definitive, last word on the subject.

The truth is–there is very little in the way of first words on the subject, much less last words, in English. The Achaya book is fantastic–I cannot recommend it enough, however, there is a caveat. Achaya writes like an historian–and sometimes the reading is slow going.

Collingham is a much better storyteller, but again–it is very British in tone. She doesn’t downplay the affects of imperialism (thankfully–I’d have thrown the book across the room, if she had), but there is too often too much emphasis on the British for my taste.

But, that is the purpose of this book–to tell how curry came to be one of the favored dishes of the UK–and in that sense it is completely successful! One of the largest problems, I think, is that the book is being marketed in a way which is deceptive. It does not tell the complete history of Indian cookery, or even curry itself.

It tells -part- of the story, and the part it tells is specifically bound up in the role of the British Empire in Indian history.

That said–I am glad that I read the book, actually. Because I had read the Achaya book long ago, (among other titles) I actually knew more about Indian food and Indian history pre-the British Empire. I knew next to nothing about how the British affected Indian eating habits and how the British in turn, were changed by Indian eating habits.

So, it was still a fascinating look at a fascinating subject.

But, it is by no means what it is being billed as, either.

They both sound interesting. One of my favorite food books and one of the best food histories I’ve read is Que Vivan Los Tamales which doesn’t give a complete account of Mexican cooking, but it has a strong narrative, trying to show how some of the most popular dishes today became so integral to Mexican identity as the nation evolved post-conquest. It, combined with Sophie Coe’s book, America’s First Cuisines, gives a very nice look at the history of comida mexicana.

I’d just like to add that there are too few of these sorts of books in English. I’d love to be able to find a book like Que Vivan or AFCs for other cuisines, especially those of SE Asia, my current obsession.