Indian Curry Through Foreign Eyes, Part 1: Hannah Glasse’s 18th-century Curry Recipe

Published by Sunday, June 9, 2013 Permalink 0

Indian Curry Through Foreign Eyes, Part 1: Hannah Glasse’s 18th-century Curry Recipe

by Laura Kelley

I have long been fascinated by concepts of “I and other”, or the many ways we separate what is familiar (self) from what is not familiar (non-self). By defining what is not self, we are in fact defining self. One can hear small children do this when misclassified by gender; most adamantly declare that they are not members of the opposite sex. “I and other” are also evident in beautiful symbolic ways when considering the movement of ideas and beliefs through societies. The newly introduced idea is at first foreign, complete with unfamiliar trappings. As the idea flows through society and is adopted, the foreign elements are shed and replaced by the familiar.

Depictions of Buddha: Caucasian and Asian, by Laura Kelley at //www.silkroadgourmet.com/hannah-glasse-curry/

Depictions of Buddha: Caucasian and Asian

One place to see this is operation is at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, which houses an expansive collection of Asian art. As Buddhism moves out of India and across Asia, first to the west and then the east, early iconography clearly depicts Buddha as Caucasian (Gandahara style), even when the work is from the Himalayas, Burma or Western China. As time passes, and Buddhist ideas are adopted across the east, however, religious iconography begins to depict a wide variety of races and ethnicities. Noses become smaller, epicanthic lids are added as the face changes from Caucasian to Asian. Expressions usually remain contemplative and serene, but the varying shapes of the faces are evidence of the triumph of the ideas across space and time.

The “I and other” concept is also of interest in historical cookery, especially when one group is attempting to recreate the cuisine of another. I’ve been looking at early recipes for Indian curry written by non-Indians. So far, I have a small collection of English and American recipes from the 18th and 19th centuries that show curry powders and recipes developing from recipes that merely reminiscent as Indian in the eighteenth century to those that are nearly indistinguishable from modern recipes broken out by geographical region by the end of the nineteenth. The earliest amongst them (so far) is a recipe from Hannah Glasse’s The Art of Cookery made Plain and Easy, first published in 1747.

The Art of Cookery, 1774, photo by Laura Kelley

The Art of Cookery, 1774

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Simon Says: Daily Food Quote, April 1, 2011

Published by Friday, April 1, 2011 Permalink 0

by Simón de Swaan

I have always thought that there is no more fruitful source of family discontent than badly cooked dinners and untidy ways.–Mrs. Isabella Beeton

Isabella Beeton was a Victorian-era writer who died prematurely at 28 years of age, but not before having four children and writing an 1112-page essential guide for women on how to run a Victorian household with 900 recipes and advice on fashion, industrialism, childcare, religion and how to manage servants.

The Rambling Epicure, Simon Says, Mrs. Beeton

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