Local Flavour - Think Global, Eat Local - Phil Ellwood

Curry - Britain's Favourite Food

A 1997 Gallup poll of British tastes in food showed that curry was beyond doubt the nation's favourite food with over a quarter of Britons eating it at least once a week. There is now a National Curry Day in Britain and a Curry Club in the House of Lords.

The first curry recipe appeared in a British cookbook in 1747, and by 1763, at least one London coffee house had curry on the menu.

Even at traditional public houses in small villages, curry is a regular on the menu.

The Queens Head in Burley, Hampshire, established in 1630, offers curry and quiz for 7.95 Pounds, last Sunday of every month.

Prawn curry at a restaurant on Brick Lane in East End London.

So, keeping with the Local Flavour theme of shopping in Chester for ingredients, I set off to the local Save-Easy to pick up the ingredients. The raw spices are not available locally, but there is a good selection of British prepared pastes and sauces.

The ingredients for chicken and lamb Vindaloo - Patak's Vindaloo curry paste, lamb, chicken, onion, and tomatoes. Patak's Pappadums (aka poppadoms) for a starter, and jasmine rice and President's Choice Nann bread to accompany the curry.

Just follow the directions on the bottle -

Cook diced onion in clarified butter until golden. To clarify the butter, just heat it until the water evaporates.

Brown the meat, add 3 tbsp of paste and fry for a while. Add a diced tomato and the prescribed amount of water. Simmer for 30 minutes.

Fried poppadoms with mango chutney (mango, cucumber, onion, mint, cilantro, lime juice and crushed chilli peppers to taste).

And, the main course, Vindaloo with rice and Nann bread.

Next week, we will feature a mixed grill with ingredients from Chester Organics.

As a note of interest to those readers in the Chester are, Sue, operator of Chester Organics, will be opening a new shop and restaurant, named Kali a couple doors down on Queen Street.

Sue and I have plans for a monthly curry and quiz, to put a little taste of Britain in Chester. Stay tuned for details.

I will spare you from a picture of Charloote this week. Instead, I will end with a poem, written in England in 1846 by William Makepiece Thackeray in his book, Kitchen Melodies.


Curry

Three pounds of veal my darling girl prepares.

And chops it nicely into squares;

Five onions next prures the little minx

(The biggest are the best, her Samiwel thinks),

And Epping butter, nearly half a pound,

And stews them in a pan until they are brown'd,

What's next my dextrous little girl will do?

She pops the meat into a savoury stew,

With curry powder table-spoons three,

And milk, a pint (the richest that may be).

And, when the dish has stewed for half an hour,

A lemon's ready juice she'll o'er it pour.

Then bless her! Then she gives the luscious pot
A very gentle boil - and serves quite hot.

PS - Beef, mutton, rabbit if you wish,

Lobster, or prawns or any kind of fish,

Are fit to make a CURRY. "Tis when done,

A dish for emperors to feed upon.


See you next week.

Cheers,

Chesterfoodie@gmail.com