Books

Ok, so I'm the proud owner of two new books. These are special as they mark the beginning to my collection of books on food (hopefully). I don't mean recipe books; those I have a few of, and though I like reading the recipes and looking at their glossy pictures, I find I seldom make use of those recipes. 

I had ordered the first one, called Curry: A tale of cooks and conquerers by Lizzie Collingham, on a whim a few weeks back. I had been researching the origins of a specific dish when I had come across a listing of this book. It is basically a retracing of the history of all kinds of curries from the Indian sub-continent. The book also has very pretty illustrations and really old foodles-of-sorts (recipes in pictures). It promises to be an interesting and informative read.

Once I had my hands on this one, I got more greedy and looked around for something about the history of Indian food. But what I came across was this really interesting book, written in the 1880s by two English memsahibs - F.A. Steel and G. Gardiner. It is called The Complete Indian Housekeeper and Cook. This is more like a mirror to the British life during Raj, when English girls married to officers of the British Indian Army officers, would find themselves in an 'alien culture'. It is basically a 'British Memsahib and housekeeping 101', right from advice on 'duties of the mistress' to 'estimates of expenditure' to 'hints on breakfasts, dinners, luncheons, &c.' to 'advice to the cook'.