The Raj at Table

While the British were in India they developed a curious cuisine all of their own. As they made their mark on their host culture, the formidable Memsahibs - or English housewives - made sure that much traditional cuisine was rejected in favour of an impossible combination of European customs, and the results were frequently chaotic. Anglo-Indian cooking was at its best when it achieved a kind of cultural balance - mulligatawny, kedgeree and Worcestershire sauce are all products of the Raj. This social history includes over 60 recipes which help to build up an account of the British as seen through the kitchen door.