By Samuel Cox
Cooking with a Slice of History
We are now global citizens in the food that we eat. In the developed world at least, food is multi-cultural. As food dishes are passed from one country to another they are adapted to meet local needs. As a result we lose touch with their origins. This is a recipe book with a difference. Produced for aspiring cooks, the book presents a range of dishes from around the world with a brief commentary on how each dish came into being and the creators of each dish. More than this, the recipes are designed to be simple to follow and visually compelling, with photographs illustrating various stages in the preparation of each meal. This is cooking with a slice of ‘slice of history’ – to help you cook well and learn at the same time.
Contents page 2
Mashed Potato
4
Yorkshire Pudding
6
Cauliower Cheese
8
Chicken Salad
10 Pasta Bake 12 Burgers and Chips 14 Cottage Pie 16 Chicken Kiev 18 Beef Stir-Fry 20 Spaghetti Bolognese 22 Swedish Meatballs 24 Pizza 26 Lasagne 28 Cannelloni 30 Paprika Pork 32 Beef Stew 34 Indian Curry
1
2
Mashed Potato Serves 6
Ingredients:
1kg of potatoes. 1 tablespoon of salt. 300g of cold butter, cut into cubes. Warm milk, to taste.
Method:
1) Peel the potatoes and quarter them. Add them into a hot pan of water and boil on medium heat for 20 minutes. 2) Drain the potatoes and add back into the pan. Mash them so there are no lumps and add the butter and salt. 3) Mix well and mash in the milk. 4) Place under a hot grill for 5 minutes to achieve a crispy top.
3 The word potato is a mix of terms from old and new languages. Patata is the Spanish word for “potato” and is probably derived from the older word papa and the Taino word batata, meaning “sweet potato.” Mashed potato is thought to originate from 1771 when a Frenchman named Antoine Parmentier held a competition for different ways of making potatoes. Having won the competition, he began cultivating potatoes himself. Legend suggests that despite hiring a group of royal soldiers to guard his farm near Paris, his crops were stolen by local peasants thereby introducing potatoes into the cuisine of France and across Europe. Much later in 1962, a Canadian scientist Edward A Asselbergs was granted a patent entitled “Preparation of dehydrated cooked mashed potato” which is the method of mass producing the product.
4
Yorkshire Pudding Serves 8 Ingredients:
Method:
4 tablespoons of plain our. 2 eggs. 100ml of milk. A few drops of oil.
1) Preheat your oven to 200c/ Gas 7. Add a little oil into a yorkshire pudding tin and place into the oven for 5 minutes or until the oil is really hot. 2) Using a large mixing bowl, add the our, eggs and milk and whisk until you have a smooth batter. 3) Remove your yorkshire pudding tin and spoon in your batter, no more than threequarters full. 4) Place back into the oven for 20-25 minutes or until risen, golden and crispy.
5
In 1737 a recipe for ‘A dripping pudding’ was published in “The Whole Duty of a Woman”. This was a means of making use of the fat that dropped into the dripping pan to cook a batter pudding while the meat roasted. Similar instructions were published in 1747 in ‘The Art of Cookery Made Plain and Simple’ by Hannah Glasse under the title of ‘ Yorkshire Pudding’, a name which has stuck ever since. The pudding was often served before the meat with gravy to part fill the stomach so that less of the expensive meat would be needed. It was also used to feed the children if there wasn’t enough meat to go around. It would then become the main meal. Very occasionally, it was served after the main meal as a cold dessert with jam or sprinkled with dried fruit.
6
Cauliflower Cheese Serves 4
Ingredients:
1 medium cauliflower cut into florets. 25g of butter. 50g of plain flour. 400ml of milk. 125g Cheddar cheese, cubed.
Method:
1) Heat the oven to 170°C/Gas 4. 2) Cook the cauliflower in boiling water for 5 minutes, remove and place cauliflower in a dish. 3) For the cheese sauce, melt the butter in a saucepan, add flour and mix to a paste. Remove from the heat, add the milk until it is all incorporated. Return to the heat, stirring constantly, and bring to a gentle simmer for 1 minute. Add cheese and mix. 4) Spoon sauce over the cauliflower. 5) Place in the oven for 10 minutes until bubbling and golden.
7
The history of cauliflower cheese is fairly vague. The cauliflower is thought to originate from Kythrea, a town on the island of Cyprus. Cauliflowers were introduced into the UK around the 17th century. The food was probably eaten on its own by the poor when meat was not available, which was common. One of the earliest known recipes for cauliflower cheese is given in Mrs. Beeton’s Book of Household Management, published in 1861. The recipe has barely changed since. Now it is often served with a traditional Sunday lunch.
8
Chicken Salad Serves 4
Method:
1) Slice the potatoes and place in a saucepan full of boiling water and simmer for 15-20 minutes. Meanwhile, place the peppers under a hot grill until they begin to char. Then, peel off the skins and chop into strips. Place the courgettes into boiling water for 3 minutes. 2) Drain the potatoes and courgettes and set aside Mix the yogurt, mayonnaise and chives together in a bowl. 3) Season with salt and pepper. Add your potatoes in with the mix. 4) Layer your plate with the potatoes, peppers, tomatoes, courgettes and chicken on top.
Ingredients:
750g of new potatoes. 1 red and 1 green pepper, halved, cored and de-seeded. 1 courgette, chopped. 1 small onion. 3 tomatoes, sliced. 350g of cooked chicken,sliced. Fresh chives. 150g of low-fat natural yogurt. 3 tablespoons of mayonnaise. 1 tablespoon of chives.
9
The word “salad” comes from the French ‘salade’ of the same meaning, from the Latin ‘salata’ (meaning salty). In English, the word first appears as “salad” or “sallet” in the 14th century. Food historians say the Greeks and Romans ate mixed greens and dressing, and the Babylonians were known to have dressed greens with oil and vinegar two thousand years ago. The United States popularised salads in the late 19th century and other regions of the world followed in the second half of the 20th century. Now throughout the world salads are sold commercially in supermarkets. Fast-food chains such as McDonald’s and KFC, that typically sell junk food such as hamburgers, fries, and fried chicken, now sell packaged salads to appeal to the health-conscious.
10
Pasta Bake Serves 6
Method:
Ingredients:
1) Make your cheese sauce - 500g of pasta of your choice. 450g of Tuna. (page 6). Cheese sauce – see page 6 2) Boil your pasta for 10 250g of cheese. minutes. 3) While you wait for your pasta 300g of mushrooms, chopped. 2 tomatoes, chopped. to cook, fry your chopped 1 tablespoons of olive oil. mushrooms in a small frying pan with your oil for 5 minutes. 4) Place a quarter of the tuna in an oven proof dish. 5) Drain your pasta and add to the tuna in the dish. 6) Mix in the mushrooms and the rest of the tuna. 7) Place the tomatoes and the cheese on the top of the dish. 8) Place under a grill for 10 minutes until the cheese has melted.
11
Researchers claim pasta to be a Chinese invention that was brought to Italy by Marco Polo after his famous trip to the Middle Kingdom in the 13th century. It was, however, Italian cooks who were responsible for popularising the dish as we know today. Originally, pasta in Italy was served in small portions after the ďŹ rst appetiser. Only recently restaurants have started serving pasta as a main course, after discovering that expensive proteins, like seafood, could be blended with bulky pasta to produce a main course. It is estimated that Italians eat over sixty pounds of pasta per person, per year easily beating Americans, who eat about twenty pounds per person per year. This love of pasta in Italy far outstrips the large durum wheat production of the country. Italy must therefore import most of the wheat it uses for pasta.
12
Beef Burgers with Chips Serves 4
Ingredients:
5 large white potatoes. 4 tablespoons of olive oil. 500g of minced beef. ½ a red onion, chopped ďŹ nely. 3 garlic cloves, crushed. 2 tablespoons of chopped parsley. 8 slices of cheese. A bag of iceberg lettuce. 1 tomato, sliced. 4 burger buns.
Method:
1) Cut the potatoes into wedges. Place them on a baking tray, drizzle with half of the olive oil and season. Cook for 20-30 minutes. 2) Mix the mince with the onion, garlic, parsley and 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Use your hands to divide the mixture into 4 shaped burgers about 1 inch thick. 3) Heat the remaining oil in a frying pan and add the burgers. Cook on medium heat for 5 minutes, turn and cook for a further 5 minutes until cooked through. 4) Place cheese on top just before taking off the heat. 5) Assemble the burger buns with a few lettuce leaves and tomatoes, add the burgers and serve with chips.
13 Many stories surround the creation of the first burger, all happening approximately around the same time period. Legend has it that one of the earliest hamburgers was served up at the 1904 St. Louis World’s Fair. This was made with a cooked patty of ground beef on a hard roll. Another version suggests that the first serving was in New Haven, Connecticut’s Louis’ Lunch (a restaurant dating back to 1895) when Louis Lassen served up the first hamburger to an impatient customer who was in a hurry to eat lunch. Mass distribution of the fast-food type hamburger started with White Castle, an American fast-food hamburger restaurant chain in 1921. But it wasn’t until 1948 when the first McDonald’s opened that the modern fast food Hamburger was set to change the way we eat our burgers. The first McDonald’s eating place opened in 1948, an event that was to change the way we eat and view burgers. The first McDonald’s was a ‘hot dog’ stand. It was not until 1954, that hot dogs were to be replaced by hamburgers.
14
Cottage Pie Serves 4
Ingredients:
500g of mince beef. 1 large onion, chopped. 3 garlic cloves, chopped. 1 tablespoons olive oil. 1 beef stock cube. 3 carrots, peeled and chopped. 6 or 7 mushrooms, chopped. Mashed potato - Page 2
Method:
1) Boil your chopped carrots for 10-15 minutes. 2) Place 1 tbsp of oil in a large frying pan and add your chopped onion and garlic. Fry on a medium heat for 5 minutes. 3) Add the mince and fry for another 5 minutes. 4) Drain the carrots and add to the dish along with the beef stock cube and mushrooms. 5) Transfer to an oven-proof dish. 6) Top with the mash potato that you’ve made (page 2) and cook for 35-40 minutes at 190°C/Gas mark 5. 7) Serve with yorkshire pudding (page 4) and green beans.
15
Cottage Pie refers to a meat pie made with beef mince with a top covering made from mashed potato (see page 2). The term cottage pie is known to have been used in 1791 when potato was being eaten as an edible crop affordable for the poor. A cottage was a modest dwelling for rural workers and the term was used for this reason. In early cook books, the dish was presented as a way of using up leftover roasted meat of any kind, with the pie dish being lined with mashed potato. A variation of this dish, that uses lamb mince, is known as Shepherd’s Pie. The term Shepherd’s Pie did not appear until the 1870’s and ever since then it has been used along side Cottage Pie, with the main difference being the added addition of tomatoes.
16
Chicken Kiev Serves 4
Ingredients:
For the Chicken Kiev 4 x 175g chicken breasts. 3 garlic cloves, finely chopped. 1 tablespoon of fresh tarragon, chopped. 230g of butter. 2 tablespoons of plain flour. 1 egg, beaten. 12 tablespoons of fresh bread crumbs. Olive oil. For the rice 250g of rice. 100g bacon lardons, fried until crisp. 1 tablespoon of fresh parsley, chopped. 2 tbsp melted butter.
Method:
1) Make incision into each chicken breast. 2) Insert mixture of garlic, tarragon and butter into the chicken breasts. 3) Coat chicken breasts with flour, dip into the beaten egg and add bread crumbs. 4) Fry chicken breasts until lightly browned before baking in an oven at 200°C/Gas 6, for 20 minutes. 5) Cook the rice, mix with the rice ingredients and put the rice mixture into four cups. 6) Serve rice alongside chicken pieces.
17
Chicken Kiev is the name for a method of preparing chicken, which is served in most Ukrainian restaurants. Its origins are uncertain though it is likely that the dish is not of Ukrainian origin as the name Kiev would suggest. A Russian food historian William Pokhlebkin claimed that it was invented ďŹ rst in the Moscow Merchants club in the early 20th century, Others suggest that the dish was created by Frenchman Nicolas Appert who named it Chicken Supreme. The name change from Chicken Supreme to Chicken Kiev is attributed to early New York restaurants who were trying to appeal to Soviet immigrants. The name went back to Europe and is now used in most restaurants.
18
Beef Noodle Stir-Fry Serves 4 Ingredients:
Method:
225g rice noodles or egg 1) Heat the oil in a frying pan, noodles. then add the ginger, garlic 2 tablespoons olive oil. and green peppers. Stir-fry 2 tablespoons chopped ginger. for 4 minutes on a hot heat. 2 garlic cloves, crushed. 2) Meanwhile, bring a pan 1 green pepper, de seeded of water to the boil, add the and chopped. egg noodles and cook for 4 3 sirloin or rump steaks, sliced. minutes on a high heat. 3 tablespoons soy sauce. 3) Add the soy sauce and beef to the frying pan. Fry for a few minutes. 4) Add the cooked noodles, mix well and serve.
19
Stir frying describes two techniques for cooking food in a wok while stirring it, chǎo and bào. The term stir-fry was introduced into the English language by Buwei Yang Chǎo in her book “How to Cook and Eat in Chinese”. Stir frying is usually done in woks. By design, woks are meant to be used over a pit-style stove, where the heat rising from the fuel is fully directed at the bottom of the wok, with no heat escaping around the edges. These pit stoves originally used wood or coal and part of the wok is usually sunken below the stove top when used. This type of stove allows food to be stir-fried at a very high heat.
20
Spaghetti Bolognese Serves 4 Ingredients:
500g of mince beef. 1 onion, chopped. 4 garlic cloves, chopped. 450g of chopped tomatoes. 1 chicken stock cube. 1 tablespoon of tomato puree. 5 chopped mushrooms. 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Pasta of your choice.
Method:
1) Heat all of the oil in a pan and add the onion and garlic. Fry on medium heat for 5 minutes. 2) Add the mince and turn up the heat for 3-4 minutes until the mince is brown. 3) Add the chopped tomatoes, stock cube, mushrooms and tomato puree and simmer on a low heat for 45 minutes, stirring regularly. 4) Bring a saucepan of water to boil, add your spaghetti and simmer for 10 minutes, or until soft. 5) Drain the pasta, place on a dish and add the bolognese sauce.
21 The origins of ragù alla Bolognese (Spaghetti Bolognese) are unclear. Some authors, including Lynne Rossetto Kasper, the author of The Italian Country Table, “traced the ragus of Emilia-Romagna at least as far back as the 16th century, to the wealthy courts of noble families.” Tomatoes were not known and, therefore, not used in Italy in the 16th century. Indeed the origins of the Bolognese ragù are related to those of the French ragoût, a stew of ingredients reduced to small pieces, which became popular in the 18th century. This is a sauce of ground meat, a little tomato and beef stock, carrot, onion and celery, milk and chicken or goose livers, served not with spaghetti but with tagliatelle or lasagne. Milk was used, and still is in some cases, in the early stages of cooking to make the meat flavours more delicate. By the 1950s this meal was on the menus of continental restaurants across London. In 1966 there was a dish in the new edition of Constance Spry, confusingly called “Spaghetti a la Bolognese”. This used poultry liver, no mince, a “dash of sherry” and reduced tomato.
22
Swedish Meatballs Serves 4 Ingredients:
Method:
1 onion, ďŹ nely chopped. 1) Mix together the onion, minced 450g minced lamb. lamb, egg yolk and half the dill in 1 egg yolk. a bowl. 3 sprigs dill, ďŹ nely chopped. 2) Lightly wet your hands, then 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil. shape the mixture into 12 balls, 3-4 tablespoons of soured each about the size of golf ball. cream. 3) Heat the oil in a large frying Mashed potato - Page 2 pan and tip in the meatballs. 4) Fry, turning often, for about 12-15 minutes until golden all over. 5) Mix together sour cream and remaining dill, then spoon over the meatballs. 6) Serve with mashed potato.
23
Meatballs are considered to be Swedish in origin. The word first appears in Swedish print in a cookbook dating from 1754. It was, however not until the introduction of the meat grinder that mince became a common food. In Sweden, meatballs are served with buttered noodles and are usually served at smorgasbords, the equivalent to a buffet. Swedish meatballs were brought to America by Scandinavian immigrates and became popular at the beginning of the 20th century and again in the 1950’s and 1960’s. The well known retail store, Ikea, which originated in Sweden, is famous for the quality of it’s meatballs.
24
Pizza Serves 2
Ingredients:
For the base: 250g strong white bread flour. 1 tablespoon of salt. 7g sachet of dried yeast. 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil. 250ml lukewarm water. For the tomato sauce: 1 tablespoon of olive oil. 2 cloves of garlic, crushed. 1 tsp dried oregano. 1x400g can chopped tomatoes.
Method:
1) Sieve the flour and salt into a mixing bowl. Mix the yeast, olive oil and water into a jug and pour into the flour and knead the mixture. 2) Cover the bowl with a damp cloth and leave in a warm room for an hour. 3) Remove and divide the dough up into balls and stretch onto a pizza or baking tray. 4) Using another mixing bowl, pour in your tomatoes, garlic, olive oil and oregano and mix. 5) Spoon your tomato sauce onto your stretched pizza base and add your selected toppings such as cheese, chicken, tuna, ham ect. 6) Cook for for 20 minutes at 200°C/ gas mark 6.
25 We associate pizza with Italy but it did not originate there. Pizzas originated with the Greeks who baked large, round at breads which they covered with oil, herbs and spices - but no tomatoes. Eventually the idea found its way to Italy where, in the 18th century, the at breads were sold in the markets. Since they were relatively cheap to make they were sold to the poor all over Naples. In 1889, a baker called Raffaele Esposito baked a pizza for the visit of Queen Margherita. It became one of her favorite foods and so started the Margherita pizza and the other tomato based pizzas as we know them today Pizza was little known outside Italy until after World War Two. While occupying Italian territories, many American and European soldiers tasted pizza for the ďŹ rst time. Italian immigrants had been selling pizzas in their American stores for some time, but it was the returning soldiers who put it in the main stream of city life.
26
Lasagna Serves 6
Method:
Ingredients:
1) Add your oil and fry the 500g mince beef. onion and garlic for 5 minutes 1 onion, chopped. on medium heat. Add your 3 cloves of garlic, crushed. mince and fry for another 15 1 chicken stock cube. minutes until the mince has 2 tablespoons of oil. browned. 400g of chopped tomatoes. 2) Pour in your chopped 3 tablespoons of tomato puree. tomatoes along with your 4-6 sheets of lasagna sheets. tomato puree, mushrooms and 400g of sliced mozzarella. stock cube. Mix well and 300g of mushrooms. season. Simmer for 15 2 chopped tomatoes. minutes. 150g of grated cheese. 3) Place a thin layer of your Cheese sauce - see page 6 sauce into an ovenproof dish. Put a layer of lasagna over the top. Then, add your mozzarella with another layer of sauce. 4) Add a last layer of lasagna on the top and cover with cheese sauce. 5) Place in a oven at 200째C/ gas mark 6 for an hour. 6) Last of all, place the tomatoes over the top, sprinkle cheese and grill for 5 minutes.
27
Although the dish is generally believed to have originated in Italy, the word is believed to have its origins in Greece. Another theory suggests that the word ‘lasagne’ might come from the Greek λάγανον (laganon), a flat sheet of pasta dough cut into strips. Another theory is that the word comes from the Greek λάσανα (lasana) or λάσανον (lasanon) meaning “trivet” or stand for a ”chamber pot”. The Italians used the word to refer to the dish in which lasagne is made. Later the name of the food took on the name of the serving dish. It has been claimed that a lasagne recipe was featured in the first cookbook ever written in England, leading to an urban legend that the dish originated in the British Isles.
28
Cannelloni Serves 4
Method:
1) Fry the mince, onion, mushrooms and garlic for 5 minutes. Then stir in the nutmeg, tomato puree and wine. Simmer for 20 minutes. 2) Fill the cannelloni with the meat mixture 3) Place the second onion, celery and wine in a saucepan. Bring to boil and simmer for 5 minutes. Add the other sauce ingredients and simmer for 15 minutes. 4) Spoon a quarter of the sauce into an ovenproof dish. Spoon over the remaining sauce, cover and bake at 200°C /gas mark 6 for 40 minutes. 5) Place the ďŹ lled cannelloni on top of the sauce.
Ingredients:
225g minced beef. 1 large red onion, chopped. 1 garlic clove, chopped. 1/2 a teaspoon ground nutmeg. 2 tablespoons of tomato puree. 4 tablespoon of dry red wine. 12 dried cannelloni tubes. 150g of mushrooms, chopped. Tomato sauce 1 red onion. 1 celery stick. 150ml of dry red wine. 400g of chopped tomatoes. 2 tablespoons of tomato puree.
29
Cannelloni, also known as Manicotti, takes its name from the pasta tubes that are used in the dish. Traditionally cannelloni is made from fresh pasta or prepared lasagne sheets rolled into tubes. It is more likely to be found packaged in dry form in supermarkets. Cannelloni probably originated after pasta was transported from China to Italy. Italians were in general more experimental in the ways they prepared their pasta. Another use for the cannelloni tube has been found by the American composer Peter Schickele, What he calls the “pastaphone� is used as a musical instrument much liked and played in the manner of a horn.
30
Paprika Pork and Peppers Serves 4
Ingredients:
1 tablespoons of flour. 500g of diced pork shoulder. 3 tablespoons of oil. 400g of casserole vegetables. 2 cloves of garlic. 2 teaspoons of Paprika. 300ml of chicken stock. 2 red peppers, chopped and cored. 170ml pot of soured cream. Chopped parsley.
Method:
1) Place to flour in a plastic bag and toss the pork in to coat. 2) Add the oil into a frying pan and fry the pork over a high heat until browned 3) Add the casserole vegetables, paprika and garlic and cook for 5 minutes 4) Stir in the stock. Transfer to an ovenproof dish and place in the oven at gas 3/160°C for 1½ hours 5) Mix in the peppers and soured cream and cook for a further 30 minutes 6) Serve and scatter with chopped parsley and serve.
31
Paprika pork is a dish that has its origins in the historic dish of Hungary, Goulash. Traditionally a thick stew made by cattle stockmen, today it is prepared in soup and stew form. Another Hungarian stew using ground paprika, developed around 1800 from the original Goulash, is the Pörkölt. This is a meat stew (without any potato or pasta added) for which the meat is browned slightly in the base fat before the liquid is added. The word Pörkölt derives from the Hungarian verb “Pörkölni” which means to roast or to singe. In Hungary Pörkölt is served with side dishes like Galiska, which are a kind of small dumplings, buttered potatoes, mashed potatoes, pasta and pickles.
32
Beef Stew Serves 4 Ingredients:
A beef stock cube. 150ml of boiling water. 2 tablespoons of olive oil. 1 onion, peeled and sliced. 3 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed. 500g of stewing steak. 2 tablespoons of plain flour. 2 carrots, sliced. 1 leek, sliced. 2 tablespoons of tomato puree. 2-3 glasses of red wine. 4 rosemary sprigs. Mashed potato - Page 2
Method:
1) Crumble the stock cube into the boiling water and set aside. 2) Heat the oil in an ovenproof frying pan. Fry the onion and garlic for 3-4 minutes over a medium heat. 3) With a mixing bowl, toss the beef in the flour then add into the pan. 4) Add the carrots and leeks, stir well and season with salt and pepper. 5) Mix in the tomato puree, wine, rosemary and stock. 6) Cover with a lid and place into a hot oven (170c, gas mark 3) for around 2 ½ - 3 hours, stirring occasionally. 7) Serve with a mountain of mash potato, and a sprig of rosemary.
33
Stews have been made since prehistoric times. Herodotus, a Greek historian who lived in the 5th century BC, says that the Scythians (8th to 4th centuries BC) “put the flesh into an animal’s paunch, mix water with it, and boiled it over a bone fire. The bones burn very well, and the paunch easily contained all the meat once it has been stripped off. In this way an ox, or any other sacrificial beast, is ingeniously made to boil itself.” Le Viandier, one of the oldest cookbooks in French, written by the French chef known as Taillevent, 1310-1395, whose real name was Guillaume Tirel, has ragouts or stews of various types in it. This is believed to be more of a modern equivalent to the stews we know now.
34
Indian Curry Serves 4
Ingredients:
500g of chicken thighs, diced. 3 chopped garlic cloves. 1 chopped onion Tablespoon of tomato puree. Tablespoon of vinegar. ½ Block of creamed coconut. 2 fresh tomatoes. A hand full of fresh coriander. A teaspoon of: Coriander powder. Cumin powder. Garam masala powder. Tumeric powder. Paprika powder. Ginger powder. As many chilies as you would like.
Method:
1) Fry onions with garlic at a medium heat for 5 minutes. 2) Add the chunks of chicken, fry for another 5 minutes 3) Add spices and half of the fresh coriander and mix well. 4) Add ½ a pint of water along with the vinegar and tomato puree. 5) Stir in creamed coconut and chilli to taste. 7) Cook for 1 hour at 180°C/gas mark 4, stirring periodically. 8) Add fresh tomatoes and coriander and serve with rice and nan bread.
35
India has a long cooking history, going back thousands of years. Archaeologists have found four different types of grain alongside millstones from 8,000 years ago telling us that even then Indian people were processing flour to use for cooking, probably even making a very similar flat bread to what we have now. Meat, rice, sugar, milk, vegetables and fruits were all available to cooks 3,000 years ago, who added their own spices that were to hand. It seems to have been a time of almost decadent living with rich foods and dishes complemented with nuts and dried fruits. Meat of all sorts was eaten with one speciality involving stuffing ever-smaller animals inside of each other before cooking the finished roast in the ground under a fire.
Nowadays, curries differ greatly in their taste and content, not only between countries but also within countries. For example, the curries of India are different than those of Malaysia and Indonesia and in India the curry cuisine in the north is not the same as that in southern India.
History with a Slice of Cooking
By Samuel Cox