OP: Curries and Bugles (paperback)

Penguin Books, New York, 1992. Paperback. Very Good.

In her cookbook Curries and Bugles (1990), third generation descendant of the British Raj Jennifer Brennan draws upon her early, formative years in Kolkata. Of her childhood food, she says, “The sensuality of texture, vivid colours, pungent aromas and tingling tastes demand attention, even one’s total concentration.” The lack of subtlety, she goes on to say, is an effective way of weeding away those who aren’t up to the challenge from those who will inevitably fall in love with the subcontinent.

While there are many references to the servants who were charged with preparing these dishes, they are not at all unapproachable to home cooks. With two hundred or so recipes, Brennan will certainly inspire new kitchen adventures, but the book’s greatest appeal is in the writing.

The ample and often biographical headnotes contextualize the cuisine and its many fusions, underscoring the British embrace and adaptation of local flavors. Aloo chops, employing the Indian word for potato and applying it to a spiced ground meat and potato cutlet, is remembered fondly as an ideal snack for picnics.

Drappit eggs, attributed to Scottish wanderlust which brought the most “phlegmatic” of the bunch to warmer shores, are served with creamed greens and herbs—like spinach, lettuce, chervil, and parsley—seasoned with garam masala. Another recipe reinvents a cucumber raita as a jellied luncheon salad.

Ours is a paperback in Very Good condition. Lightly sheflworn and creased.