OP: Delicious Food for India
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Thacker, Spink & Co., Calcutta, 1935. Hardcover. Good Plus.
A delightful and very rare book published in Calcutta, Delicious Food for India (1935) is a hostess book for British colonials. Writing with the goal of keeping menus lively and varied to coax appetites in the tropical heat, author Marie Edwards not only makes good on her promise, she does it with a bit of humor.
A lunch of cold pâté eggs, fried chicken breast, and chocolate pudding, for example, is ideal for the recent arrival of friends from England and a catch up “to hear all the latest news and scandal.”
To impress a foreigner from the Consular service, “Let him realize [your] minds are above roast beef and cabbage” with stuffed fried fish, kidney casserole, and flambeed pineapple served with cream.
A meal to “reconcile friends who have turned out on a monsoon day, and braved a thunderstorm for your sake, although you didn’t order the storm to prove their affection,” might include chilled asparagus soup, a Moroccan-inspired braised chicken, and baked peaches finished with rum or kirsch.
Thirty-six suggested menus for similarly specific occurrences are included and followed by cocktails and other standalone recipes for buffets, invalids, picnics, lunches, desserts, etc. Space for the hostess’s notes follow each menu and occupy several pages at the rear. Previous owner(s) have taken advantage of the space, adding their own recipes and comments. Another handwritten recipe is glued to the rear free endpaper. Marginallia throughout.
Light soiling to the block but soundly bound and sturdy, crisp paper stock. Bound in maroon boards with a paper title card pasted to the front. The title on the spine has worn off. A previous owner’s name to the half title page. And some prudish soul has drawn a dress on the small, nude illustration on the title page. This copy was acquired from KAL store founder Nach Waxman’s personal collection.
