Indian food is best described as a fragrant mix of spices, meats and vegetables that work in harmony to create a tantalizing explosion of flavors on the tongue. You either love it or adore it!
Food is an absolute essential and although I am no dietician I guess we could all survive quite successfully on a much simpler diet than is available to us today. Although food is necessary we look upon it in an entirely different way, not simply as a means of survival but as a source of immense enjoyment.
There has been a long love affair between the British and Indian food that stretches back to the Raj of 1858 to 1947. During that time many British soldiers and employees of the East India Trading Company developed a fondness for the spicy local cuisine, a fondness that continued once they returned home.
In truth, the word curry does not exist in the Indian language; it’s actually an English word that has evolved to cover every type of spiced Indian dish. It is believed the word stems from the Tamil word ‘kari’ meaning spiced sauce.
Passage from India to London by way of Cork
Dean Mahomet is credited with opening the first ‘Curry’ house in Britain. Dean was born in 1759 into a middle class Bengali Muslim family but was orphaned at a young age. Through his late father’s army connections he found himself in the service of Captain Godfrey Evan Baker, an Anglo Irish officer. Mahomet travelled with Captain Godfrey Evan Baker across India and then to Cork in Ireland. In Ireland he earned the distinction of being the first Indian to publish a book in English called ‘The Travels of Dean Mahomet’.
At the turn of the century and the age of fifty Mahomet moved from Ireland to London with his wife and children. Once in London Dean picked up on the fact that Indian food was a popular choice on the rare occasions it appeared on restaurant menus. He opened the ‘Hindostanee Coffee House’ on No 34 George Street in 1810 where he served a selection of Indian style dishes accompanied, if you so desired, with a hookah primed with real Chilm Tobacco.
Since then the popularity of Indian food has continued to grow fuelled in the 50’s by the creation of Coronation Chicken, the dish created to celebrate QE2’s coronation. So popular is Indian food in the UK nowadays that every high street has at least one Indian Restaurant.
I’m in San Pedro de Alcantara and I want my Chicken Tika Masala
The British also have a long standing love affair with the South of Spain, in particular the Costa del Sol. The advent of the cheap package holiday in the 50’s and 60’s made the area accessible to millions of Brits, many have come back to buy property on the Costa, so many that the area is often referred to as ‘little Britain’. Along with their suitcases and belongings came their appetite for Indian cuisine. It wasn’t long before someone noticed a wonderful opportunity and opened the first Indian Restaurant to cater for the unserviced demand.
So here I am in a San Pedro de Alcantara Indian Restaurant just waiting for a Chicken Tikka Masala to make an entrance from the kitchen. So I think it only proper to thank those pioneers who originally moved to Spain all those years ago, travel agents and the Freddie Lakers of the world for making cheap package holidays available to the masses, Queen Eizabeth II for promoting Indian Food, Dean Mahomet for opening the first curry house in the UK, Captain Godfrey Evan Baker for bringing Dean Mahomet to the UK and everyone else who have made it possible for me to enjoy Indian food in San Pedro de Alcantara.
Ah… Chicken Tikka Masala.
