The Curry Cook's Assistant, Or, Curries, how to Make Them in England

by Daniel Santiagoe

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98 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1888

About the author

Daniel Santiagoe was a general servant to John Loudon Loudon-Shand, a tea-planter in Ceylon. He published the first edition of his curry recipes as The Curry Cook's Assistant; or, Curries, How to Make them in England, in their Original Style. His second, expanded edition was published specifically for the Glasgow International Exhibition of 1888 where he demonstrated the preparation of Madras curries.

Reviews

[Susan Molloy · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you are a fan of curries, this is a book for you. First published in the late 1880s, it is filled with every curry recipe imaginable for every meat, poultry, vegetable, and dairy available. What could that include beyond beef, pork, chicken, and chicken eggs? Here is a partial list: snipe, hare, partridge, pigeon, fish, mutton, liver, tripe, quail eggs, . . .

It is important to note that the author admitted he left out some recipes because certain foods were not readily available, such as mangoes.

Moreover, as I read the section on rice, I was reminded at how well prepared our foods are in our modern world. Note this passage from this book: “HOW TO MAKE RICE POWDER. Take a pound of good rice, and pick out all the black and other things from it. . . .” The idea of the “black and other things” [!] stopped me in my tracks for a moment. I will leave your imagination to you, as I will not reveal mine at this time.

Heavens to Betsy.

I greatly enjoyed reading this book, because not only was it full of interesting curry recipes and one chutney recipe, it afforded a peek into a long-ago world where cooking was more labor-intensive and ingredients (e.g. produce) were not available year ‘round.

Recommended.

[Sara · Rating 4 out of 5]

A quick little booklet, with a collection of recipes that actually look to be quite good. (At least, we all know how much I like curries...)
There are even some exact measurements in this book -- more than I've seen in any other pre-1900s cookbook. And the old cookbooks are always fascinating to read, simply for the cultural insight. It was interesting because the author's voice came through clearly even in cookbook form, and it was even more interesting because he didn't speak English particularly well, yet the publishers didn't edit him at all.