CURRY AND SPICE AND ALL THINGS NICE
ON arrival in India, there was one book the Englishwoman abroad would reach for, the Mrs Beeton of the Raj: The complete Indian housekeeper and cook (1888) by Flora Annie Steel, with coauthor Grace Gardiner.
Steel, one of the formidable characters who formed the backbone of the Empire, lived in India for 22 years with her husband, Henry, who was part of the Indian Civil Service. Her admirable eye for detail led to her becoming inspectress of schools, responsible for overseeing girls’ schools in North India.
No corner of home and life is left untouched by the ‘Dos’ and ‘Don’ts’ of this fascinating, ultra-confident and micro-detailed tome, be it the duties of the sweeper, the Urdu words for kitchen kit or how strong to make the drinks at a tennis party: “Their chief object in India being to quench the thirst, it is unkind to have them too strong.”
There’s a chapter on dogs, including feeding them with chapattis, and a section detailing how to pack up 11 camels to take a family’s belongings up to a hill station for the hot season: “4th camel load: four cases of stores,
