David Burton

The Raj at Table: A Culinary History of the British in India.

London: Faber and Faber, 1993. First printing. 057114389X xii/240 pages.

Volume, measuring approximately 6.5" x 9.75", is bound in dark brown cloth, with stamped white lettering to spine. Book displays very mild shelfwear. Binding is firm. Lightly age-toned pages are clean and unmarked. Illustrated with vignettes. Dust jacket is preserved in mylar cover.

"While the British were in India they developed a curious cuisine all of their own. As they made their mark on their host culture, the formidable memsahib - or English housewife - made sure that much traditional cuisine was rejected in favour of an impossible combination of European customs, and the results were frequently chaotic. Anglo-Indian cooking was at its best when it achieved a kind of cultural balance; mulligatawany, kedgeree and Worcestershire sauce are all products of the Raj.

Drawing on first-hand accounts, David Burton includes over sixty authentic recipes, adapts the best of them for the modern cook, and builds up a fascinating, often hilarious picture of the British - at best, endearingly naive, at worst, ignorant and xenophobic - seen through the kitchen door."