The popularity of Indian Cuisine in Britain?

anecdote /

My good friend from America, Mahiruha works in a grocery store. He asked why the British expats were so keen on Indian cuisine. This is my take on his question.

The first thing that springs to mind – if you grew up eating British school dinners you would better understand the popularity of curry and Indian food.

When I was growing in Yorkshire many years ago (in the days of black and white tv e.t.c.) – we were lucky to get more than a diet of tripe, dumplings and boiled cabbage (and sometimes custard with a horrible skin on it). By, contrast a curry seemed incredibly exotic. I think I tried a mouthful aged five but my taste buds were not acclimatised, and I took a dislike. I never took another curry until aged 18 I had my first curry in a restaurant in Bradford. I ordered an “extra mild curry” – quite nervous about the exotic spices and was pleasantly surprised it was quite tasty. If only we had a bit of curry powder to mask the horrid tastes when growing up.

The only thing is that curry doesn’t mix well with Yorkshire Pudding. If made properly, they are very good genuine British cuisine. …

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Cracking Economics and national bookshop day

book /

Saturday was National Bookshop Day. They seem to have a national day for everything these days. But, in the case of bookshops, I think it is well deserved.

cracking-economics-blackwells

I’m really glad to see bookshops hanging on – holding back the winds of technological change and remorseless move to all things digital. There is something uplifting about a bookshop, for want of a better description it has soul. A feeling that will never be replicated by the convenience of Kindle and online reviews.

At various times in my life, I’ve been fascinated by nearly all sections in bookshops – especially religion and spirituality section – just about everything apart from particle physics and fiction. I don’t like fiction unless it is Lord of the Rings.

Today, I went into my local Blackwells Oxford to find ‘Cracking Economics’ by Tejvan Pettinger. They had eight copies, which is great because when I checked online two days ago, they said they had ten.

Which means they possibly sold two in two days!

I should have bought a copy to honour my local bookshop, but my publisher has already kindly sent me 20 copies in the post, so I don’t really need a 21st copy.

Still, there it was on the shelf next to the Oxford Dictionary of Economics.

The Economics Bible

economics-bible

The other funny thing is that in America, the same book is called “The Economics Bible.” On that cover, they have put my name next to a picture of Karl Marx. So perhaps some readers in America will think that Tejvan Pettinger is a rather grim looking bearded figure from the Nineteenth Century.

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Poppies outside a village church

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poppies

There is a poignant beauty to this display of red poppies – especially against the grey Yorkshire sky and dark stone. It is to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Battle of Passchendaele.

In 1917 our village Menston was quite small, but a high percentage of its young men died fighting in the First World War – especially this particular battle.

A hundred years ago is another lifetime. But when I turned 40, it went through my mind that conscription was often for men under 40 years of age.

We are fortunate to live in the absence of war, but I also remember Sri Chinmoy’s aphorism.

“Peace does not mean the absence of war.

Peace means the presence of harmony, love, satisfaction and oneness.”

 

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