Friday, August 28, 2015

The mystery of British-style curry

I had had a question about British cuisine before going to London.


Nowadays, curry is one of typical Japanese cuisine. As I wrote repeatedly, I like curry very much. There are many curry restaurants in Japan. While some of them offer Indian-style curry, others provide so-called Japanese-style curry. It tastes mild and rather sweet. Japanese-style curry contain rich flour so that it can match with Japonica rice well.

My past entry: Curry!

I heard that Japanese-style curry is originated from the UK. British people met curry for the first time when they reached India in the 1700s. However, they felt difficult to mix several Indian spices to make a delicious curry. Then Crosse & Blackwell (C&B) succeeded to develop a curry powder, a pack of mixed spices, so that everyone could cook curry with ease.

I utilized some curry sauce to cook curry in the UK, as I wrote. Also in Japan, many kinds of curry powder are available. And some restaurants offer curry with rice as named "British-style curry."

My past entry: Three cheaper foods in the UK than in Japan

Therefore, I wondered Japanese-style curry was served in the UK as British-style curry.

I checked several restaurants to answer my question. But the result was negative.

Indeed, many restaurants in the UK offered curry with rice. But most of them were Indian-style, more watery and spicy than Japanese one. They seemed not contain flour. In the menu, they wrote "Indian curry." Rather, curry offered in Chinese restaurants is similar to Japanese one.

My past entry: Chinese Buffet in London

I was noticed that so-called British-style curry does not exist, as a conclusion. It may be a term named by a Japanese chef respecting British people to have introduced curry to Western countries.

However,  I think "Indian curry" is considerably different from original Indian cuisine. It was a little milder. British people do not like spicy taste so much. Thai restaurants in the central London offer milder dishes as well.

Now, I am in Japan. I will eat curry identified as "Japanese-style."

*Sequel

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