There are, of course, many other pies concerning which I could give advice, I am, however, pretty confident that if yon bear in mind the principles I have tried to make clear, you will rarely fail to succeed in composing a very eatable ' pasty,' and win approval from those for whose delect- ation you may exercise your ingenuity. On the Hills, at Bangalore, and at many of the stations of this Presidency during the cold months, every one of the pies I have described will be found when cold to contain firm jelly, — not liquid gravy. If you desire to produce that cheerful effect at Madras, do not forget to place the pie upon ice for some little time before the meal at which it is to appear. The jelly is, of course, the united result of good gravy, and the juices of the various meats in the pie extracted by baking. During the hot weather on the plains, if you cannot ice the pie, it will be found a good plan to pour off the gravy- after it has left the table, hot. This will prevent the meat turning sour. The gravy can be heated the next morning, and the pie can be warmed up. Cold pie, with- out artificial cold imparted by ice, is an impossibility with the thermometer at 90 ° . ^■■■■^^3^ mmi ^^^il |i;?af<Wwi^ S!S>^-^/s!5§ wMvii^^_ oiEacA-i^TEi^ :2^:^^-^xxx. Our Curries. S^T^ are often told by men of old time, whose long connection with the country entitles them to speak with the confidence of " fellows who know, don't yon know," that in inverse proportion, as it were, to the steady advance of civilization in India, the sublime art of curry-making has gradually passed away from the native cook. Elders at Madras — erst-while the acknowledged head-centre of the craft — shake their heads and say " Icha- bod !" and if encouraged to do so, paint beautiful mouth- watering " pictures in words" of succulent morsels cun- ningly dressed with all the savoury spices and condiments of Ind, the like of which, they say, we ne'er shall look upon again. Looking back myself to the hour of my arrival in India, I call to mind the kind-hearted veteran who threw his doors open to me, and, pouring in the oil and wine of lavish hospitality, set me upon his own beast, killed the fatted calf, and treated me, indeed, as a son that had been lost and was found. It rejoiced this fine old servant of honest John Company, I remember, to give " tiffin" parties at which he prided himself on sending round eight or nine varieties of curries, with divers platters of freshly-made chutneys, grilled ham, preserved roes of fishes, &c. The discussion of the " course," — a little banquet in itself — used to occupy 27 286 CULINARY JOTTINGS FOR MADRAS. at least half an hour, for it was the correct thing to taste each curry, and to call for those that specially gratified you a second time. NoTv, this my friend was, I take it, a type of the last Anglo-Indian generation ; a genei-ation that fostered the art of curry-making, and bestowed as much attention to it as we, in these days of grace, do to copying the culinary triumphs of the lively Gauls.

AI-modernized reading of the original text

There are, of course, many other pies concerning which I could give advice, I am, however, pretty confident that if you bear in mind the principles I have tried to make clear, you will rarely fail to succeed in composing a very eatable ' pasty,' and win approval from those for whose delectation you may exercise your ingenuity. On the Hills, at Bangalore, and at many of the stations of this Presidency during the cold months, every one of the pies I have described will be found when cold to contain firm jelly, — not liquid gravy. If you desire to produce that cheerful effect at Madras, do not forget to place the pie upon ice for some little time before the meal at which it is to appear. The jelly is, of course, the united result of good gravy, and the juices of the various meats in the pie extracted by baking. During the hot weather on the plains, if you cannot ice the pie, it will be found a good plan to pour off the gravyafter it has left the table, hot. This will prevent the meat turning sour. The gravy can be heated the next morning, and the pie can be warmed up. Cold pie, without artificial cold imparted by ice, is an impossibility with the thermometer at 90 ° . ^■■■■^^3^ mmi ^^^il |i;?af<Wwi^ S!S>^-^/s!5§ wMvii^^_ oiEacA-i^TEi^ :2^:^^-^xxx. Our Curries. S^T^ are often told by men of old time, whose long connection with the country entitles them to speak with the confidence of " fellows who know, don't yon know," that in inverse proportion, as it were, to the steady advance of civilization in India, the sublime art of curry-making has gradually passed away from the native cook. Elders at Madras — erst-while the acknowledged head-centre of the craft — shake their heads and say " Ichabod !" and if encouraged to do so, paint beautiful mouthwatering " pictures in words" of succulent morsels cunningly dressed with all the savoury spices and condiments of Ind, the like of which, they say, we ne'er shall look upon again. Looking back myself to the hour of my arrival in India, I call to mind the kind-hearted veteran who threw his doors open to me, and, pouring in the oil and wine of lavish hospitality, set me upon his own beast, killed the fatted calf, and treated me, indeed, as a son that had been lost and was found. It rejoiced this fine old servant of honest John Company, I remember, to give " tiffin" parties at which he prided himself on sending round eight or nine varieties of curries, with divers platters of freshly-made chutneys, grilled ham, preserved roes of fishes, &c. The discussion of the " course," — a little banquet in itself — used to occupy at least half an hour, for it was the correct thing to taste each curry, and to call for those that specially gratified you a second time. NoTv, this my friend was, I take it, a type of the last Anglo-Indian generation ; a genei-ation that fostered the art of curry-making, and bestowed as much attention to it as we, in these days of grace, do to copying the culinary triumphs of the lively Gauls.

Culinary jottings