Q - Winston Churchill

Recipes irom No. 10: Madras Eggsby Georgina Landemare, the Churchill family cook, 1940s-1950s,updated and annotated for the modern kitchen by Barbara Langworth(b_langworth@conknet.com).CC01 nly a very short letter'this. t, Here I am incamp at this arid place—bare as a plate & hot asan oven. All the skin is burnt off my face and my complexionhas assumed a deep mulberry... "—WSC to his mother Rajankunte Camp, Madras, India,21 January 1897 {Winston S. Churchill, Companion Volume I,Part 2, edited by Randolph S. Churchill, London: Heinemann,1967, p. 726; also available from Churchill Archives,http://www.chu.cam.ac.uk/Churchill_papers/MADRAS EGGS (SERVES FOUR)4 hard-boiled eggs, sliced6 small tomatoes, skinned, seeded & sliced4 oz. chopped cooked ham2 small shallots, finely chopped6 Tb curry sauce*4 oz. cooked riceSalt and pepperButterButter a one-quart fireproof dish well. Using half theamounts place first a layer of tomato, then of eggs sprinkledwith shallot, pepper and salt, next a layer of currysauce and of chopped ham. Repeat these layers and coverthe top with boiled rice and knobs of butter. Bake in amoderate oven [350 °F] for 1/2 - 3/4 hour.* Curry Sauce3 medium-sized onions, diced2 oz. butter1 dessertspoon [2 tsp] curry powder1 blade [clove] garlic1 oz [scant 4 TB] flour1/2 pint [10 oz.] meat stock (or broth, bouillon)Salt and pepperCurry isnot onespice but a mixture of many. I was amused by authorBrent Thompson's explanation on the Curry House website:"The term curry itself isn't really used in India, exceptas a term appropriated by the British generically tocategorize a large set of different soup/stew preparationsubiquitous in India. [It] nearly always contains ginger,garlic, onion, turmeric, chile, and oil (except in communitieswhich eat neither onion nor garlic, of course)which must have seemed all the same to the British,being all yellow/red, oily, spicy/aromatic, and too pungentto taste anyway." $Fry onions in melted butter until soft. Add curry powder,garlic, flour and seasoning and fry slowly until it leavesthe sides of the pan. Gradually stir in stock and cook for30 minutes. Strain [use coarse sieve] and use as required.Churchillin India(Bangalore),1895.FINEST HOUR JH/43