The Raj at table - David Burton

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-India cooking was at its best when it achieved a kind of cultural balance; mulligatawny, kedgeree and Worcestershire sauce are all products of the Raj.

David Burton's book - subtitled 'A Culinary History of the British in India' - is now considered a classic, and was acclaimed by the Observer on publication as 'one of those rare and delightful works from which, once caught, you have no desire to escape'.