Indian food became popular in Britain |
The crossrail project workers in London recently dug out an unusual collection of archaeological remains. Consisting more that 13,000 condiment and jam jars from the 19th century, the discovery is said to provide new insights into the history of British food, especially the external influences on it. As per the Museum of London Archaeology, this is the largest collection of pottery discovered from a single archaeological site in London. The site of the archaeological find was previously occupied by the Victorian era food manufacturing company Crosse and Blackwell. In particular, Crosse and Blackwell specialised in the manufacture of canned and bottled products such as jams, condiments, chutneys and the like. Interestingly, when the East India Company sent its first troops to India, Crosse and Blackwell sent a representative along. The recipes with which he returned aided the company in producing some of its most well-known products, such as Captain White`s Oriental Pickle and Curry Powder and Abdool Fygo`s Chutney.Britain`s culinary culture has been developed and defined to a large extent by the country’s colonial endeavours. In fact, the ubiquity of food from the colonies in the British everyday diet has resulted in food-related artefacts becoming a major source for historians studying the British empire.
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