Running the Curry Mile

Coming to a theater near you: "There Will be Blood...Pudding," the riveting documentary chronicling the UK phenomenon known to most as the Full English Breakfast. Highlights include scrambled powdered eggs, bland white toast, and a compelling sequence *spoiler alert!* where a famished Daniel Day-Lewis slurps down a greasy sausage for 3 minutes, washing it down with a strong cuppa PG Tips while digesting section C of the London Times. Can you feel the culinary drama?

In all seriousness, English cuisine has never really enjoyed a stellar reputation in the food world. According to Wikipedia, the United Kingdom does not have a single "national dish," but fish and chips, the roast beef dinner, and, yes, the ubiquitous full English breakfast, all come to mind as stereotypically English food. During a recent 10 day tour of the UK with the band, I was pleased to see a general trend towards healthier foods, evidenced by the popularity of a relatively new national chain accessible at highway exits. This is a great development, and despite the high prices, I really enjoy access to fresh juices and hand-cut potato chips. Still, on the hunt for culinary satisfaction while not trying to lose all of my spending money, I found the boxed sandwiches to be disappointing. Essentially, the sandwiches consist of various combinations of cucumber, cream cheese, mayonnaise, and some meat or fish, all cold and packed several days prior. When we got to our destination town, I wanted something hot, comforting, and full of flavor.

Enter the Indian curry, and all its variation and splendor. Of course, curry seems to be a catch-all term for Indian cuisine, but I typically order some type of curry as a main dish along with a vegetable and naan. While there are many fine "curry houses" throughout England, some are better than others. Researching the internet or quizzing the locals worked for us, depending on the area. If you happen to visit Manchester, I would recommend the Curry Mile, a section of Wilmslow Road in the Rusholme area comprising of several blocks of South Asian restaurants, many open into the early morning for that post pub fix.

On our curry quest, the band (some of us more often than others--I ate 5 Indian meals in a week) consistently found an Indian restaurant in just about every town to be the best option for the money, and I'm happy to say that it delivered the spicy comfort that was so difficult to capture so far removed from the Mexican and Italian food we regularly enjoy. From intensely hot chicken and lamb vindaloos to a jalfrezi cooked without tomato sauce (sort of like a light green Thai curry--one of the highlights), from creamy spinach saag to stewed okra, we thoroughly enjoyed the wellspring of flavor. The single disappointment for me was the store-bought papadum (crisp lentil flour flatbread) and sub par chutneys offered as an appetizer at every stop.

How does it compare to Indian cuisine in the US? I found that most all of the main dishes in the UK were of high quality--much better than average, and one or two were on par with the best I've had in large US cities. So, if you find yourself in the UK, don't miss the curry!