ChatterBank9 mins ago
Curry
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No best answer has yet been selected by heypaulie. Once a best answer has been selected, it will be shown here.
For more on marking an answer as the "Best Answer", please visit our FAQ.I wouldn't agree with the bad meat theory either. That notion tends to come from the same sources who say that the 'local KFC use rats' etc..;o) it seems to stem from the immigration in the 50's/60's which has been passed down from generation to generation
Actually, my mother in law insists that the French cook all their meat in wine 'because it's rotten old meat'.
I once had a curry from a takeaway..they used chicken which was off ~ and I kid you not, the madras sauce didn't cover the stench!
Inclined to agree with heathfield.
I very much doubt the notion that spices were first used to disguise the taste of spoiled meat. I lived for a time in a traditional village with no electricity or running water, and one of the most striking things about that experience was the extremely fresh taste of everything, as compared to the world of refrigerators, supermarkets, and restaurants that I grew up in. Beans and grains in the village were stored in dry form, the grain being ground immediately before baking. Fish were eaten within a few hours of being removed from the water, and any kind of meat was cooked immediately after being killed. Leftovers were given to the animals. If anything was to be kept longer, it was either dried or preserved with salt.
Spices have not only taste but also nutritional benefits, just as other natural foods do. Most spices are extremely high in particular vitamins and/or minerals. Many have medicinal value. So there would be a practical reason to add spices to food even if it didn't improve the taste, though that seems reason enough even without introducing the idea of spoiled meat. It is we moderns who have problems with spoiled food, spending all our waking hours tapping on computer keyboards rather than harvesting and preparing wholesome food, and leaving things in the refrigerator until they grow hairy mold.