Page 17 - Introducing Cultural Studies

Now the word "curry" itself has a history. It was a
sought-after commodity in the Middle Ages. When
the Mughal Emperor Jahangir granted permission
to Sir Thomas Roe in 1605 to establish a company
in India, it was specifically for exporting Indian
curries and spices.

Four hundred years later, after
colonization had done its work, and
the Indian Others had been
represented in a specific way, curry
came to signify the lowest form of
cheap food, equivalent to chips,
which it has replaced as the most
popular food item in Britain.

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