How the death of a Viceroy led to the birth of a cuisine

Kolkata: On February 8, 1872, the Viceroy of India, Lord Mayo, was stabbed to death by Sher Ali Afridi in Port Blair, Andamans. Amongst every other socio-political fallout, it did curate the culture of ‘Continental’ food in urban India and this is a dish that must be served, hot or cold.

Frederico Peliti (29 June 1844 – 28 October 1914) acquired fame as a baker, confectioner, hotelier, manager of restaurants in Shimla and Calcutta, and an eclectic amateur photographer in British India. His restaurant in Shimla, Peliti's, was particularly loved and finds mention in numerous writings of the period including those by Rudyard Kipling. A collection of his photographs documenting British Indian life was published in Turin in 1994. For culinary exploits, he received a bronze medal from the French government in 1889 which entitled him to the title of Chevalier.

His story begins with Richard Bourke, 6th Earl of Mayo, Viceroy of British India in 1869 who searched for a chef in Paris through a competition which was handsomely won by Peliti. He then moved to India and settled in the capital city of Calcutta. In 1872, after his employer Lord Mayo was assassinated, Peliti established O'Neill & Peliti, a bakery at No. 41 Bentinck Street. In 1881 he opened his iconic restaurant at 10 & 11, Esplanade East which became popular among British and Indian high society and soon elongated his operations to Shimla, the summer capital of British India.

A deep-rooted pioneer, in 1884 he started a company that canned food for export. In 1883–1884 he won a medal at the Calcutta International Exhibition for confectionery and yet another medal in 1889 at the Universal Exhibition in Paris establishing his global credentials. Peliti also trained a few other Italian confectioners such as Agnelo Firpo from Genoa who set up another restaurant in Calcutta, bearing the awesome tradition till the 1960’s. Firpo’s the legendary restaurant, reinforced the culture of genuine European food in India, which later moved on to Sky Room and its peers in Calcutta as well as many equivalents nationally - Gaylord in Mumbai.

Niro’s in Jaipur and United Coffee House in Delhi. Over time, this inspired the universal cuisine which now dictates our culinary conversations in cafes and bistros, enchanting both young and old. Importantly, this must be distinguished from the ‘Bawarchi’ cuisine popular in clubs and Army messes, essentially an Anglo-Indian outcome.The star cast consisting of roasts, puddings, soups and curries - wholesome and delightful but often stoically British, sans the flamboyance of Paris or Genoa.

But before further establishing the connection, it is necessary to talk about Sher Ali Afridi and his rather terminal acts. In a family feud, he killed one of his relatives named Hydur at Peshawar in broad daylight and in spite of pleading innocence, he was sentenced to death on 2 April 1867. On appeal, his sentence was reduced by a considerate judge, Colonel Pollock, to life imprisonment and deported to Kala Pani or the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, to serve his sentence. Although, he was permitted to work as a barber at Port Blair in due recognition of his good conduct.

Initial accounts did suggest that he killed the Viceroy in a fit of frenzy, to avenge what he considered to be a very harsh sentence. While a section of scholars consider this to be an act of Jihad, as he was seemingly inspired by the Wahhabi movement against the British Raj, which was appearing with sincere frequency during and post the 1857 mutiny, with a prominent Calcutta High Court Judge being stabbed in 1871. Even the Investigating officials considered this to be an act of Wahhabi standalone protest, unconnected to any larger movement but clearly demonstrating angst against the ruling regime. Afridi was naturally sentenced to death and his vociferous legacy possibly persisted with Shahid Khan Afridi, Pakistani cricketer, whose persuasive belligerence was matched amply by suicidal recklessness.

But the Peliti legacy was truly far from morbid as it helped establish a world-class F&B legacy in Calcutta, which the British Isles were clearly not famous for. Old timers still salivate at the fare of Firpo’s, which elevated this genre to sublime levels, way beyond the reach of the Oberois and Taj. The cabaret song ‘ Dil Ki Girah Khol Do’, featuring Nargis Dutt  from the 1967 film ‘Raat Aur Din’ was shot at Firpo’s and the elegance is unmistakable even in low-tech black and white. ’Sky Room’, the iconic successor on Park Street lived up to this class and subsequently inspired many in the country to replicate a slice of the classical. Good food is a definite, albeit affluent marker of civilization and it is amply ironic that an act of violence, whether patriotic or subversive, led to this charismatic culture.

A largish point I wish to make is that history may be linear in terms of timeline but deeply disruptive in matters of influence and the trajectory can be as unpredictable as a Shahid Afridi googly. The assassination of Lord Mayo led to the formation of a genuine intelligence agency, the precursor to the stalwarts of the day. Whether Sher Ali Afridi was influenced purely by personal vendetta or a larger alignment to a nationalistic cause will remain a perpetual debate. While it cannot be denied that he did manage to achieve the platinum goal of every weapon-yielding freedom fighter, the death of sitting Viceroy, never to be replicated.Just as it is deeply logical that Fredrico Peliti’s continued employment in the Viceregal kitchen would surely have stifled his entrepreneurial instincts and his restaurant may never have been conceived, thus severely limiting our exposure to this seductive genre.

So next time, you partake elegantly of Chicken Stroganoff or Cauliflower Au Gratin, do remember that it all began in the penal settlement of Port Blair, now a tourist resort with immense symbolic and entertainment value. It does prove that life is indeed a curious hodgepodge of contradictions and how much we can digest is plainly a subjective matter. On this note, Bon Appetit and long live Free India.