Nostalgia for British India is for sale in this Singapore Shopping Mall, Photograph, 2008, Lucey Bowen
Fred Ferretti and Irene Corbally Kuhn fed Americans' appetite for the way things were in Asia before before World Wars I and II, before the independence of the British, French and Dutch colonies. "Porcelains and Potstickers" is a shopping and eating expedition through Hong Kong. In it Ferretti speaks of the pleasure of encountering pieces of the past, and remarks that "so much of Hong Kong endures in one form or another." Writing "In Search of the Indonesian Rijsttafel," Ferretti seeks what he knows to be an artefact of colonialism, the elaborate preparation of dishes called the rice table.
Kuhn added a postcript to her previous essay on life in Shanghai in the 1930s. Titled "Shanghai Revisited, A Postscript," I expected it to be a 1988 update. Instead, it looked back to a visit in 1945. At that time, she left believing the city would once again thrive. Looking back in 1988 she thought that Shanghai would remain forever in decline.
David Massey's essay "Hyderbad" reveals one origin of this nostalgia: literature. An early exposure to Rudyard Kipling's works put him under India's spell. (He also mentioned as influence, the adventure books of my childhood hero, Richard Halliburton!)
See what the decades have wrought on the restaurants reviewed in 1990 Gourmet:
New York:
Mitali, Gaylord, Passage to India and Nizam, all on East 6th Street; Mitali and Passage to India remain.
Umeda at 102 East 22 Street is now Novita.
Fortune Garden Pavillion at 209 East 49th Street is gone.
Thai Restaurant at 106 Bayard Street is gone.
Los Angeles:
Katsu 3rd at 8936 West 3rd Street is gone.
Robata at 250 North Robertson Boulevard is gone.
Empress Pavilion at 988 North Hill Street is still the Empress Pavilion
Chaya in Venice is still Chaya Venice.
San Francisco:
Wu Kong Shanghai Restaurant at 1 Rincon Center is now Yank Sing.
Monsoon at the Opera Plaza is gone, but you can see its design.
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