Patrick Chapman (20 December 1940–22 July 2022) was an English food writer, broadcaster, and author, best known for founding The Curry Club. He wrote many books about curries. His books are famous even among today’s generation. Chapman inherited a family interest in India, and curry in particular. He visited the subcontinent more than 40 times and set up the Curry Club.
What was Chapman’s early life like?
Chapman was born in London on 20 December 1940. His father was in the Merchant Navy, and his mother was a midwifery training sister at Queen Charlotte’s Hospital in London and then ran a maternity nursing home in Ealing. He was educated at Bedales School, where he spent time on what the school called “Outdoor Work” at the school’s farm, working in the piggery and dairy.
He took a course at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama. He worked backstage in London theatres and then became a stage manager at the Belgrade Theatre Coventry. He was a jet pilot in the Royal Air Force. He then spent six years in sales and marketing for Lesney Products, attending night school at Enfield Tech, studying business studies, and completing a diploma from the Chartered Institute of Marketing.
Educational Background
He was accepted for a mature studentship at Fitzwilliam College, University of Cambridge, reading economics. Simultaneously, he founded the stage lighting and sound company Entec, which lit Cambridge May Balls in 1968 and liquid light shows for BBC Television in 1970 and 1971. In the 1970s, the company lit and supplied sound systems for many rock music bands. In 1979, Chapman’s investor, the Marquee Club’s Harold Pendleton, took over Entec. Chapman moved to Haslemere, Surrey, and spent the next four years as a consultant to entertainment groups on lighting and sound systems.
How did Chapman start his career?
Chapman often cooked curry, ran regular curry cookery courses, and took small groups of curry enthusiasts to India to visit a region and sample its cuisine. From 2008, Chapman was an active member of the Army Benevolent Fund committee, specifically to help with fundraising for their annual Big Curry event. He was commissioned by Cobra Beer for the 2010 National Curry Week celebrations to come up with recipes that spice up Britain’s favorite regional top dishes.
From 2012, he was a trustee of the independent charity, the Cobra Foundation, supported by Molson Coors and Cobra Beer. The trust works to raise money for young people in South Asia by offering health, education, and community support. Chapman was a frequent face on British television, appearing on Who’ll Do the Pudding?, This Morning, Food and Drink, Great Food Live, and Good Food Live. He also had a regular spot on the Good Morning with Anne and Nick show.
When was Chapman’s first book published?
The Indian Restaurant Cookbook happens to be the first book of Pat Chapman. It was published in 1984. This book has achieved enormous success worldwide. Moreover, it has become the cornerstone of a wide range of literary contributions to the culinary world.
What awards did Pat Chapman receive?
On 17 November 2019, Chapman was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Asian Curry Awards from the Asian Catering Federation, of which he is the longstanding Chairman of Judges. However, since he was too ill to attend in person, fellow judge George Shaw accepted the award on his
behalf saying, “Everyone who works in the curry sector owes Pat a huge debt and never has a Lifetime Achievement Award so well deserved.
On 22 November 2020, it was planned that Sanjay Anand of Madhu’s Caterers and Restaurants would present this Lifetime Achievement Award to Pat Chapman in conjunction with Yawar Khan, owner of Akash Tandoori Restaurant, Wallington, Surrey, and founder of The Asian Catering Federation and Awards. Due to COVID-19 this presentation was postponed because of the pandemic, and the award was delivered to Chapman’s home in Surrey.
What is Pat Chapman best known for?
Chapman’s first cookery book, The Indian Restaurant Cookbook, was published in 1984 and is still in print. Chapman wrote some 36 books, with international sales exceeding 2 million copies. Most are on curry, but some of his other books cover cuisines such as Thai, Chinese, Middle Eastern, and international spicy cuisines. His Balti Cookbook was the first on the subject and became a Sunday Times Number 1 bestseller.
How many books has Pat Chapman written?
Pat Chapman has written a wide range of books. Here is a list:
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- 1984 Curry Club Indian Restaurant Cookbook, Piatkus, London
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- 1985 Little Curry Book, Piatkus, London
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- 1986 El Librito del Amante del Curry, Spanish version, pub El Cuerno, Madrid
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- 1988 Curry Club Favourite Restaurant Curries, Piatkus, London
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- 2004 Modern Indian Cooking, republished by John Blake
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- 1989 Sainsbury’s Curries, Octopus, London
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- 1989 Curry Club Chinese Restaurant Cookbook, Piatkus, London
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- 1989 Curry Club Middle Eastern Cookbook, Piatkus, London
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- 1990 Curry Club Vegetarian Cookbook, Piatkus, London
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- 1991 Curry Club 250 Favourite Curries, Piatkus, London
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- 1993 Curry, Human & Rousseau, South Africa
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- 1993 Kerrie, in Afrikaans, Human & Rousseau, South Africa
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- 1993 Curry Club Vindaloo and other Hot Curries, Piatkus, London
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- 1993 Curry Club 250 Hot and Spicy Dishes, Piatkus, London
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- 1993 Curry Club Tandoori and Tikka Dishes, Piatkus, London
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- 1993 Curry Club Balti Curry Cookbook, Piatkus, London
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- 2006 Modern Balti Curries, republished by John Blake, London
Curry Guides
Chapman assembled a list of Indian restaurants using a group of around 60 reporters who went to restaurants across Britain. This culminated in the Good Curry Guide, published in 1984, an assessment of the best 1,000 UK curry restaurants. It has been sponsored by Cobra Beer since 1992 and was referenced in the Oxford English Dictionary for usage of the term Balti. Here is a list of his curry guides:
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- 1984 Good Curry Guide, Curry Club
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- 1987 Good Curry Guide, Piatkus, London
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- 1991 Cobra Good Curry Guide, Piatkus, London
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- 1995 Cobra Good Curry Guide, Piatkus, London
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- 1998 Cobra Good Curry Guide, Hodder & Stoughton, London
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- 1999 Cobra Good Curry Guide, Hodder & Stoughton, London
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- 2000 Cobra Curryholics’ Directory, John Blake Publishing, London
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- 2001 Cobra Good Curry Guide, Simon & Schuster, London
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- 2004 Cobra Good Curry Guide, Curry Club, Haslemere
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- 2007 Cobra Good Curry Guide, John Blake Publishing, London
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- 2009 Cobra Good Curry Guide, John Blake Publishing, London
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- 2010 Cobra Good Curry Guide, John Blake Publishing, London New
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- 2013 Cobra Good Curry Guide, Curry Club Publisher, Haslemere—Complete rewrite.