'Indian cuisine that offers a fusion of tastes and
cultures to tantalise the discerning palate'

Pat Chapman & The Curry Club

Born in war-torn London at a time when Britain had just six Indian restaurants. Pat was virtually weaned on spicy food, and by the age of ten, he was learning from his ex-memsahib granny how to cook curries the pukka Indian way. He was hooked, and later coined the word "curryholic" to describe his passion for that food. Following education at Bedales, Cambridge and a short commission in the RAF (flying fast jets), he started a successful stage lighting and sound company.

Throughout this period, there had been precious little information published on curry, and friends asked him to teach them the secrets of spices. In 1982, he founded The Curry Club to share information about recipes, restaurants and all things spice.

To date Pat has written thirty-four books, with sales topping 1.5 million copies. Principally concentrating on curry, others feature recipes from China, Thailand, the Middle Eastern and the Americas. His Balti Cookbook was the first on the subject and became a Sunday Times Number 1 best seller. Rosemary Stark wrote in the Daily Mail, "he is responsible for Baltifying Britain".

Pat regularly appears as a celebrity chef at major food shows abroad and in the UK. In 1999 he hosted his own "Rice and Spice" theatre at the BBC's Good Food Show at Olympia. He takes culinary tours to India, runs Pat's Cookery Courses, and, although to date he does not own a restaurant, from time to time he guest chefs at Indian restaurants, Hilton Hotels, Taj Hotels - India, Selfridges, Club Med, Cordon Blue Cookery School, British Embassy - Berne, and Cunard's flagship the QE2. He consults to a number of companies, including G.Costa's Blue Dragon range of Chinese, Thai, Japanese and Korean products and Tabasco.

Pat is a contributing editor to Tandoori Magazine, the Indian restaurant trade magazine. He has written pieces for the national press and magazines, including the Independent, Daily Telegraph, whose Max Davidson recently said of him: "Chapman is to curry, what God is to the Old Testament"!!! Sarah Jane Evans in BBC Good Food Magazine said of him, "it would be difficult to find anyone who matches Pat Chapman's enthusiasm for spicy food."

It is this dedication to, and delight in his subject, which has earned Pat the media-inspired title, Britain's "Curry King". Pat is Victoria's India consultant chef and will from time to time guest chef for us, we will publish his appearance dates nearer the time.