Salade d’Ananas a l’Indienne

‘Cookery for Occasions’ by Donovan Clarke 1949 begins with the chapter titles ‘The Bachelor Entertains’ and ‘Meal for Two – Prepared by Him’. 

This one intrigued me ‘The Cocktail Party and After’- I went straight to the end of the chapter hoping for something a bit more spicy than references to the washing up! Anne.

The chapter ‘An Indian Meal’ begins:

“Yih kaisi Khwurak hai? – as they say in Hindustani. ‘What sort of food is this?’ A very good sort for those who like it hot. Those who don’t, should lay in a large supply of sweet, cool bananas, when they venture to partake of it.”

‘An Indian Meal’ includes this recipe:

Indian Pineapple Salad 

1 small ripe pineapple, 1 cooking apple or sour apple, 1 stick of celery or 2 heads of white barb, ½ cup mayonnaise, small portion of red pepper thinly sliced for garnishing.

Peel and dice the pineapple, discarding the hard heart; peel, core and slice the apple and wash and shred the celery or white barb. The shreds should be very fine. Mix the whole together with enough mayonnaise to bind them. Place in a glass bowl or individual dishes, garnish with the red shredded pepper and a few sprigs of celery tops or white barb. Keep cold, but do not ice it.

What is barb? 

Fish hook, cutting remark, a breed of domestic pigeon, pipe fitting, quill feathers, a Nicki Minaj fan ?

All of those, and more.