Pat Chapman

Patrick Lawrence Chapman (born 20 December 1940) is an English food writer, broadcaster and author, best known for founding The Curry Club.

Early days

Chapman was born in London during the Blitz. His grandfather had achieved senior rank in the British Indian Army; his father served in the wartime Merchant Navy and his mother was a former midwifery training sister at Queen Charlotte's Hospital London, before running her own maternity nursing home in Ealing. His primary education was dysfunctional, with him going to no less than four schools. As a chorister at a local church, he auditioned to join the Westminster Abbey Choir School but failed because he had been watching trams driving around Westminster on a very smoggy evening, which clogged up his voice. Had he passed, he would have sung at Queen Elizabeth II's coronation ceremony in June 1953. Instead, his secondary education was at Bedales School whose headmaster, Hector Jacks, said that he would never pass A-Level examinations, which turned out to be true. In the school holidays he obtained work as an electrical stage hand / light board operator in West End theatre land, obtaining a prestigious NATKE union card.

On leaving school, he worked full time in the theatre, including stage management at the Belgrade Theatre Coventry. He followed this by joining the Royal Air Force where he trained as a fast jet pilot. He then worked for six years on sales and marketing at Lesney Products, during which time he went to night school at Enfield Tech (latterly part of Middlesex University) obtaining an HNC in Business Studies and a Diploma from the Chartered Institute of Marketing. This led to his being accepted as a mature student at Fitzwilliam College, University of Cambridge reading economics. At the same time he started the stage lighting and sound company, Entec. In 1968 his company established itself by providing the lighting for Cambridge May Balls, as well as performing liquid light shows for BBC Television, including a six month contract on Top of the Pops and a four part Doctor Who story, Claws of Axos in 1970/1. Chapman was a pioneer in touring lighting for rock acts and festivals, introducing techniques which are in use to this day^{[citation needed]}. Pat and his crews provided lighting and sound systems for an eclectic mix of rock, heavy metal, pop and glam rock groups, including, to name some, The Carpenters, Bing Crosby, Black Sabbath, Ray Conniff, Dusty Springfield, Bob Dylan, Bob Marley and the Wailers, Mud, The New Seekers, Lou Reed, Status Quo, Rod Stewart, Sweet, Ike and Tina Turner and Wings. In 1979 Chapman’s investor, the Marquee Club’s Harold Pendleton, took over Chapman’s Entec interests. He moved to Haslemere, Surrey, where he still lives, and spent the next four years consulting to a number of major entertainment multiples the like of Mecca Dancing, Rank Ballrooms, Warner Bros. and Pontins, both in the UK and overseas, advising on the equipping and installation of lighting and sound systems.

Currently

Branches of Chapman's family had lived in India from 1730 to 1930, first working for the East India Company then the British Raj. Chapman inherited their deep-rooted interest in the country, her history, her food and curry in particular. After he left school, Pat’s friends, knowing his passion for the subject, asked him to teach them the secrets of spices and their cooking. At that time little information had been published on the subject of curry, yet national interest in the subject was emerging. He decided to set up a club as the vehicle to exchange information. In 1981 Chapman's friend and writing mentor, columnist Carol Sarler, then editor of the best-selling Honey Magazine, wrote a piece on curry featuring the (then) non-existent Curry Club with recipes by Chapman, after which the Curry Club was founded on 1 January 1982. Many like-minded people have joined the Curry Club since it began and come from every continent including Asia. Membership is a cross-section of the British public.

Chapman frequently demonstrates curry, holds regular curry cookery courses and from time to time takes small groups of curry enthusiasts to India to visit a region and sample its cuisine.

Chapman sits on the Army Benevolent Fund committee, specifically to help with fund-raising for their annual Big Curry event.

For the 2010 National Curry Week celebrations he was commissioned by Cobra Beer ^[1] to create recipes which add spice to top British Regional favourite dishes.

Writing

Chapman’s first cookery book, The Indian Restaurant Cookbook, was published in 1984 and is still in print. To date Chapman has written 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^{[citation needed]}. Food writer Rosemary Stark’s review in the Daily Mail said “Chapman is responsible for Baltifying Britain”^{[citation needed]}.

Chapman built up a database on Indian restaurants, which as of 2009 contained over 9,000 entries.^{[citation needed]} In 1984, this led to the publication of the Good Curry Guide, a critique of the top 1,000 UK curry restaurants. It has been sponsored by Cobra Beer since 1992, and was cited by the Oxford English Dictionary for usage of the word balti^[2] Sir David Frost said on his breakfast TV programme “it [the Guide] tells you everything you want to know about curry”^{[citation needed]} and Delia Smith wrote, in The Mail on Sunday's You Magazine “with it he [Chapman] has done the nation a real service”^{[citation needed]}.

Television appearances

Chapman has appeared on British television many times, including on the shows Who'll Do The Pudding?, This Morning, Food and Drink, Great Food Live^[3] and Good Food Live. He also had a regular spot on the Good Morning with Anne and Nick show.^[4]

See also

• The Curry Club
• Curry Club Magazine
• Good Curry Guide
• Curry Awards
• Curry
• Balti
• Tandoori

Bibliography

• Classic Cooks (compendium volume), Orion, London — ISBN 0297824872 (1998)
• Curries - Masterchef Series, Orion, London — ISBN 0297836420 (1996)
• Curry, Human & Rousseau, South Africa — ISBN 0798131934 (1993)
• Kerrie, in Afrikaans, Human & Rousseau, South Africa — ISBN 0798128143 (1993)
• Curry Club 100 Favourite Tandoori Recipes, Piatkus, London — ISBN 07499149 & ISBN 0749917415 (1995)
• Curry Club 250 Favourite Curries, Piatkus, London — ISBN 0749911859 & ISBN 0749912936 (1991)
• Curry Club Book of Indian Cuisine, US edition, Prima New York — ISBN 1 559585668 (1994)
• Curry Club 250 Hot and Spicy Dishes, Piatkus, London — ISBN 0749914009 (1993)
• Curry Club Balti Curry Cookbook, Piatkus, London — ISBN 0749912146 & ISBN 0749913428 (1993)
• Modern Balti Curries, above title republished by John Blake Publishers, London (2006)
• Curry Club Bangladeshi Restaurant Curries, Piatkus, London — ISBN 0749916184 (1996)
• Curry Club Chinese Restaurant Cookbook, Piatkus, London — ISBN 074991016 X & ISBN 0749911026 (1989)
• Curry Club Favourite Restaurant Curries, Piatkus, London — ISBN 086188776 X & ISBN 0861888685 (1988)
• Modern Indian Cooking, above title republished by John Blake Publishers — ISBN 978-1843581345 (2004)
• Homestyle Indian Cooking, US edition, Crossing Press, Berkeley, CA — ISBN 0895949237 (1998)
• Curry Club Indian Restaurant Cookbook, Piatkus, London — ISBN 0861883780 & ISBN 0861884884 (1984)
• Curry Club Middle Eastern Cookbook, Piatkus, London — ISBN 0861888936 & ISBN 0749911557 (1989)
• Homestyle Middle Eastern Cooking, Crossing Press, Berkeley, CA — ISBN 0895948605 (1997)
• Curry Club Quick After Work Curries, Piatkus, London — ISBN 0749915382 & ISBN 0749916362 (1995)
• Quick After Work Curries, US edition, Fisher, Tucson, AZ — ISBN 1555611087 (1996)
• Curry Club Tandoori and Tikka Dishes, Piatkus, London — ISBN 0749912839 (1993)
• Curry Club Vegetarian Cookbook, Piatkus, London — ISBN 086188 9657 & ISBN 0749910895 (1990)
• Meatless Indian Cooking from the Curry Club, Prima Publications — ISBN 978-1559586900 (1995)
• Curry Club Vindaloo and other Hot Curries, Piatkus, London — ISBN 0749912847 (1993)
• India: Food & Cooking, New Holland, London — ISBN 978-1845376192 (2007)
• Little Curry Book, Piatkus, London — ISBN 0 861883640 (1985)
• El Librito del Amante del Curry, Spanish version of above title, pub El Cuerno, Madrid — ISBN 84853542 (1987)
• Masterchefs (Compendium volume), Orion, London — ISBN 029822349 (1997)
• North Indian Curries Classic Cooks, Orion — ISBN 0297822802 (1997)
• Pat Chapman’s Balti Bible, Hodder & St — ISBN 0340728582 & ISBN 0340728590 (1998)
• Pat Chapman’s Curry Bible, Hodder & St — ISBN 0340680377 & ISBN 0340680377 & ISBN 0340 68562 X & ISBN 034068562X (1997)
• Petit Plats Curry, French edition, Hachette Marabout, Paris — ISBN 2501033086 (2000)
• New Curry Bible, republished by John Blake Publishers ISBN 9781843581598 (2005)
• Pat Chapman’s Noodle Book, Hodder & Stoughton, London — ISBN 0340715391 (1998)
• Pat Chapman’s Quick and Easy Curries, BBC Books — ISBN 0563371196 (1995)
• Pat Chapman’s Taste of the Raj, Hodder & Stoughton, London — ISBN 0340680350 (1997)
• Pat Chapman’s Thai Restaurant Cookbook, Hodder & Stoughton, London — ISBN 0340680342 & ISBN 034068036 (1996)
• Pat Chapman’s Vegetable Curry Bible, Hodder & Stoughton, London — ISBN 0340751584 (2000)
• Sainsbury’s Curries, Octopus, London — ISBN 0861785304 (1989)
• Sainsbury’s Balti Cookbook, Martin Books, Cambridge — ISBN 0859418685 (1994)
• Sainsbury’s Quick and Easy Stir-fries, Martin Books, Cambridge — ISBN 0859419525 (1997)
• 1984 Good Curry Guide, Curry Club — ISBN 0950917001
• 1987 Good Curry Guide, Piatkus, London — ISBN 086188 5236
• 1991 Cobra Good Curry Guide, Piatkus, London — ISBN 0861889894
• 1995 Cobra Good Curry Guide, Piatkus, London — ISBN 0749914076
• 1998 Cobra Good Curry Guide, Hodder & Stoughton, London — ISBN 0340680326
• 1999 Cobra Good Curry Guide, Hodder & Stoughton, London — ISBN 0340680334
• 2000 Cobra Curryholics’ Directory, John Blake Publishing , London — ISBN 0953773507
• 2001 Cobra Good Curry Guide, Simon & Schuster, London — ISBN 0743208404
• 2004 Cobra Good Curry Guide, Curry Club, Haslemere — ISBN 978-0953773510
• 2007 Cobra Good Curry Guide, John Blake Publishing , London — ISBN 9781844543113
• 2009 Cobra Good Curry Guide, John Blake Publishing , London — ISBN 1-84454-311-0

References

1. ^ Cobra beer
2. ^ "Entry revised for OED Online: "balti"". Oxford University Press. http://www.oed.com/bbcwords/balti-new2.html. Retrieved 2009-03-08. 
3. ^ "Pat Chapman UK TV profile". UKTV. http://uktv.co.uk/food/item/aid/530661. Retrieved 2009-03-08. 
4. ^ "Pat Chapman Profile". Norman Phillips Organisation. http://www.normanphillips.co.uk/pat_chapman.htm. Retrieved 2009-03-08. 

External links

• Pat Chapman's Official Homepage
• Pat Chapman's Signature Dish Recipe
• An interview with Pat Chapman
• Pat Chapman's Agent
• Chapman's Top Curry Restaurants
• [1] A Guardian piece

Persondata
Name	Chapman, Pat
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	20 December 1940
Place of birth
Date of death
Place of death