Food in books: Goat Curry from William Thackeray's Vanity Fair

Becky Sharp’s first encounter with a chilli in Vanity Fair is a scorching reminder of how badly words can deceive. What would her delicate palate make of Kate Young’s fragrant concoction?

By Kate Young for The Little Library Café, part of the Guardian Books Network

‘Give Miss Sharp some curry, my dear,’ said Mr. Sedley, laughing. Rebecca had never tasted the dish before. ‘Do you find it as good as everything else from India?’ said Mr. Sedley. ‘Oh, excellent!’ said Rebecca, who was suffering tortures with the cayenne pepper. ‘Try a chili with it, Miss Sharp,’ said Joseph, really interested. ‘A chili,’ said Rebecca, gasping. ‘Oh yes!’ She thought a chili was something cool, as its name imported, and was served with some. ‘How fresh and green they look,’ she said, and put one into her mouth. It was hotter than the curry; flesh and blood could bear it no longer. She laid down her fork. ‘Water, for Heaven’s sake, water!’ she cried.

Vanity Fair, William Makepeace Thackeray

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