Country captain is a curried chicken and rice dish, which is popular in the

Southern United States The Southern United States (sometimes Dixie, also referred to as the Southern States, the American South, the Southland, Dixieland, or simply the South) is List of regions of the United States, census regions defined by the United States Cens ...

. It was introduced to the United States through Charleston,

Savannah A savanna or savannah is a mixed woodland-grassland (i.e. grassy woodland) biome and ecosystem characterised by the trees being sufficiently widely spaced so that the canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to reach th ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, and

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

, but has origins in the

Indian subcontinent The Indian subcontinent is a physiographic region of Asia below the Himalayas which projects into the Indian Ocean between the Bay of Bengal to the east and the Arabian Sea to the west. It is now divided between Bangladesh, India, and Pakista ...

. The dish was also included in the U.S. military's Meal, Ready-to-Eat packs from 2000 to 2004, in honor of it being a favorite dish of George S. Patton. It has also appeared on television shows in both the United States and in the United Kingdom, with chefs

Bobby Flay Robert William "Bobby" Flay (born December 10, 1964) is an American celebrity chef, food writer, restaurateur, and Television presenter, television personality. Flay is the owner and Chef de cuisine, executive chef of several restaurants and fr ...

, Atul Kochhar and Cyrus Todiwala all cooking the dish. Todiwala served his version to Queen

Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 19268 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. ...

as part of her Diamond Jubilee celebrations.

Description

In its basic form, country captain is a mild stew made with browned

chicken The chicken (''Gallus gallus domesticus'') is a domesticated subspecies of the red junglefowl (''Gallus gallus''), originally native to Southeast Asia. It was first domesticated around 8,000 years ago and is now one of the most common and w ...

pieces,

onion An onion (''Allium cepa'' , from Latin ), also known as the bulb onion or common onion, is a vegetable that is the most widely cultivated species of the genus '' Allium''. The shallot is a botanical variety of the onion which was classifie ...

s, and curry powder.

Almond The almond (''Prunus amygdalus'', Synonym (taxonomy)#Botany, syn. ''Prunus dulcis'') is a species of tree from the genus ''Prunus''. Along with the peach, it is classified in the subgenus ''Amygdalus'', distinguished from the other subgenera ...

s and golden raisins or

zante currant Zante currants, Corinth raisins, Corinthian raisins or outside the United States simply currants, are raisins of the small, sweet, seedless grape cultivar Black Corinth (''Vitis vinifera''). The name comes from the Anglo-French phrase "raisin ...

s are usually added. Many versions also call for

tomato The tomato (, ), ''Solanum lycopersicum'', is a plant whose fruit is an edible Berry (botany), berry that is eaten as a vegetable. The tomato is a member of the nightshade family that includes tobacco, potato, and chili peppers. It originate ...

es,

garlic Garlic (''Allium sativum'') is a species of bulbous flowering plants in the genus '' Allium''. Its close relatives include the onion, shallot, leek, chives, Welsh onion, and Chinese onion. Garlic is native to central and south Asia, str ...

, and

bell pepper The bell pepper (also known as sweet pepper, paprika, pepper, capsicum or, in some parts of the US midwest, mango) is the fruit of plants in the Grossum Group of the species ''Capsicum annuum''. Cultivars of the plant produce fruits in diff ...

s. The dish is served over

white rice White rice is milled rice that has had the husk, bran, and germ removed. This alters the flavor, texture and appearance of the seed; helps prevent spoilage (extends its storage life); and makes it easier to digest. After brown rice is milled ...

. With the exception of the rice, it is meant to be cooked all in the same pot. Chef Mamrej Khan has referred to the dish as one of the first fusion dishes to be developed, making it part of the Anglo-Indian cuisine. Country captain originated in

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

as a simple spatchcock poultry or game recipe involving onions and

curry Curry is a dish with a sauce or gravy seasoned with spices, mainly derived from the interchange of Indian cuisine with European taste in food, starting with the Portuguese, followed by the Dutch and British, and then thoroughly internatio ...

and possibly enjoyed by British officers. One theory is that an early 19th-century British sea captain, possibly from the

East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company that was founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to Indian Ocean trade, trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (South A ...

, working in the spice trade introduced it to the American South via the port of Savannah. The dish remains popular amongst the communities in

Mumbai Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial capital and the most populous city proper of India with an estimated population of 12 ...

, India. The "country" part of the dish's name dates from when the term referred to things of Indian origin instead of British, and so the term "country captain" would have meant a captain of Indian origin, a trader along the coasts of India. Others claim that the word "captain" in the title is simply a corruption of the word " capon". In 1991, ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' columnist Molly O'Neill researched the origin of the dish known as country captain, which had been a steady feature in southern cookbooks since the 1950s. Working with Cecily Brownstone, they discovered that the dish originally published in the United States in the pages of ''Miss Leslie’s New Cookery Book'' published in Philadelphia in 1857. The recipe required a "fine full-grown fowl". It also appeared in the kitchens of Alessandro Filippini, who was a chef with a restaurant on

Wall Street Wall Street is a street in the Financial District, Manhattan, Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It runs eight city blocks between Broadway (Manhattan), Broadway in the west and South Street (Manhattan), South Str ...

in the 19th century. Fans of the dish have included

Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), also known as FDR, was the 32nd president of the United States, serving from 1933 until his death in 1945. He is the longest-serving U.S. president, and the only one to have served ...

, who encountered country captain while visiting the

Little White House The Little White House was the personal retreat of Franklin D. Roosevelt, the 32nd president of the United States, located in the Historic District of Warm Springs, Georgia. He first came to Warm Springs (formerly known as Bullochville) in 19 ...

in Warm Springs, Georgia. Roosevelt introduced it to George S. Patton, and it was Patton's love for the dish which subsequently resulted in it being added in his honor to the U.S. Army's Meal, Ready-to-Eat field rations in 2000. A variety of Southern chefs have recipes for the dish, including Paul Prudhomme, Paula Deen and Emeril Lagasse. The dish was featured on an episode of '' Throwdown! with Bobby Flay'' in season 6 guest-starring Matt and Ted Lee. It also appeared on the

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's oldest and flagship channel, and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television b ...

cooking show, '' Saturday Kitchen'', with chef Atul Kochhar cooking the regular chicken and rice version of the dish.

Variations

Chef Cyrus Todiwala cooked a variation of country captain on '' Saturday Kitchen''. His version was similar to

shepherd's pie Shepherd's pie, cottage pie, or in French cuisine ''hachis Parmentier'', is a savoury dish of cooked minced meat topped with mashed potato and baked, formerly also called Sanders or Saunders. The meat used may be either previously cooked or fre ...

, in that the meat was baked under a layer of potato. He had previously cooked the dish for Queen

and the

Duke of Edinburgh Duke of Edinburgh, named after the capital city of Scotland, Edinburgh, is a substantive title that has been created four times since 1726 for members of the British royal family. It does not include any territorial landholdings and does not pr ...

at Krishna Avanti Primary School in Harrow as part of the Queen's Diamond Jubilee celebrations in 2012. That version of the dish used a rare breed of lamb from the

Orkney Islands Orkney (), also known as the Orkney Islands, is an archipelago off the north coast of mainland Scotland. The plural name the Orkneys is also sometimes used, but locals now consider it outdated. Part of the Northern Isles along with Shetland ...

which had been fed on seaweed. The dish is also now on the menu of Todiwala's London restaurant, Café Spice Namasté.

References

{{Chicken dishes, state=collapsed American stews Anglo-Indian cuisine Lowcountry cuisine American chicken dishes 1857 introductions Curry dishes British chicken dishes

Description

Variations

See also

References