Madhur Jaffrey, born in India, has had a remarkably varied career encompassing acting, directing, and writing. In Britain she is most highly renowned and respected for her role as a presenter of television cookery programs.

     Professionally, Jaffrey has worked largely in cinema, with prominent roles in films such as the Merchant Ivory Production Shakespeare Wallah (1965), for which she was awarded a prize at Venice, The Assam Garden (1985), and Chutney Popcorn (1999). Her most prolific role as an actor in recent British television has been the drama series Firm Friends (ITV,1992 and 1994). Jaffrey played Jayshree Kapor, a cleaning lady turned business partner to white, middle­ class Rose (Billie Whitelaw), in a show that was unusual in representing a racially mixed society without treating this as an issue. While many of the productions in which Jaffrey has performed draw on her cultural background, Firm Friends also unashamedly drew on her culinary image-the business Jayshree initiates is selling cooked foods.

     Jaffrey as an actor has not surpassed her popularity as a food presenter. Jaffrey's route into presenting BBC food shows was less than orthodox. While a drama student at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts in London, she wrote to her mother in India, begging her to send simple recipes. Her mother obliged, and thus Jaffrey learned to cook by correspondence, al­ though this was never intended as a career move. She was drawn into cooking as a business after friends implored her to write a cookery book. Her immense success and appeal may be attributed to her flamboyant yet sensitive style of presentation and the way she has revolutionized and demystified Indian cooking, a cuisine particularly favored by the British. By introducing authentic Indian cuisine to the British kitchen, Jaffrey radically altered the way British people cook, eat, and think about Indian food. Indeed, it is fair to suggest that the ready availability of oriental spices and other Indian ingredients in British supermarkets is a direct result of Jaffrey's television programs.

     The inspirational presentation of food in the three BBC series-Madhur Jaffrey' s Indian Cookery (1982), Madhur Jaffrey' s Far Eastern Cookery (1989), and Madhur Jaffrey' s Flavours of India (1995)-is equaled by the warmth and charm of its presenter. While her shows have been educational from a culinary perspective, they have also proved influential within television culture, as Jaffrey seeks to contextu­alize the cookery by presenting it in the appropriate geographical location. In liberating cookery from the studio-bound format, these shows not only offer the viewing pleasures of a travel show but also work to ­ define popular perceptions of Eastern cultures. Jaffrey focuses on the recipes and their ingredients by preser:t­ ing a variety of people (mainly cooks, professional and otherwise) and by exploring a wealth of marketplaces, local lifestyles, and regional religions.

     The gastronomic travelog format may no longer be considered revolutionary, as it has developed into a television standard, but Jaffrey remains a guru Jf British culinary television. Her series are particularly noteworthy for their stylish and sophisticated production values and their attention to detail; for example, Madhur dresses to reflect the cultural background ;:,f specific recipes. The greatest appeal of her cookery shows lies in her vibrant approach and personality, with which she has spiced up British television. Jaffrey has argued that she sees no conflict in her professional double life, as she treats the presentation of food as a performance equal to any acting role.