Ranji Smile
Ranji Smile | |
|---|---|
| Born | |
| Occupation | cook |
| Known for | called "America’s first celebrity chef" |
Ranji Smile was an immigrant to the United States who, following his efforts to popularize different methods of food preparation, in the early 20th Century, has triggered calling him "America’s first celebrity chef".[1][2][3]
In the late 1890s, when Smile was in his twenties, he was a chef in London, England, when he was hired to work in America.[4]
He arrived in New York City in 1899, first working at Sherry's restaurant, and later offering demonstrations of how to prepare Indian cuisine.[1][5][6]
According to Edible Brooklyn historians Sarah Lohman and Vivek Bald's research identified Smile as an example of an undocumented immigrant.[4] Lohman found that Smile arrived in the USA without documentation, but had appeared before a senior judge, to appeal for the right to apply for citizenship, in 1904. His petition was denied. She noted that the immigration act of 1790 only allowed free white men to apply for citizenship. She noted that the Immigration Act of 1917 explicitly barred South Asian men from applying for citizenship, while also requiring them to register for the possible conscription into the Armed Services.
Smile left New York in 1929.[7] The New York Post wrote he left an undeniable mark on the culinary landscape.
References
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Caitlin Dewey (2016-12-07). "Kebabs are the next hamburgers: how war and immigration predict what we eat". Washington Post. Retrieved 2020-08-19.
I've also worked for the last seven years at the Lower East Side Tenement museum, which has made me aware of and connected to immigration in a way I never was before -- it underlies everything in American culture. So I knew that in writing the stories of these flavors, I was going to be writing American stories -- and in the process, making an argument for a broader definition of what America is and who Americans are.
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Sophie Gilbert (2016-11-23). "How American Cuisine Became a Melting Pot". Atlantic magazine. Retrieved 2020-08-19.
Smile's biography is revealed in Eight Flavors: The Untold Story of American Cuisine, a new book by Sarah Lohman that unpacks the diverse history of a nation's palate via eight distinct ingredients.
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David Holahan (2016-12-16). "'Eight Flavors' is a tasty history of American cuisine". USA Today. Retrieved 2020-08-19.
Smile arrived from India at the dawn of the 20th century and popularized curry dishes from his homeland. He was America's first celebrity chef.
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Natalie Pattillo (2017-09-11). "Immigration Law and the Fall of One of America's First Celebrity Chefs". Edible Brooklyn. Retrieved 2020-08-19.
His culinary prowess and stunts would be chronicled in national press for 15 years. No one seemed to mind that he was also an undocumented immigrant by way of Karachi. That is, until he applied for U.S. citizenship.
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Corby Kummer (2017-01-06). "Dishing It Out: Why Americans Eat the Way We Do". The New York Times. p. MB4. Retrieved 2020-08-19.
They make you want to learn more about characters like Ranji Smile, a Muslim from Karachi who became a cook at the high-end Sherry's restaurant in New York and then, in the early 1900s, a celebrity chef.
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Florence Fabricant (2017-07-31). "The Origins of Indian Curry in New York". The New York Times. p. D3. Retrieved 2020-08-19.
The history of Indian restaurants in New York could perhaps be traced to J. Ranji Smile, a colorful personality who arrived here from India in 1899 and cooked Indian dishes at Sherry's restaurant.
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Susannah Cahalan (2016-12-24). "The 8 flavors that define American cuisine". New York Post. Retrieved 2020-08-19.
By the time Smile left the US in 1929, the mark he left on the culinary landscape — especially in NYC — was undeniable. A new wave of Indian cooks entered the city, opening up restaurants inspired by the work of Chef Smile.