Turmeric, while classed with condiments owing to its pungent and aromatic properties, is most extensively used as a coloring agent. It is obtained from the root of the _curcuma longa_, a plant allied to the ginger family and native to India and Annam. It is used as a condiment only by the Orientals who flavor their rice with it, its greatest value to the cooking world being due to the fact that it is one of the chief ingredients of curry powder. Curry powder is a manufactured condiment, one of the most aromatic and highly seasoned used. It originated in the East Indies, through the skill of whom it is not known. The story goes that the famed and delicious cookery of the Orient came about in this fashion. The early English, French and Dutch, when setting out for the East Indies, each determined to seize and appropriate the islands, spices and all; for fear of being compelled to eat poor and unappetizing food took with them their most accomplished cooks. From the friendly concourse of these chefs arose certain of the celebrated eastern dishes, and from its ingredients it is easy to believe that curry was one of them; for in it are united, with the herbs of the temperate zones, the spices and fruits of the tropics. The ingredients used vary in character and in proportion according to the different houses or localities manufacturing it. One recipe calls for the following: turmeric, black pepper, cayenne pepper, nutmeg, ginger, cloves, cinnamon, allspice, cardamon seeds, coriander seeds, cumin seeds, caraway seeds and fenugreek. In India the following ingredients are sometimes used, besides those above named: anise, almonds, asafœtida, butter (ghee), cocoanut and cocoa oil, cream and curds, various nuts, garlic, lime juice, mangoes, saffron, salt, and tamarinds. In India alone there exist nearly forty different methods of preparing curry, to which list might be added the recipes of the numerous spice houses of Europe and America. The ingredients of curry are always finely ground and well mixed. When lime-juice and butter or oil are added to the curry, a paste is prepared. This is preserved by being packed in earthen jars. The curries and curry pastes of Ceylon and Java (these being often combined with garlic) are quite as celebrated as those of India, while the English and American preparations rank enviably high. [Illustration: Mustard.]