m8 of mine was on night sentry duty in Malaysia - mid 1950s.  stood on the edge of a ridge facing pitch black jungle.  Suddenly felt hands feeling his boots / laces - then nothing!  It was a Gurkha night patrol - seems they knew exactly what Brit boots / lace patterns were - or he was a goner!

re 'cleaning' in food places - that includes general food processing as well as restaurants that have large stainless / tiled areas - one large American chemical outfit I worked for had one product line area for Food & Beverage related industries ( I ran the construction chemicals side).  A lot of their cleaning stuff was applied as a foam by spray lance and left in place for a time to work, then sprayed off to drain away.

First curry I ever tasted was in a place called the Taj, Altrincham - run by an ex Gurkha & it was brilliant - 1963.  He was pretty good at karate - sorted out the drunks late on in the evening who fancied their chances at having a go at the 'little Indian fella' or 'not paying'.

You're too kind JerryM.  All I know is that I recognise a good original taste when I meet it.

I have been spoiled by living / working in the Middle East - Dubai based and travelled all over from there for work / holidays - '76 to '84 (and been back since to visit old eating haunts).  The food in Dubai is exceptional - you name it - it is there & costing from next to nothing to an arm and a leg.  I have also been to India - stayed at the Taj in Bombay - '78!!  I have had better Indian (& Pakistani food) in Dubai than Bombay.

Nothing disappoints me more than a BIR menu here in UK that reads as if they know what they are doing - only to find the same base sauce tweaked for every dish presented.  I only go once.

Interesting dish in Dubais Khyber Restaurant is their 'Special Veg' - very specific taste which I could never 'christen'.  Eating in Rusholme many many years later with my wife and we had a side dish that we both tasted  - looked at each other - and both said Khyber  'Special Veg' !  Looking at the description - I would say the taste was down to the use of mustard seed.

JerryM - your mention of brewing beer brought back many old happy memories.  My dad used to brew his own - he had a very good home brew as good as his beloved Worthington Pale Ale.  He was at it when they insisted you had a licence to brew home stuff (he didn't!).  So I got married ('68)- skint - couldn't afford the pub - so I brewed my own - and soon was experimenting to make all sorts - including a 14% proofer!!  Kicked the back of your throat that one!  My favourite tipple was Newcastle Brown - so I tried doing it & got pretty close to that special nutty taste - achieved by floating the yeast on toast to percolate through the toast to then ferment.  Chesters Mild was a request from a mate - easy peasy - use burnt malt.

Give 3 or 4 people the same ingredients for any dish - let alone curry - and you will come up with all of them tasting differently.

Interesting one talking to my mate on this very theme some years ago & citing exactly above and our respective wives making spag bog - yet they come up completely different.  He then went on to say how he could never get his parsley sauce to taste like his grans - never tasted of parsley - no matter how much parsley he laced it with.  I watched Jamie (or was it Rick?) recently who made a passing comment about parsley sauce - leave the addition of the parsley to right at the end of the process - it is so aromatic that you can drive off this flavour when added too early.  He's tried it and it now works ok for him !!

It is this kind of precise knowledge that the very good Asian chefs have to enable them to bring out the best from the various combinations - knowing just how much & when / how to add that makes their dishes 'special'.  Sadly, i don't have this flair / feel for spices - wish I had.  I am an ex analytical chemist turned concrete technologist - specialising in chemical additives for all cement systems.  I have this flair for additives in my game - wish I could develop it into spices for asian cuisine.  Who knows if / when I retire ( i am beyond that age of 65 & still working) I may take it more seriously & apply myself to it.

'Appy Crimbo everyone

great pic JerryM - looks delicious - I can taste it !

Heston Blumenthal makes a living out of analysing to death food then re-engineering its manufacture in a new different tasting manner - whilst retaining a lot of the basic flavour

Great stuff guys - glad the taste (with all the personal additional variations to suit palate!) met expectations.  You can't beat a good shawarma.

In the Trafford Centre @ 3 years back there was a kiosk in the lower food hall that di chicken or beef shawarmas - they weren't bad either.  Sadly after a year it had gone

rshome123 - you'd probably like ANY shawarmas in Rusholme judging by the amount of other jollop you lace your tahine sauce with! LOL