The English second-home owners and retirees in the popular Périgord region of South West France say with a grin that they are reclaiming the territory one house at a time.

This once-English owned area of the Aquitaine reverted to the French with the end of the 100 years war, in 1453. But now in 96 percent of towns and villages at least one house is English owned.

The strongest evidence of this repossession is on supermarket shelves. Chains like Intermarché and Leclerc sell expanding rows of marmalades, teas, cookies, crackers, milky night-drink powders, chunky pickles, and Marmite — the fiendish salty black spread the English can’t do without.

You can take an ex-pat out of his country, but you can’t take the country out of an ex-pat. Where, after all, would American diplomats and servicemen be without their PXs? Life overseas may be full of delectable gourmet temptations, but some nights you really crave a Cheez Doodle. For those without access to a government-sponsored commissary, there are the online worldwide specialist food suppliers, part of one of the fastest growing areas of internet trade.

What distinguishes the shelves set aside in supermarkets for Britons from those full of El Paso products popular with the French and Spanish tourists alike, and from Southeast Asian condiments used by immigrants, is the fact that if you didn’t know they were targeting doughty Anglo-Saxons, you would have thought they were aimed at Indians.

The largest section is devoted to everything you need to concoct a curry if you aren’t going to bother with running one up from scratch with fresh ginger root, coriander, garlic and ground spices. In glass jars set cheek-by-jowl are add-in Mild Curry sauces, Madras Curry sauces, Chicken Tikka sauces, and platoons of Mango Chutney. Sacks of Basmati rice slump against cans of ready-made vegetable curries.

While the French aren’t averse to the slight buzz you might get from a processed Mexican ready-meal, those that can stand a seriously spiced dish are a rare breed. If so much supermarket space is given over to this English addiction, it’s because turnover is good.

Just 30 years ago, there were fewer than 500 curry restaurants in the entire United Kingdom. Today there are more than 10,000. They employ around 80,000 people and turn over £3.2 billion a year ($6.06 billion). There are more Indian restaurants in London alone than in Delhi and Bombay put together. Two-thirds of Britons eating out will go for a curry.

Scientists at Nottingham Trent University discovered that a chicken korma — a very mild curry — increases the heart rate by an extra three beats a minute, while a fiery rogan josh will whip it up by seven.

Chewing a chili pepper, rich in vitamins C and A, can release protective endorphins centrally and on the tongue, triggering what is known as “the feel-good factor.” Some studies have reported that curcumin, the yellow colorant found in turmeric, another essential curry spice, may help in combating Alzheimer’s by preventing or breaking up existing plaque deposits in the brain. It may even inhibit cell growth in melanoma, a form of skin cancer.

Whatever medical properties it may in reality boast, a good curry really stimulates jaded taste buds. This easy chicken dish adapted from Madhur Jaffrey will please a family of 4 to 6.

–4 chicken legs, skinned

–1 whole skinless, boneless chicken breast, cut into 4

–5 medium onions, peeled

–2 cloves garlic, peeled and roughly chopped

–1-inch cube fresh ginger, peeled and roughly chopped

–1/8-1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper, according to desired heat

–1/4 pint plain yogurt plus 2 tablespoons

–1 teaspoon salt

–7 tablespoons vegetable oil

–Chop one onion coarsely and add to a blender with the garlic and ginger and 6 tablespoons of water and blend into a paste.

–Slice the remaining onions in half then into thin slices and fry them gently in a heavy bottomed pan in 5 tablespoons of the oil till just catching brown, then remove to drain.

–Add the rest of the oil to the pan and fry the chicken pieces in batches till browned on all sides, remove to drain and take pan off heat.

–Beat the yogurt in a bowl with 6 fluid ounces of water.

–Put pan back on low heat and carefully pour in blender paste (which will spit), scraping in the grunge from the bottom of the pan.

–Raise the heat and fry 3 minutes, then add one of the reserved tablespoons of yogurt and stir a minute, followed by the second and another stir.

–Add everything but the cooked onions to the pan, bring to the boil, cover, lower heat and simmer 20 minutes.

–Remove cover, raise heat to thicken the sauce, and cook 5 minutes then add the onions, cooking a further 2 minutes, stirring, then serve with rice.

(Julia Watson , UPI Food Writer)