Curry Spread is a simple appetizer spread made from blue cheese and mayonnaise.  This recipe is adapted from the Hotpoint Storybook Kitchen Cookbook, a 1964 cookbook published by General Electric to coincide with their exhibit at the World’s Fair.  Curry Spread won’t going to win any awards for originality or flavor but it exemplifies the fancy suburban dinner party aesthetic that General Electric is going for.  The book recommends serving on sauteed bread, and that this relatively modest amount is enough to serve 20, provided that “other canapes are served.”

The recipe as written is pretty light on the seasonings, and needs a little bit of help to taste like anything other than mashed blue cheese.   Like most recipes of this era, Curry Spread is light on the curry powder.   In my adaptation I’ve tripled the curry powder and added some pickle brine to add some acid.  Even then the curry is subtle.  As such, I would also recommend a mild, mass market blue cheese so as not to overpower the spices.  I made my first batch of this with a well-aged Point Reyes blue and could only taste the cheese.  (I won’t normally fritter away a good quality cheese, but this was well past its sell by date and liable to go bad).

Even with the adjustments I would not recommend serving this naked on sauteed bread or crackers.  It’s not awful on its own, but it needs some sweet or some heat to really make it pop.  A couple of recommendations:   salami and thinly sliced spicy dill pickle, a fruit and pepper jelly (such as Rose City Pepperheads), or fruit jam and a halved pickled tabasco pepper.

My family wasn’t sure what to make of Curry Spread.  I served it with our usual Sunday cheese and crackers lunch.  Everyone agreed that it tasted fine but wasn’t necessarily an improvement on plain old blue cheese.   Nor does the mixture of curry powder and blue cheese make for a particularly appetizing color combination.  This recipe is fun as a curiosity if you’re nostalgic for a mid-century luncheon, but you’ve got better options for entertaining.