The investiture ceremony at the British Embassy in Washington on Nov. 5 at which Britain’s Ambassador to the U.S., David Manning, presented the badge of Commander of the Order of British Empire to award-winning actress and leading international authority on Indian cooking Madhur Jaffrey. (Photo: Courtesy, the British Embassy)

Britain’s Ambassador to the United States, David Manning, presented the badge of Commander of the Order of British Empire (CBE) to Madhur Jaffrey, the award-winning actress and leading international authority on Indian cooking, at an investiture ceremony at the British Embassy in Washington on Nov. 5.

Jaffrey, whose most recent stage appearance on the New York stage was in the A.R. Rahman musical ‘Bombay Dreams,’ was named an honorary CBE in the Queen’s List in June. She was presented with the badge by Ambassador Manning as she is not a British subject.

Nationals of countries other than Britain and the Commonwealth can become honorary members of the order, although the motto of the order, established in 1917 by King George V, is ‘For God and the Empire’; among American Knights Commanders of the order (KCBE), the highest rank of the order, are Bill Gates, Rudy Giuliani, Steven Spielberg, Alan Greenspan and Wesley Clark.

The Order includes five classes in civil and military divisions, in order of seniority: Knight or Dame Grand Cross (G.B.E.); Knight or Dame Commander (K.B.E. or D.B.E.); Commander (C.B.E.); Officer (O.B.E.); and Member (M.B.E.).

Only the two highest ranks are knightly. There is also a related British Empire Medal, whose recipients are not members of the Order, but which is affiliated with the Order nonetheless.

The badge of the order, a blue cross under a crown, was presented to Jaffrey by Her Majesty’s Ambassador Sir David Geoffrey Manning, himself a KCMG, — ‘Knight Commander of the Order of St. Michael and St. George,’— at a colorful ceremony at the beautiful Embassy designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens, creator of the Anglo-Moorish-Mughal architecture of New Delhi.

For the ceremony, Jaffrey wore an Indian silk sari that reflected autumn colors — russet and gold — while Sir David wore the insignia of his order, with his tie not “asserted by a simple pin” but the 14-pointed white Cross with motto of the Order in gold letters.

An announcement by the Embassy read: “In a stage and screen career spanning four decades, Jaffrey has drawn rave reviews across a broad spectrum of dramatic roles. “Her writing on Indian cooking over the past three decades first changed the culinary landscape in Britain, but her books have also become best-sellers in the United States where she has been honored for introducing the delights of Indian food to the American palate.

“Described as ‘one of the great actresses of her generation’, she is best known in the United States for her film work with Merchant Ivory Productions.

Her performance in the company’s ‘Shakespearewallah’ was her first in feature film and earned her the Silver Bear as ‘Best Actress’ at the International Berlin Film Festival.

Craig Claiborne of The New York Times described Miss Jaffrey’s classic, ‘An Invitation to Indian Cooking,’ published in 1973, as “one of the finest, most lucid and comprehensive books on Indian cooking ever published.” It remains in print today.