FOOD & DRINK

12 FOCUS The Magazine November/December 2016 www.focus-info.org

For decades England was criticised andridiculed for its food. Virginia Wolfe de-scribed it as, “an abomination. It is puttingcabbage in water. It is roasting meat till it islike leather.” The online magazine The Saltblames Britain’s declined food reputationon the First World War, which sent skilledupper class servants and their masters tothe trenches as well as disrupted ship-ments of supplies and ingredients for labo-rious menus. According to food historianIvan Day, the War led Britain’s food cultureinto an austerity programme.Fortunately, in the 21st century, Londonhas a vibrant, exciting and culturally di-verse food scene which is complementedby an assortment of reputable restaurants.

Walk down any high street in any boroughand you will discover an eclectic choice ofmenus to explore.Culinary skills and food culture accompa-nied the settlement of waves of immi-grants in the city since 1947. Over theyears, traditional and exotic restaurantsadapted to catering for a more discerningpalette and now make it possible for theappreciation of cuisine from places as faras Colombia, Ethiopia, India and Jamaica.The British Raj ensured that exotic foodwas introduced to our shores relativelyearly. The first Indian restaurant in London,the Hindoostanee Coffee House, was es-tablished in 1809 near Portland Square on

George Street. The Norris Street CoffeeHouse in the Haymarket had curry on itsmenu as far back as 1773. By 1784, curryand rice had become house specialities insome fashionable restaurants in London’sPiccadilly. With the influx of immigrantsfrom Bangladesh and India during the1960s and 70s the popularity of the dishincreased. Many diners would call achicken tikka masala ‘a true British nationaldish’ after Robin Cook claimed it so in 2001.Brick Lane in Shoreditch is still the placefor some of the most authentic Indian cur-ries topped with the atmosphere of streetlife in Calcutta or Bombay and offeringwarehouse art exhibitions as well as

A foray into the exotic London food scene

“ I was introduced to curry at an early age and don’t even perceive it as exotic really. A vindaloo curry is for me staple fare.” Lena Walton

Ottolenghi, Notting Hill

Maramia Café

Turtle Bay, Brixton

Archipelago

FOOD & DRINK

FOCUS The Magazine 13www.focus-info.org

trendy clubs and bars. Ethiopians make up another vibrant com-munity with restaurants dotted aroundthe city. Traditional Ethiopian food, consist-ing of the fermented pancake called injeraand a selection of spicy meats and vegeta-bles, is eaten by hand. It is usually followedby Ethiopian coffee, made of fresh coffeebeans, roasted and ground on the spot.Both meal and coffee are reasonablypriced and available in a coffee shop atmosphere in restaurants such as the Addis on Caledonian road near KingsCross Station.Brixton has long been associated with theCaribbean community and there areplenty of Jamaican restaurants includingthe Turtle Bay where the service is impec-cable and the ubiquitous chicken jerk andrice and peas are offered along with lesserknown brown chicken and salt fish.The monthly Brixton food market offersan experience filled event where all vari-eties of Caribbean food can be tried.Nevertheless, if you ask a Jamaican manwhere the best Jamaican restaurant is theguaranteed answer is at his home.

It is quite difficult to pick out all the exoticfoods to be tried in the city but samplingwould be incomplete without tryingUgandan cuisine at Jambo on TottenhamCourt Road. This is a lovely discovery ofmodest décor and a wide selection ofEast African cuisine including Ugandangoat stew served with kalo (millet) in atraditional ekyibo basket and spicy tea. The atmosphere is relaxed and again theprices are reasonable.For those wanting to go really wild, theArchipelago on Cleveland Street nearCamden tube station is the place tosavour a variety of insects and unusual cui-sine such as caramel meal worms and boer-wors (South African sausage). They are all embraced in an atmosphere of Buddha’s dwarf palms and giant pea-cock feathers.Of course one man’s meat is anotherman’s poison and to a visitor from over-seas one very traditional, non-exotic,English meal that has been seen on thestreets of London for many years and iswell worth trying is pie and mash.Originally from East London’s workingclass, pie and mash shops were a familiar

sight on London’s streets duringVictorian times. It consists of mashedpotatoes and a mince pie accompa-

nied by an unusual but interesting tradi-tional gravy known as liquor made fromparsley-flavoured and coloured waterused to cook jellied eels.Today many of the pie and mash shopshave disappeared. It is possible to findsome on London streets and traditionalshops such as Harrington’s on SelkirkRoad in Tooting. The décor seems to havebeen stuck in a time warp but don’t letthat put you off.Restaurants and take away outlets inLondon represent food and cuisine fromat least 50 countries. Worth mentioning isthe Vietnamese Mein Tay on Fulham HighStreet and the Sardinian Sapori Sardi fur-ther down on Fulham Road. The author’spersonal favourites include Maramia Café,a Palestinian restaurant on GolbourneRoad, Kensington, known for Gaza salad,Palestinian sausages and delicious favabeans known as foul medammes.If you really want to splash out and seethe other side of Middle Eastern foodthere is a chain of Ottolenghi inspiredrestaurants in Spitalfields, Islington andNotting Hill. The menu is definitely exoticalthough the Welsh rarebit served forbreakfast is by no means traditional Israeli fare.The forays into exotic London restaurantsis an authentic adventure. Humble localeand decor fail to compromise authentictastes and warm reception. Eating out inLondon is exciting and British food hasturned from Virginia Wolfe’s words ofabomination to the wafting of rich newflavours all the way into home recipes.

Lena Walton is a freelance writer who started out in travel writing. She is the author of Jewish Days, Arab Nights and the sequel NotQuite Gaza to be published in 2017. Lena can be contacted through her blog lenawaltonwaywarddaughter at lenawalton.wordpress.com.

“They don't go in for the fancy orexotic, but stick to conventional foodlike flightless bird embryos, mincedorgans in intestine skins, slices of hogflesh and burnt ground grass seedsdipped in animal fats; or, as it is

known in their patois, egg, sausage,bacon and a fried slice of toast.”

TERRY PRATCHETT, MORT

Sapori Sardi

Mein Tay