tag:theconversation.com,2011:/ca/topics/indian-food-36225/articlesIndian food – The Conversation2019-04-01T14:02:10Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1076742019-04-01T14:02:10Z2019-04-01T14:02:10ZTea, chillies and takeaway: what food choices reveal about British Muslim identity<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/266791/original/file-20190401-177178-1y8eq6f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Tastes change over generations. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/download/confirm/1307132521?size=medium_jpg">Rawpixel.com/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Food. We all need it and we all eat it. But what does it tell us about who we are? This was one of many questions I explored in recent <a href="https://www.academia.edu/35436083/PhD_thesis_sample_pages_">research</a> focused on the evolution of Muslim identity in the West. </p>
<p>Given that most British Muslims today are <a href="https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=NEMBAwAAQBAJ&pg=PR4&lpg=PR4&dq=Muslims+on+the+Map:+A+National+Survey+of+Social+Trends+in+Britain+(International+Library+of+Human+Geography)&source=bl&ots=udhTasf4QL&sig=ACfU3U2Y4eL6sZf6Fs7RxzDazihytJRVnQ&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjt-_2IrqXhAhVhqnEKHS1BDgQQ6AEwB3oECAYQAQ#v=onepage&q=Muslims%20on%20the%20Map%3A%20A%20National%20Survey%20of%20Social%20Trends%20in%20Britain%20(International%20Library%20of%20Human%20Geography)&f=false">either migrants or the children of migrants</a>, I wanted to understand how their identity changes, not just as it moves across continents, but also as it passes along generations. And so, along with other markers of cultural identity such as language and dress, I examined the types of food eaten by hundreds of respondents over 18 months of fieldwork conducted across the UK and Europe.</p>
<p>Take tea. It’s a straightforward beverage that’s ubiquitous in everyday British life. Yet how it’s brewed matters. South Asian culture, which encompasses around <a href="https://mcb.org.uk/report/british-muslims-in-numbers/">two-thirds of the British Muslim population</a>, frequently distinguishes between “Desi chai/tea” and “English tea”. </p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/266418/original/file-20190328-139371-1avl3xh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/266418/original/file-20190328-139371-1avl3xh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/266418/original/file-20190328-139371-1avl3xh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/266418/original/file-20190328-139371-1avl3xh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/266418/original/file-20190328-139371-1avl3xh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/266418/original/file-20190328-139371-1avl3xh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/266418/original/file-20190328-139371-1avl3xh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Fancy a cuppa?</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/chai-traditional-indian-tea-580567042">Wayne Dsouza/Shutterstock</a></span>
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<p>Desi chai refers to equal amounts of milk and water boiled on a stove together with a teabag and sometimes flavoured with spices such as cinnamon, cardamom or ginger, whereas English tea refers to boiling water from a kettle poured onto a teabag usually with a splash of milk. First-generation South Asian migrants almost exclusively sip the former and, based on my research, often look askance at the latter. On one occasion, for example, I heard an elderly British Pakistani haughtily dismiss English tea as no more than “weak, flavoured water”. </p>
<p>Their offspring, on the other hand, <a href="https://www.desiblitz.com/content/desi-chai-vs-english-tea-the-better-brew">often drink both English as well as Desi chai</a> (or, as it’s sometimes called, “masala tea”) indicating the emergence of an ambidextrous cultural identity informed by ethnic roots as well as social context.</p>
<p>Let’s take another example. The Naga pepper, cultivated in Bangladesh, is one of the <a href="https://archive.is/20120721205335/http://www.chilipepper.com/ScovilleScale/tabid/59/Default.aspx">hottest chillies</a> in the world. Imran*, a young British-born Bangladeshi I interviewed, told me how a “chilli-eating competition” of sorts developed when an uncle visited his London home from Bangladesh. Both he and his father, who’d been resident in the UK for over two decades, felt obliged to participate in a display of bravado.</p>
<p>After two bites, Imran rushed from the room gulping copious amounts of milk to soothe his burning tongue. While his dad continued stoically on, tears streaming down his face, it was his Bangladeshi uncle who won the day. The implication in Imran’s story was that his family’s time in England had diminished their capacity to enjoy hot chillies – an important emblem of Bangladeshi culture. When visiting Bangladesh later that year, Imran recounted that the ladies of the village had mockingly called out: “As you’re from London, we’ll have to cook without chillies or you’ll start crying!” </p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/266419/original/file-20190328-139345-j0rwy0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/266419/original/file-20190328-139345-j0rwy0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/266419/original/file-20190328-139345-j0rwy0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/266419/original/file-20190328-139345-j0rwy0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/266419/original/file-20190328-139345-j0rwy0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/266419/original/file-20190328-139345-j0rwy0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/266419/original/file-20190328-139345-j0rwy0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Too hot to handle.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/download/confirm/219646189?size=medium_jpg">Julie Clopper/Shutterstock.com</a></span>
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<h2>The sociology of the palate</h2>
<p>In 1979, the French sociologist Pierre Bourdieu famously <a href="https://books.google.co.uk/books/about/Distinction.html?id=nVaS6gS9Jz4C&printsec=frontcover&source=kp_read_button&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false">argued</a> that dominant social groups bolster their “cultural capital” by defining their tastes in opposition to the perceived uncouthness of the hoi polloi. In other words, Bourdieu argued that snobbery is socially constructed. </p>
<p>In my own analysis, I’ve introduced a new twist on his use of the word “taste” by defining it literally – with reference to the flavours felt in the mouth. Just as people’s aesthetic or artistic preferences are determined in no small measure by social factors, so too are the proclivities of their gustatory glands. In other words, socialisation has a physiological dimension. I call this the sociology of the palate.</p>
<p>During my research, it quickly became possible to distinguish between the tastes of first-generation migrants and their British-born offspring. So pronounced did this difference become, I named it the distinction between the “old guard” and the “avant-garde”. To illustrate with a generalisation: the old guard, I found, prefer oily curries and chapattis, while the avant-garde have a penchant for takeaways or other quick and easy foods such as noodles. On one occasion, I recall observing a group of young Muslims gaze in bewilderment at an elderly Indian “uncle” as he tore up a slice of pizza and dipped the pieces in his lamb karahi like naan bread.</p>
<h2>Food and shifting identities</h2>
<p>Food, as the researchers Atsuko Ichijo and Ronald Ranta point out in a fascinating <a href="https://books.google.co.uk/books/about/Food_National_Identity_and_Nationalism.html?id=OBveCgAAQBAJ&source=kp_book_description&redir_esc=y">recent study</a>, is also a symbol of national identity. Haggis, for example, often conjures images of kilts and tartan while hummus evokes Middle Eastern exoticism. Yet in 2001, the former British foreign secretary, Robin Cook, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2001/apr/19/race.britishidentity">claimed that chicken tikka masala</a> is not just the most popular but also “now a true British national dish” – winning its place alongside older classics such as bangers and mash, Yorkshire pudding or fish and chips. This tells us that even national identity, far from being static and inflexible, is a moveable feast. Human palates – and the identities they signify – evolve, chameleon-like, to reflect changing social and cultural conditions often brought into sharp relief by migration. </p>
<p>Let’s return to Imran, the young British-born Muslim of Bangladeshi origin. Growing up, he told me he despised the overpowering smell of <a href="https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/blink/takeaway/ive-got-some-fish-to-dry/article9429104.ece"><em>shutki</em></a> in his home – a type of dried fish popular in Bangladeshi cuisine. But several events in his teenage years triggered an introspective journey in which he reassessed his relationship with both his faith and ethnic culture. To the delight of family elders, he began during this period not only to pray regularly but also to eat <em>shutki</em>. For Imran, this was a conscious choice to signal a reaffirmation of his Bangladeshi Muslim heritage. </p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/266515/original/file-20190329-70996-1otdozi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/266515/original/file-20190329-70996-1otdozi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/266515/original/file-20190329-70996-1otdozi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/266515/original/file-20190329-70996-1otdozi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/266515/original/file-20190329-70996-1otdozi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/266515/original/file-20190329-70996-1otdozi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/266515/original/file-20190329-70996-1otdozi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Dried fish: sparking a journey of introspection.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/dried-fish-rangamati-market-bangladesh-1205554279">Leonardo Martin/Shutterstock</a></span>
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<p>Muaaz, another British-born Muslim of Bangladeshi ancestry I interviewed, had a different relationship with food. During the course of a religious retreat I undertook with him, he served an Italian bolognese proudly declaring he’d cooked it without using a single Asian spice. For Muaaz, unlike Imran, this was a conscious choice to signal a shift from an old continent to a new one. Both Imran and Muaaz are committed Muslims, but the practice of their faith went hand-in-hand with different forms of cultural expression.</p>
<p>The type of food dished up on a plate can tell us more than just the culinary preferences of the diner then. It can offer a window into human identity. And as the type of food on the plate changes – both as it shifts across continents and moves along generations – it’s a reminder that identity is never fixed, but subject to the constant pushes and tugs exerted by the forces of society and culture.</p>
<p><em>* Names have been changed to protect the anonymity of the interviewees.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/107674/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The research on which this article is based was generously funded by the Jameel Scholarship Programme.</span></em></p>How tastes differ between first-generation migrants and their British-born offspring.Riyaz Timol, Research Associate in British Muslim Studies, Cardiff UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/933762018-04-25T11:12:02Z2018-04-25T11:12:02ZTraditional health claims about India’s ayurvedic foods help make them big business<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/212769/original/file-20180401-189807-w4azu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/young-man-preparing-ayurvedic-medicine-traditional-320589071">Shutterstock/NilaNewsom</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>In India, you can buy <a href="https://www.patanjaliayurved.net/product/natural-health-care/health-and-wellness/kesar/818">saffron</a> that is “useful in asthma, indigestion, body pain, fever, dry skin diseases and pregnancy”, <a href="https://www.patanjaliayurved.net/product/natural-health-care/ghee/cows-ghee-200-ml/962">ghee</a> that increases “memory power”, intellect and digestion, and <a href="https://www.patanjaliayurved.net/product/natural-food-products/pickle/lemon-pickle/673">lemon pickle</a> that “improves your immunity level and helps the human body develop resistance against infectious agents”.</p>
<p>Such claims rely not on the credulity of Indian consumers but on deep and widespread convictions about the <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3987985/">power of foods to promote well-being</a>. A predisposition to seek extraordinary qualities from foods provides an irresistible promotional proposition for food businesses. However, the sale and promotion of foods in India based on <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352618115000438">traditional beliefs</a> about their health and nutritional properties presents a tricky regulatory challenge.</p>
<p>In modern India, consumers expect higher standards in consumer products and stronger consumer protection, including specific regulation of food standards and nutrition and health claims. To meet this expectation, the Indian government established the <a href="http://www.fssai.gov.in/home/fss-legislation/food-safety-and-standards-act.html">Food Safety and Standards Authority</a> and passed the Food Safety and Standards Act (FSSA) 2006 to provide a comprehensive regulatory framework for the sale of food.</p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/212794/original/file-20180402-189804-jo1q9v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/212794/original/file-20180402-189804-jo1q9v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/212794/original/file-20180402-189804-jo1q9v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/212794/original/file-20180402-189804-jo1q9v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/212794/original/file-20180402-189804-jo1q9v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/212794/original/file-20180402-189804-jo1q9v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/212794/original/file-20180402-189804-jo1q9v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Dried saffron spice in a bottle and a saffron flower.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/dried-saffron-spice-bottle-flower-788987269">Shutterstock/Patricia Chumillas</a></span>
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<p>The FSSA shares many similarities with the European Union Regulation <a href="http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/ALL/?uri=CELEX%3A02006R1924-20121129">(EC) 1924/2006</a> on nutrition and health claims for foods. In both cases, the aim of the legislation is to provide reliable information for consumers to be able to make informed food choices.</p>
<h2>Putting it to science</h2>
<p>The legislation provides that nutrition and health claims for foods, for example, may only be made if there is scientific evidence to support them. <a href="https://www.efsa.europa.eu/">The European Food Safety Authority</a> in the EU and the Scientific Committee Panel of the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India provide advice to their respective legislators as to whether they are satisfied that there is sufficient evidence in support of a link between the consumption of a food and the nutrition or health claim made for it.</p>
<p>In contrast to many Europeans, many Indian consumers are influenced by traditional beliefs about the nutrition and health benefits of foods and in particular, by <a href="https://nccih.nih.gov/health/ayurveda/introduction.htm">ayurveda</a>. In ayurveda, certain foods are “hot” (onions, ginger, peppers). Other foods are “cold” (coconut, melons, cauliflower). Each has particular health benefits. Such diets promote the consumption of pulses and vegetables and the avoidance of meat. There is a strong belief in the functional properties of foods in nutrition and health.</p>
<h2>The commercialisation of ayurveda</h2>
<p>However, the practice of ayurveda exists outside ordinary regulatory structures and its commercialisation raises difficult legal and ethical issues in India. Indeed, it would appear to be in contradiction to India’s own FSSA 2006 which <a href="http://www.fssai.gov.in/home/about-us/introduction.html">it claims</a> “lays down science-based standards for articles of food and regulates their manufacture, storage, distribution, sale and import to ensure availability of safe and wholesome food”.</p>
<p>In fact, traditional medicine and beliefs are afforded the protection of a government department. <a href="http://ayush.gov.in/">The Ministry of Ayush</a> was formed in 2014 to “ensure the optimal development and propagation of ayush (alternative) systems of healthcare” because Indian traditional beliefs are still very deep rooted and valued.</p>
<p>Because of this, businesses such as <a href="https://www.patanjaliayurved.net/">Patanjali</a>, an Indian company co-founded by <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/c33ea410-66f9-11e7-8526-7b38dcaef614">Guru Baba Ramdev</a> and which enjoys <a href="http://indianexpress.com/article/business/companies/ramdev-patanjalis-fy17-turnover-up-111-to-rs-10561-crore-4641082/">revenues of US$1 billion a year</a> through selling such things as cooking oils that claim to “<a href="https://www.patanjaliayurved.net/product/natural-food-products/edible-oil/mustard-oil/kachi-ghani-mustard-oil-l/817">promote hair growth</a>”, do not come under the same FSSA scrutiny that other food claims would do. Patanjali also sells honey with the claim that “regular use treats cough, cold and fever”, promotes “early healing of injuries” and that it might be used to “<a href="https://www.patanjaliayurved.net/product/natural-health-care/honey/pure-honey-l/698">remain healthy forever</a>”. The company was contacted to ask about the properties of their products, but it did not provide comment.</p>
<p>Claims such as these on a non-traditional product would contravene the (EC) 1924/2006 regulation which also requires health claims to be based on generally accepted scientific evidence. However, in India these products just aren’t put to the scientific test. </p>
<p>It’s time the FSSA countered the Ministry of Ayush and those businesses that are legally able to trade on traditional beliefs to sell food produce that promise scientifically unproven health benefits.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/93376/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ajay Patel does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>India’s Food Safety and Standards Authority needs to get a grip of unproven claims about the health benefits of certain products.Ajay Patel, Senior Lecturer in Food Law, Manchester Metropolitan UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/729422017-02-27T12:54:57Z2017-02-27T12:54:57ZTough immigration laws are hitting Britain’s curry houses hard<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/158166/original/image-20170223-32705-au4loj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The British curry industry is responsible for <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2016/feb/07/curry-houses-closure-risk-rising-costs-non-eu-migration-curbs-staff-shortage">100,000 jobs</a> and <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/brexit-latest-immigration-curry-industry-theresa-may-betrayal-a7398196.html">contributes more than £4 billion to the UK economy</a>. But it’s now feared that up to a third of all <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/2165379e-b4b2-11e5-8358-9a82b43f6b2f">Indian restaurants could disappear</a> because of tougher immigration laws. </p>
<p>The current rules require restaurants that want to employ a chef from outside the EU to pay a minimum salary of £35,000 – or <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/e72be378-a0ee-11e6-891e-abe238dee8e2">£29,750 with accommodation and food</a> – to secure a visa. </p>
<p>These high costs have meant that many restaurants are unable to hire the skilled chefs they need – which has led to a shortage of top talent – with the ones that are available demanding higher wages. And this combination of rising costs, along with a shortage of chefs means that many curry houses are now facing closure.</p>
<h2>Fusion food</h2>
<p>Britain has a long, deep relationship with what is widely known as “Indian” food. But food eaten on the Indian subcontinent is so widely diverse, that it has as many differences as it has similarities. Meaning that “Indian” and “curry” is often used as an umbrella term for what is in reality a multifaceted combination of tastes and influences.</p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/158167/original/image-20170223-32729-lem2y4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/158167/original/image-20170223-32729-lem2y4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/158167/original/image-20170223-32729-lem2y4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/158167/original/image-20170223-32729-lem2y4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/158167/original/image-20170223-32729-lem2y4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/158167/original/image-20170223-32729-lem2y4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/158167/original/image-20170223-32729-lem2y4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/158167/original/image-20170223-32729-lem2y4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">It’s been predicted that more than half of all curry houses may shut down within ten years.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
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<p>“Indian food” in reality is often derived from particular regions of India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka as well as across Britain and Europe. And a long and complex history of colonialism and migration has made the “British Curry” a popular national dish. </p>
<p>As the author Panikos Panayai explains, decades of residing in Britain has inevitably changed the tastes and eating practices of many British Asian communities – whose connection with traditional foods has become increasingly tenuous. </p>
<p>In his book <a href="http://www.reaktionbooks.co.uk/display.asp?K=9781861896582">Spicing Up Britain: The Multicultural History of British Food</a>, Panayai charts the patterns of migration and the influences of food, taste and consumption habits. He follows the tastes of British Asians who have grown up with a fusion of tastes and influences all their life. </p>
<p>These are people whose diets reflect the variants of English food their parents invented to make use of the ingredients readily available to them – as opposed to just tastes from the Indian subcontinent. It meant childhood classics became spicy cheese on toast or baked Beans Balti with spring onion sabji and masala burgers. </p>
<h2>Merging of tastes</h2>
<p>Panayai claims that the taste of South Asian food became as much a part of the childhood tastes of white British children living in certain areas of the UK as their second and third generation Asian school friends. </p>
<p>In the London borough of <a href="http://www.towerhamlets.gov.uk/Home.aspx">Tower Hamlets</a> for example – which is home to a large Bangladeshi community – local councillors played a significant role in influencing the content of school dinners. As early as the 1980s these lunches often included Asian vegetarian dishes, such as chapattis, rice and halal meat alongside “English” staples of chips, peas and steamed sponge with custard. </p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/158169/original/image-20170223-21964-72n4z4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/158169/original/image-20170223-21964-72n4z4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/158169/original/image-20170223-21964-72n4z4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=448&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/158169/original/image-20170223-21964-72n4z4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=448&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/158169/original/image-20170223-21964-72n4z4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=448&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/158169/original/image-20170223-21964-72n4z4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=563&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/158169/original/image-20170223-21964-72n4z4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=563&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/158169/original/image-20170223-21964-72n4z4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=563&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Fish and chips and curry sauce - a British speciality.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/johnwesleybarker/215487859/in/photolist-4gv9uV-HfYox-34Gvwe-dYTPv-2E6ZjC-7vQMWh-6BTp4V-7vLWAT-nGwmc2-7vQJUu-gzMmxt-7vLX1B-7sPWA5-7vLY7R-7WSyML-7vQKVu-44Yfi-7vLUxt-8V5hCk-kziaUP-9oyMQt-7vLVuk-7vQMfL-7vQJg3-3oMv6S-7vLXVv-qTsRKT-qwkVSn-dvric8-7d1Pm6-aYEGhr-9UBWRM-5vgDeC-5w5wYo-CerH72-Mp1xd9-7vLY34-5PyRX8-4zg8uE-63auFX-4XWF4Q-8nkhoV-76GxC5-tWQtHo-62oCC2-K4aAMa-tb1WPp-si438x-ncp7Tr-k3r2V">Flickr/Liz Barker</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">CC BY-NC</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>These tastes shaped the palates of many British children, to the point where a combination of “English” food and “curry” became the nostalgic taste of childhood. This was commodified by major brands such as Bisto with their “<a href="http://www.bisto.co.uk/our-range/sauce-mixes/chip-shop-curry">curry sauce</a>” gravy granules.</p>
<p>These combinations are still a main feature of many “greasy spoon” English cafes or pub menus – which feature British staples such as curry served with a choice of either rice or chips, or jacket potatoes with a spicy chicken tikka filling. Then there’s the coronation chicken sandwich – a blend of boiled chicken, curry powder, mayonnaise and sultanas – a nod to the dish created for Queen Elizabeth II Coronation lunch in 1953.</p>
<p>More recently, in a time of gastronomic obsession and “foodie” culture, the “hybridisation” of cuisines has shifted from being a matter of necessity – due to availability of ingredients – to an increasingly sophisticated, cosmopolitan and fashionable food trend. </p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/158172/original/image-20170223-32707-1eigz0t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/158172/original/image-20170223-32707-1eigz0t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/158172/original/image-20170223-32707-1eigz0t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/158172/original/image-20170223-32707-1eigz0t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/158172/original/image-20170223-32707-1eigz0t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/158172/original/image-20170223-32707-1eigz0t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/158172/original/image-20170223-32707-1eigz0t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/158172/original/image-20170223-32707-1eigz0t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">‘One spicy crab coming right up’.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
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</figure>
<p>The influential taste of the British curry can now be identified on modern British fine dining menus, where fillets of Scottish salmon, hand-dived scallops and Cornish crabmeat are infused with spiced cumin, turmeric and fenugreek. While bread and butter pudding is laced with cardamom and saffron. </p>
<h2>Multicultural Britain</h2>
<p>But in the current political climate of migration restrictions, the free movement of people across borders looks ever more threatened – and with it our rich cultural heritage as a multicultural country is also under threat. </p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/158174/original/image-20170223-32718-tvlnn3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/158174/original/image-20170223-32718-tvlnn3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/158174/original/image-20170223-32718-tvlnn3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/158174/original/image-20170223-32718-tvlnn3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/158174/original/image-20170223-32718-tvlnn3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/158174/original/image-20170223-32718-tvlnn3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/158174/original/image-20170223-32718-tvlnn3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/158174/original/image-20170223-32718-tvlnn3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">As diverse as the food on our plates.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>This will undoubtedly have a <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2016/nov/17/marmite-is-the-first-sign-of-cost-of-brexit-for-food-producers">detrimental impact on imported food produce</a> and ingredients. And it will also impact the diverse communities which have brought with them long histories of knowledge, recipes and cooking practices. </p>
<p>Of course, throughout history there has always been a degree of racism and resistance to “foreign” foods, but for the most part these tastes have become embraced and firmly appropriated into the British diet. </p>
<p>Perhaps then we can take heart during this uncertain time that merging cultures will be a British tradition that is set to continue. Because what started as the “taste of the other” is now so deeply ingrained in our food, culture and identity that it is no longer possible to disentangle national, regional or local tastes to determine what belongs where.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/72942/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Emily Falconer does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The great British curry crisis.Emily Falconer, Lecturer in Sociology, University of WestminsterLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.