Not Just Indian!

So I am talking to a guy about ethnic food and about my new blog and he happily tells me that curry is one of his favourite foods. “Have you eaten any African food?” I ask him. With a sheepish grin, he replies faintly, “No.”

Why is it that when you talk about ethnic food, the foremost dish in most people’s minds is curry? Why is it that most of the people I talk to about ethnic eating only think of Indian, Chinese or Thai? Why haven’t many people living in London ever sampled African food or been to one of the many different South American restaurants springing up all over London?

I am quite surprised that the majority of people living in Europe’s most cosmopolitan city where you can hear people speak upwards of 300 different languages would not take the opportunity to experience the different cultures and food available. And this is not only aimed at the white population but also the majority of immigrants who also tend to stick to the food of their fathers.

It is a little bit like the Brits who go to Spain only to have fish and chips from a chip shop run by a British expatriate. I have to admit that when I lived in Sweden I took my own tea bags as I could not buy strong enough tea. I also bought clotted cream from the English shop in Stockholm. Shame on me! I made up by making sure I tried lots of different Swedish food and learnt to prepare them also. My favourite still is Jansson’s frestelse (Jansson’s temptation) made with potatoes and anchovies.

Now is a good time for us to embrace each other, learn about other foods, try to prepare things we’ve never had. You could even prepare your ‘exotic’ dinners to coincide with festivals or important dates in that culture. The modern British cuisine is changing and the taste for exotic and spicy foods continues.