´óÏó´«Ã½

The first time I went into an Indian Restaurant in London, I ordered Saag Aloo with naan bread.
When the food arrived, I was rather taken aback by the naan bread. It was about the size of a large saucer, whereas in the restaurant nearest me it is as big as one of those floppy hats that women wear at Ascot.

So I mentioned the size disparity to the Indian waiter who replied with a disarming cockney accent, ‘Do you come from Glasgow?’ ‘Yes’ I replied. ‘Ah’ he said, ‘different part of India.’

That was a very succinct way of reminding me that India is a huge subcontinent, that its cuisine varies from region to region, and that people of Asian origin have been settling in the UK for a long time. In the neighbourhood where I live, there are many third generation Pakistanis and Indians who speak impeccable Glaswegian.

But sometimes those of us who are white tend to presume that people of colour must be new arrivals seeking British citizenship. We would never think that of the thousands of young Australians who work in bars in all our major cities, or people of Italian extraction who have been running fish and chip shops in Britain for decades...

Show less