When is a kebab shop not a kebab shop?

Whilst sat observing the interactions and characters in a Turkish kebab shop I had the pleasure this encounter that occurred. During the two hours I spent in the restaurant I bore witness to the owner running through the steps of a traditional Turkish dance to an enquiring customer, he motioned through all of the hand movement required to complete the dance and upon completion gave a full demonstration. This humanistic attitude and willingness to invest in customers is a prime example of one of the traits I have been scouring for, the photos above illustrate the occurrence, blurred but non the less they communicate perfectly the moment. Upon witnessing this event I felt excited and moved but inspired more than anything, when do moments like this ever happen?

Turk/Cypriot Interview 1

During my visit to the community centre I held a number of interviews for the World in One City site, each with the intention of revealing anecdotes, stories and histories of a culture through their cuisine and its presence within the city. 

Frascuelo is a Turkish/Cypriot restauranteur who I has the pleasure of interviewing. Brimming with passion for the food industry, it was practically impossible to get away, although I must confess his accent was mildly problematic, sounding at times like he had a mouth packed full of feathers.

We careered straight into his history within the culinary/fashion business, with numerous Turkish/Cypriot ventures under his belt I felt fortunate to have the privilege. We discussed his businesses family orientation and the adaption of certain menu items in order to cater to his western clienteles palates. One such item being the now omnipresent kofte kebab, which he passionately informed me the Brits could not quite come to terms with, with the shape being the primary protagonist, pressed minced, seasoned lamb on a skewer was far too unfamiliar to comprehend, so with a little squashing and molding into a more recognisable form, the Kofte kebab mutated into the burger with which Brits were more familiar. Sales consequently increased ten fold.

The interview and audio will be featuring on the site.

Turkish Cypriot community centre/ restaurant visit

Turkish Cypriots were next on the list for the World in One city site and I will provide a brief synopsis of the day below. 

The idea behind the site is to facilitate cultural understanding through the food cultures consume and the rituals surrounding them and due to Turkish cuisines omnipresence within the city; whether a Turkish kebab house, grocery store or tea shop. My curiosity revolves around the characters behind the food and their families, I aim not to add to the plethora of reviews that inform peoples opinions/perspectives, I wish to open windows and splay light on the people, their stories, histories in order to richly document their communications about their food and culture, the everyday rituals, the crux of the cultural fabric, the make up, the essence, the personality, the qualities that radiate when one has evacuated the archaic image of the kebab shop from their mind.

Questioning people in cafes and telephoning grocery stories, through much trial and error I have slowly but surely uncovered the most efficient method of infiltration into the cuisines of a designated ethnic group, and it is to target community centres to approach with patience and sincerity. 

After extensive net trawling, I identified a Turkish Cypriot community centre situated on Green Lanes by Turnpike Lane tube station, the home of one of the largest Turkish/Cypriot communities in the capital for a day of filming. 

This centre sprung out immediately from a list of many others due to culturally sensitive restaurant that comprised part of the complex. Boasting two separate menus, one geared towards the 1st generation immigrants whilst the the other caters for the westernised Turk/Cypriots, the 2nd generation. I was excited at the prospect of being able to bare witness to two versions of the same cuisine, identifying first hand influences the west has imparted.

I was particularly lucky to have been communicating through he wonderful receptionist Bahar who managed to arrange my day filming in the kitchen and in the community centre itself, there will be more images to follow. The session included filming in the kitchen, the community centre and a series of interviews.

Somali food walk: 1

Many thanks to Abdikarin for putting me in contact with Erasto on Gleneagle road for the fantastic excursion around the area. Erasto, a chef based on Gleneagle road kindly agreed to take me on a guided walk of the area in an attempt to educate, inform me of  how Somalis shop, where in act they do so and what dishes are usually created. The weather was gloriously in our favor and it was a marvelous and insightful afternoon into the cuisine of his native Mogadishu and how it is executed in this country. Ersato complemented our tour with beautiful anecdotes of his childhood back in Mogadishu, that included insightful contrasts with that of city life here. Thank you very much, I'm indebted.

Again, the story of the day and the wonderful anecdotes will be available on the map and site.

Somali cooking session: 1

I had not anticipated the fruition of this encounter at all, but I could not have been more wrong. Abdikarin had kindly informed the lovely Somalian lady Aziza, also from the centre to run me through the Somalia national dish in her cosy little flat just off Lansdowne way, Lambeth although not too keen on having her photo taken, I still managed to take a few pics of the session. The break down of the session and the recipes will be on the website.

These are the encounters that I am aiming to pepper the map with, it was wonderful to witness the spices that were used, to be given a break down of the recipe, the traditions of recipe handing down from mother to daughter and the translations. It was a brief session but I had absorbed elements of the cuisine, of the history that may not have been attainable in any other way. This portraits although simple are a window into their culture.

Visit to the Somali Community centre: Lambeth

Somalia culture and Somali cuisine has been next on my hit list to add to the World in One City map of London. To reiterate the purpose of the map is to create a multifaceted, rich image of the cities incredible ethnic diversity through the food that they each individually consume through the stories they impart in order to promote understanding, awareness and encourage exploration of the teemingly life that exists but a bus ride a way. 

Restaurants offering 'authentic' experiences are countless, delineating faint lines of the culture that exist behind it's authentic showcase. It is my aim to reveal the actuality of these cultures through the food that they consume for the inhabitants and visitors to the city, where it is consumed and why, I hate to refer back to the old adage but people literally are what they eat, a poignant and beautiful metaphor and I am mesmersed that it is actually possible to sample the globe in one city.

The time remaining to execute this map situates me in a position of being able to choose but a small selection of the cultures identified, Somalia though, has made it in due to a pervading air of uncertainty that masks their presence and culture in the city. 

Having identified Somali clusters within the city I biked to the Somali community centre which is situated in Lambeth for a chat with the curator about my projects interests in their culture and location in the city. 

My reception upon arrival was somewhat reserved, an air of scepticism clearly directed towards the intentions of the project, which I understood. With the cold air failing to warm up I delved into the aims of the project which is a delineation of the Somalia culture as it exists within the city with notable attention to be paid to the food that is consumed both in the home and outside publicly, in order to paint a rich, detailed picture as relatively little material exists. Abdikarims lips remained somewhat pursed with the silence beginning to grow quite painfully uncomfortable, in an attempt to pierce it, I removed the photo's that I had taken in a Caribbean restaurant the week before, that illustrated the nature of what it is I want to capture. Finally, an understanding smile gradually began to emerge and he finally agreed to put me in contact with a Somali restaurant owner and one of the ladies who usually works at the centre. 

(I had read an article in the Guardian describing the impenetrability of the Somali community, and had begun to sympathise although this community defense mechanism has developed justly in accordance to a history of discrimination received within the city).