If These Shops Could Talk!

The food stories behind the shop fronts on our high street

By Dr Nevena Nancheva

A Talk London survey we carried out last summer asked Londoners to think about the ethnic food shops on their high street. 18% of some 1000 respondents said they would never enter an ‘ethnic’ food shop, and among the reasons for this they gave: ‘I don’t feel welcome in ethnic food shops’ (some 32%), ‘ethnic food shops do nothing to encourage me in’, ‘I am not BAME so have no idea what to do with the ingredients’.

While we feel no invitation is needed to rejoice in the rich variety of fragrant cooked meals and assorted groceries offered by our local food shops on Haringey Green Lanes, we did think that telling some of the stories behind these shop fronts might encourage even more people to join the fun.

A poster celebrating the iconic founder of Yasar Halim groceries.
Credit: Author.

Telling food stories

Food has a unique capacity to tell vivid stories about us: our own personal memories of home, the cultural heritage of our communities, and the fault lines of our urban geographies. Through the cooking and sharing of food, we recreate these stories for others, even if we remain silent.

Typical Turkish dining experience. Credit: Selale Restaurant.

Haringey Green Lanes, for example, is famous in London and beyond for its vibrant Turkish cuisine, so much so that its traders considered branding the area as ‘Little Turkey’. But what we don’t know is that the abundant ‘Turkish’ restaurants are often owned by Kurdish traders and have built their custom on the shoulders of decades of migrations to the area from Greece, Cyprus and various regions of Turkey, including Anatolia.

If we look closely, we will see these stories in the displayed pictures of Anatolian villages, with their roofs left open for the next generation to build up, or in the names (Diyarbakir, Antepliler), or in the ways the menus speak to us: delicious Middle Eastern, flavoursome Mediterranean, authentic Turkish, or classic kebab (which has a whole story of its own).

The shish at Umut on Green Lanes. Credit: Author

But we also walked down the street and asked our traders about the dishes and cooking that meant the most to them. Some pointed to Mother, standing authoritatively at the kitchen door, making the best içli köfte in the world with the thinnest crust (‘I could eat ten at one go!’). Others spoke of traditional celebrations in their own communities, pointing to the grilled meat as a fixture.

“Slow” Food

Telling stories often involves sitting down and spending time. This we did, often around a spread of succulent mezzes. We asked our traders about the history of their own shops, how they started, their staff, their suppliers, their customers.

All spoke about their vision of creating a pleasant dining experience with a focus on traditional healthy dishes made from good quality products sourced through reliable suppliers, cooked by valued chefs and served by long-term employees (who sometimes ‘felt like family’).

The beautiful floor at Antepliler Baklava. Credit: Author.

This brings to mind the notion of ‘slow food’ which gained ground in the late 1980s, originally to defend gastronomic pleasure and regional food-producing traditions. Over the years, it evolved into a movement recognizing the strong connections between ‘plate, planet, people, politics and culture’. Its key slogan is food that is good for our bodies and souls, clean for the environment, and fair for the people who make it.

But is the kebab slow food or fast food?

While the signature dish of Turkish restaurants, the kebab, can be enjoyed on the go – and many restaurants offer takeaway options, wrapped in pitta bread or served in a box – it definitely qualifies as ‘slow food’.

It is served in a perfect nutritional balance with fresh vegetables and grains, so it is good for the body, in moderation. It brings together families for celebrations or simple shared enjoyment: the majority of Haringey Green Lanes restaurant customers are families, sometimes travelling from afar for a well-served taste of home. It is sourced from reliable local suppliers who are trusted. It is cooked by staff with years of experience and a vision of authenticity shaped by their own paths into the food industry. And it is served by down-to-business, professional staff as nearly as diverse as our high street itself: Turkish, Kurdish, Iranian, Bulgarian, Romanian.

Shared kebab, stronger communities

Appreciation of our beloved local signature dish, and all the other yummy dishes served alongside it, also comes from the diversity of customers who queue along the high street, even on your regular week day.

The restaurants selling their own vision of Turkish-inspired food have in many ways gone beyond the ‘ethnic’ description to serve the superdiverse customers of London, fusing ethnicities, colours and languages in their vibrant crowds.

Turkish patisserie. Credit: Author

Yet, sometimes, passers-by hesitate, looking though the shop window. What is this strange aromatic dessert people seem to relish, gathered around the small tables, next to beautiful glasses of Turkish cay? The Turkish künefe, taking a spin off an ‘iconic Palestinian dessert’, is divine. But the timid may never know it: it takes some bravery to enter a strange culinary territory without a guide.

The Turkish künefe at Atepliler Künefe. Credit: Author

This is one reason we started asking local residents about their ethnic food preferences, and encouraging them to cross over to ‘the other side’: whether the ‘mysterious’ indoors of the Turkish patisserie or the ‘white faces’ enjoying croissant inside the upmarket bakery.

We were surprised at the diversity of voices we came across! Italians traipsing all over London to get to the Turkish-owned but deliciously stacked with Italian goodies grocery shop. Albanians waiting for days for those special veal cutlets to arrive at the butchers. Bulgarians looking for their beloved yoghurt in the Bulgarian shop further down.

Sweet apricots from Turkey. Credit: Author

One of the real strengths of our high street is the vibrant feel to it, the mixture of migrations and generations which reflect the make up of London as one of the great cities in the world. Both traders and customers attest to that.

The author, Dr Nevena Nancheva, with Rob Tao, Chair of the HBA. Credit: Author

The author Dr Nevena Nancheva is an academic who worked on a Mayor of London funded project Ethnic Food Shops for Community Inclusion.

Ethnic Food Shops for Community Inclusion Project.