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 Shah Alam |
After a woeful rice crop, is it now crisis time for Camden’s iconic curry street?
Poor crops in India and UK immigration laws are impacting on life in Drummond Street
WITH its specialist vegetarian menus, delicate dishes and homely welcome, Drummond Street has long been a destination of choice for curry aficionados across London.
Over 40 years, the row of restaurants in Euston has developed an admirable reputation for fine curries that have matched the quality of Birmingham’s Balti Belt, Manchester’s Curry Mile and the korma houses of east London.
In fact, some foodies reckon Drummond Street is far more attractive than a trip to Brick Lane, as visitors are not accosted in the street by frenzied waiters competing for business.
But this week, chefs in perhaps Camden’s only specialist restaurant district warned that a combination of the misfortune of a bad crop of basmati rice in India and strict immigration laws starving the industry of authentic chefs have put the future of the iconic road at risk.
Some curry house owners also warned that second-generation Bangladeshis are increasingly turning their backs on the family run businesses in favour of searching out careers in accountancy and the property world.
It has even been suggested that there are not enough Asian chefs on TV to encourage youngsters to follow the family business.
Kamlesh Kumar, owner of Drummond Street spice shop Plentiful Foods, said business could not help but be affected by devastating droughts in India last year and the inevitable poor crop of basmati rice and a crippling price increase on exports.
He said: “Last year there was a very poor crop in India and the government cut rice exports. A 20kg bag of basmati rice that we sold at £26.99 last year we now have to sell for £34.99 because it is so much more expensive to buy.”
He added: “If export prices continue to go up it could have a damaging long-term effect on Drummond Street curry houses.”
Arman Ahmed, owner of the Massala Hut, said: “Everything is more expensive but particularly basmati rice. Our menu has not changed as we don’t want to lose customers. But to update our prices for the recent increases it would cost us over £1,000 just to change the menus.”
Alex Waugh, director of the Rice Association – a business group whose members include the trade heavyweight Tilda – said big producers like India and China have restricted exports and there were now “rapidly declining stocks” across the world.
The pinch is already being felt in the south of Camden.
The arrival of the Bangladeshi community in Drummond Street in the early 1970s was instrumental in a huge shift in British tastes, leading punters to swap fish and chips for massalas and jalfrezi come Friday night.
But with younger Bangladeshis now apparently less interested in growing up to cook curry, and tough immigration controls making it harder for people to come and find work in this country, Drummond Street’s restaurants are facing a critical shortage of authentic chefs.
Labour ward councillor Nash Ali said it was important to make the catering industry more appealing to young Bangladeshis. “In the beginning it was very much about people coming here and then their families coming over to help them with the business,” he said.
“Many of the new generation would rather become estate agents or work as accountants. They are starting new lives with new opportunities.
“The vast majority of chefs in Indian restaurants are Bangladeshi. It is all right to have waiters and waitresses from this country, but I think the chefs should be from Bangladesh.”
He added: “Westminster Kingsway College trained Jamie Oliver and I think it is important that training courses are promoted in a more glamorous way. With so many cooking programmes, you would expect to see Asian chefs on television. There is a great opportunity for the council to train up the community.”
Fellow Regent’s Park ward councillor Theo Blackwell said: “The government’s new points-based system for immigration has provoked concern by some in the restaurant trade that there will be shortages of chefs. This is confirmed by Keith Best, the chief executive of the Immigration Advisory Service. He says that new controls on immigration are putting the industry under strain in terms of recruitment.”
He added: “Camden has a special role in all of this, given that curry was popularised by the development of places like Drummond Street in the 1970s, and that Camden Council gave seed funding to support Bengali co-operatives, helping to develop the trade.”
Leader of the Conservatives Councillor Andrew Marshall said: “Westminster Kingsway College is part of our economic delivery partnership and have got cookery and catering courses. Our principle aim is to make sure we have people living locally who train as chefs and that certainly is happening and that is good news. That is the most important thing for us rather than specifically importing people.
“On the price of rice, a lot of commodities have gone up. It is part of a broader economic issue, but we are conscious of pressures businesses are under and will continue to monitor the situation.” |
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