The Migration Menu

Luke Heslop and James Staples
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Journey from South Asia to West London through food as we explore migration, globalisation, entrepreneurship, and cultural heritage.   In the series, Prof James Staples and Dr Luke Heslop, anthropologists from Brunel University London, talk to restaurateurs and others about what food from their homeland means to them and why. They explore the rich array of culinary traditions that have made their way from South Asia and been made anew in West London, using food as an entry point to wider discussions. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

  1. 4d ago

    Sohini Banerjee: From Kolkata with Love

    Join us as we head south of the river to Sohini Banerjee’s Smoke and Lime supper club in Kennington, eat some great food, meet a bunch of interesting people, and ponder questions about authenticity, fusion, identity and gender. ** 00:50-01:08: A reminder to sign-up to our newsletter Listen To The Migration Menu Podcast – The Migration Menu, and get some great discount offers from eateries featured on the show! **Starters** (01:09 – 08:03) How do supper clubs work? How are they different to restaurants, and why – in particular – are they growing in popularity among diners from South Asian diasporas? These are some of the questions on James and Luke’s minds enroute to Smoke and Lime supper club, keen to expand their understanding of the South Asian food scene beyond the restaurant space. In addition to supper clubs, they encounter a rich array of services, from Vegetarian Brown Girls’ deliveries of chilled chai to Ajji’s Ghee. **08.04-08.23: A shout-out from Mike Crawley, co-host of The Anthropology Podcast, to have a listen to one of our sibling shows! **Mains** (08:24-20:23) James and Luke join eight other guests for dinner in Sohini’s apartment, capturing some of the Bengali adda – hanging out for informal conversation – as well as the culinary experience. Rijil, Sohini’s husband and co-host of the supper club, takes us, course-by-course, through the menu, rooted in the foodscape of West Bengal, with influences from China, Malaysia, and the couple’s recent trip to Vietnam. One of their favourite London restaurants, SMOKING GOAT | Shoreditch | Thai Bar & Grill, has also made a mark on the menu. **Dessert** (20:28-27:33) James and Luke reflect on their supper club experience, consider the ways in which they blur the boundaries between domestic hospitality and business, friendship and networking, and public and private in interesting – and often delightful – ways. A focus on supper clubs also allows them to dig down into the gendered dimensions of the food industry, with women’s labor, in particular, often invisibilised **On the Menu** Phuchka (A South Kolkata street food special – served at the kitchen counter) Chicken liver larb, with herbs and peach Pumpkin bhorta, pickled mooli Winter vegetables chochori Wild seabass with turmeric and galangal Schezwan prawns and sambal butter Cardamom pannacotta with cocoa and saffron Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    Sohini Banerjee: From Kolkata with Love

  2. Oct 8

    The Taster Menu

    Welcome back to The Migration Menu!! In this week’s episode, James and Luke reflect on the past two seasons of dining out and discussing migration journeys and culinary transformations, and preview what’s on the menu for Season Three…Dig in! See more here: Web: www.themigrationmenu.com YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TheMigrationMenu **Starters** (00:18 – 01:40) Welcome to the new series, which takes us beyond our usual stomping ground of London to take in road trips to Newcastle and Edinburgh, and explores the phenomenon of the South Asian diaspora celebrity chef… **Mains** (01:40-26:42) James and Luke offer a behind-the-scenes glimpse of The Migration Menu’s origin story and at what they’ve learnt along the way. They also look back at the restaurants, restaurateurs, and others who have joined them on the journey, with shout-outs to… Series One 01:49: Indra Hang Linden at Namaste Gurkha 08:12: Al Hyderabadi 08:44: Madhus 10:56: Sri Krishna Vada Pau 11:09: London Food Company 12:10: YAKO 12:31: Saravanaa Bhavan *16:56: Shout out for our fellow anthropology podcast, The Anthropology Podcast!* Series Two 18:03: London Buddhist Vihara 18:37: Guru Nanak Sikh Academy (GNSA) annual Langar 20:14: Graam Bangla 20:29: Maldivian Supper Club 21:10: The Kokum 22:53: Takharistan (Shepherd’s Bush) and Shiraz (Uxbridge Road) 23:42: GIFTOs 23:45: Behesht 24:25: Sohini Banerjee & Debbie Weekes-Bernard at Pitzhanger Gallery 24:46: The Vegetarian Brown Girls 25:21: Sathnam Sanghera at GNSA 25:35: The Gaze – the hidden lives of food entrepreneurs **Dessert** (26:42-29:46) James and Luke wrap up this week’s show with a round-up of what’s in store this series, where their interviews with celebrity South Asian diaspora chefs reveal some of the creative ways in which restaurateurs survive in a tough environment. Shout-outs to… 27:22: Tony Singh at Kalpna, live from Edinburgh 27.46: Asma Khan of Darjeeling Express, London 27.56: Asma Khan at the SOAS Food Studies’ Centre Annual Distinguished Lecture 28:04: Ravinder Bhogal of Jikoni, London 28:38: Aida Khan of Shola Karachi Kitchen 28:53: Special live recording from ClassicsFest, Newcastle, with food at The Lubber Kitchen and The Seven Bridges Café 29:30: Cyrus Todiwala of Café Spice Namaste Works Cited: Baumann, G. (1996) Contesting culture: Discourses of identity in multi-ethnic London. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    The Taster Menu

  3. 12/10/2025

    Sathnam Sanghera and The Migration Menu

    In this special episode, James and Luke interview acclaimed author and Times journalist Sathnam Sanghera in front of a live audience at the Guru Nanak Sikh Academy in Hayes  **Starters** (01.14-02.49)  A quick introduction to Sathnam Sanghera and his work ahead of our live-recording.  **Mains** (02:50-30.58)  James and Luke discover what Sathnam ate growing up in Wolverhampton in the early 1980s, the intriguing ways in which British influences affected Punjabi food in the diaspora, and why his mother purposely didn’t teach him how to cook. We also discuss food and identity, and how it is used to express both love and anger; how Empire has left its indelible mark on how we eat the world over today; and why Sathnam doesn’t like the term “cultural appropriation.” Our conversation also explores Sathnam’s quest to find the perfect curry, why he once named Pizza Express as his favourite restaurant, and he favours Gymkhana and Jikoni over Dishoom.  **Dessert** (30.59-36.00)  Back in the studio, James and Luke reflect on their conversation with Sathnam and the discussion that followed it with the audience. They also gave a shoutout to Dr John Perkins of the Guru Nanak Sikh Academy – without whose help they couldn’t have held the event there – and the school’s catering team for laying on dal and rice, samosa and chai  Works Cited:  Collingham, Lizzie. 2017. The Taste of Empire: How Britain’s Quest for Food Shaped the Modern World. New York: Basic Books.  Jegathesan, Mythri. 2019. Tea and Solidarity: Tamil Women and Work in Post-War Sri Lanka. Seattle: University of Washington Press.  Mintz, Sidney W. 1986. Sweetness and Power: The Place of Sugar in Modern History. Manchester: University of Manchester Press.  Sanghera, Sathnam. 2008. The Boy with the Topknot: A Memoir of Love, Secrets and Lies in Wolverhampton. Penguin Books.  Sanghera, Sathnam. 2016. Marriage Material. Europa Editions, 2016.  Sanghera, Sathnam. 2021. Empireland: How Imperialism Has Shaped Modern Britain. Viking.  Sanghera, Sathnam. 2023. Stolen History: the Truth About the British Empire and How It Shaped Us. Penguin Books.  Sanghera, Sathnam. 2024. Empireworld: How British Imperialism Has Shaped the Globe. Penguin Books.    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    Sathnam Sanghera and The Migration Menu

  4. 11/07/2025

    Live From Moorgate: Entrepreneurs, COVID, and Food Fusion

    This week James and Luke were in Moorgate as panelists for 'The Gaze', organised by Middlesex University in collaboration with Small Business Research + Enterprise Centre and the HOMELandS Research Centre at the University of Westminster. They were there to discuss the often-hidden lives of immigrant food entrepreneurs in London. Through oral histories, memories and everyday business, the event explores how entrepreneurship becomes more than a means of survival. It is a way to build belonging, community, and city’s cultural and economic fabrics. The event was chaired by Dr. Rui Su, Senior Lecturer in Tourism and Middlesex Universiy. Panelists: Abdul Komor, Street Trading Service Manager, London Borough of Waltham Forest. Baron Deschauer, Market Manager, Tooting Market. So Mang Ham, Founder of the SoJu Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    Live From Moorgate: Entrepreneurs, COVID, and Food Fusion

  5. 11/04/2025

    A Sweet Aftertaste with James and Luke

    In this Episode James and Luke recap the series and answer some of the question and comments they have receieved throughout. They also reintroduce Sohini Banerjee and play a section of the Q&A from their sell out show at Pitzhanger Manor and Gallery. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    A Sweet Aftertaste with James and Luke

  6. 10/28/2025

    Amer-Indians

    TheAmer-Indians  In this week’s episode, Luke travels to the outer reaches of London’s underground train network to meet James in Little Chalfont, to explore the places that increasing numbers of South Asian diasporas go when they move on from West London, and how they help transform those places and their cuisines.  **Starters** (01.29-12-12)  Ahead of their lunch with Vimal Dalal – a production editor on The Migration Menu and a one-time Southallian – James and Luke outline the history of post-World War II settlement in the suburbs and semi-rural towns that surround London. They discuss the appeal of such places – including the lure of selective school education – to those who first travelled from South Asia to London, settling in places like Southall, and the impact of these more recent movements on the suburban culinatry landscape.  **Mains** (12:12-25:52)  James and Luke meet Vimal outside The Kokum (www.thekokum.co.uk) for a pan-Indian inspired lunch, during which they hear the migration story of Vimal’s family, from Gujarat and Tanzania, to Southall in the 1980s and, via Hayes, to Little Chalfont, a village near Amersham, in Buckinghamshire.   **Dessert** (25:52-33:05)  After lunch chat reflects on how the suburban curry house has been transformed by more recent waves of migration out from the inner cities, which have also expanded the range of South Asian groceries and vegetables available in local shops. New arrivals also find themselves supported by groups like the Amer-Indians, through which social events and business networks are co-ordinated. James and Luke also reflect on how a nostalgic vision of pre-war Britain came to be shared by some members of the South Asian diasporas who came to settle here.  **The Menu**  Masala Papad  Palak Patta Chaat  Tandoori Soya Chaap  Mumbai Prawns Koliwada  Malai Kofta  Vegetable Handi  Kombdi Rassa  Jackfruit Dum Biryani  Chilli Garlic Coriander Naan  Works Cited:  Baumann, Gerd. 1996. Contesting Culture: Discourse of Identity in Multi-Ethnic London. Cambridge University Press.  Caplan, Lionel. 1999. “Gifting and receiving: Anglo-Indian Charity and its Beneficiaries in Madras”. In Tradition, Pluralism and Identity: In Honour of T. N. Madan, edited by V. Das, D. Gupta and P. Uberoi, 283­–305. New Delhi: Sage Publications.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    Amer-Indians

  7. 10/21/2025

    Measure with the Heart

    In this week’s episode, James and Luke try out the food of The Maldives, an archipelago of coraline islands in the Indian Ocean. The Maldivian diaspora in the UK, compared to other South Asian groups, is tiny; consequently there are no Maldivian restaurants, but there is at least one Maldivian Supper Club (@maldiviansupperclub on Instagram), run by host Mie Ali Didi, who prepares the food eaten in this episode.     **Starters** ( 1:15 – 12:00)   James and Luke sketch out the historical background of Maldivian cuisine, including Sri Lankan influences since around the 1970s. Although the Maldives are often idealised as remote desert islands, they have played a role in Indian Ocean trading networks for more than 2,000 years, were colonised by the Portuguese, and became a British protectorate from 1887 to 1965, finally becoming a Republic in 1968.      **Mains** (12:00-22:10)   James and Luke join Mie Ali Didi and her friends for dinner at the Maldivian Supper Club, discussing with their guests what food from their homeland means to them and why.      **Dessert** (20:12-29:40)  After dinner chat includes a discussion of gender politics in the catering business (and why most supper clubs are run by women and restaurants by men); the history of Indian Ocean cuisine and the importance of family and food sharing to culinary traditions; and what it means to be part of one of the smallest South Asian diasporas in the UK.      If you have any questions or comments for us, send them in and we will address them in a future show, you can get in touch at info@themigrationmenu.com. Or on ‘X’ - formerly Twitter: @migration_menu and Instagram @themigrationmenu      The Maldivian Supper Club Menu    Appetisers of smoked tuna, coconut and dates  Roshi and Mashuni  Pumpkin curry  Aubergine dry curry  Dal  Rice  Bananas, sugar, coconut, rice flakes and smoked fish/       Works Cited:   Heslop, L. and Lubna, H. (2024) 'Infrastructure, circulation, and ecology in the Maldives'. Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Asian History.  Heslop, L. and Jeffery, L. (2023) 'Roadwork: expertise at work building roads in the Maldives'. Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute, 26 (2). pp. 284 - 301.  Heslop, L. and Jeffery, L. (2021) 'Encountering Chinese development in the Maldives: gifts, hospitality, and rumours', in Heslop, L. and Murton, G. (eds.) Highways and Hierarchies: ethnographies of mobility from the Himalaya to the Indian Ocean. Amsterdam : Amsterdam University Press. pp. 175 - 196.  Maloney, Clarence. 1976. The Maldives: New Stresses in an Old Nation. Asian Survey, Vol. 16, No. 7 (Jul., 1976), pp. 654-671.      Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    Measure with the Heart

  8. 10/14/2025

    A hunger to succeed

    This week, James and Luke visit the Broadway in Southall to share a meal with Faisal Ali, co-owner of Giftos Lahore Karahi. As they eat, Faisal reflects on how food brings people together, especially within Southall’s Pakistani community.  **Introduction** (0:00 – 3:14)  (Starter)  Luke introduces the Giftos Lahore Karahi franchise and James and Luke discuss whether there is a significant difference between food that claims to be ‘Pakistani” and food that claims to be ‘Indian’  **Interview** (3:14 – 17:29)  (Main Course)   Faisal Ali reflects on how food sharing has particular significance for Muslim communities, whilst sharing his father Ashad Mohammed’s migration story – including developing a successful business in 1960s Southall – and its ties to their family’s journey from South Asia to West London.  **Post-Interview** (17:30–23:26)  (Dessert)  Luke and James reflect on Southall’s history of resistance and how it has shaped the success of Southall residents.   **Closing remarks and acknowledgments** (23:29 - 24:10)   If you have any questions or comments for us, send them in and we will address them in a future show, you can get in touch at info@themigrationmenu.com. Or on ‘X’ - formerly Twitter: @migration_menu and Instagram @themigrationmenu     Menu – Food eaten   Dai Puri Samosa Chaat Peshwari Naan Lamb shish kebab Chicken tikka Paneer tikka Lamb chops Tadka dal Mango lassi    Literature mentioned:   Education, Aspiration and Social Mobility - Uncertain Futures for Rural Youth in India by Peggy Froerer (coming out soon!)  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    A hunger to succeed
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About

Journey from South Asia to West London through food as we explore migration, globalisation, entrepreneurship, and cultural heritage.   In the series, Prof James Staples and Dr Luke Heslop, anthropologists from Brunel University London, talk to restaurateurs and others about what food from their homeland means to them and why. They explore the rich array of culinary traditions that have made their way from South Asia and been made anew in West London, using food as an entry point to wider discussions. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Information

  • Creator
    Luke Heslop and James Staples
  • Years Active
    2024 - 2026
  • Episodes
    25
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © The Migration Menu
  • Show Website
    The Migration Menu

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