Travel with us on the second leg of The Migration Menu’s road trip, to Newcastle in the north-east of England, where we joined a panel conversation about hospitality at ClassicsFest – three days of theatre, talks, tastings, performance and conversation inspired by the ancient world around this year’s theme of food. We also ate at a communal meal with refugees who share knowledge about food of their homelands, and learn to cook that of others, at the Seven Bridges Café. Plus, for those missing the South Asian connection in this episode, a couple of recommendations of where you might find a curry in the city… ** 01:00-01:22: 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** (01:22 – 06:50) James and Luke sketch out the context of their trips to Newcastle, to meet Cinzia Hardy [Home | Cinzia Hardy], founder and producer of the annual ClassicsFest festival [ClassicsFest 2026 | Food & Feasting in Antiquity], chef Archie Smith of The Lubber Kitchen [THE LUBBER FIEND] and Seven Bridges Café [The Seven Bridges Cafe | Join Us For Community — West End Refugee Services (WERS)], a joint partnership between Dance City and the West End Refugee Service (WERS). In addition to attending a communal meal with volunteers from The Seven Bridges Café, all of them refugees, they also attend a festival panel on hospitality, along with Professor Athanassios Vergados [Staff Profiles | School of History, Classics and Archaeology | Newcastle University], poet Mymona Bibi, and Laura Coffey, author of the Homer inspired memoir, Enchanted Islands. **06.51-07.09: A shout-out from Mike Crawley, co-host of The Anthropology Podcast, to have a listen to one of our sibling shows! **Mains** (07:09-20:14) We go over first to James and Luke at the sell-out panel at Newcastle’s Lit & Phil, where they offer a nuanced definition of hospitality – and why it might not always be as positive as it first appears. The relationship between guest and host is not an equal one. Luke offers a potted history of British hospitality – which became institutionalized in Britain with the opening of inns and taverns – before the pair head off (10:31) to a communal dinner at the Lubber Kitchen, with volunteers from The Seven Bridges Café who have also partaken in a series of poetry and writing workshops put on for the festival. Table chat at the meal is topped and tailed with readings from Nigerian poet Lanre Sonde. **Dessert** (20:22-27:03) James and Luke reflect on the meal and their time in Newcastle, and the work that food does in bringing people together. As they also discovered, however, for those fleeing persecution, food memories can evoke sadness as well as joy. Empowerment often gets bandied around by activists as a buzzword, but the Seven Bridges Café – in offering refugees opportunities to learn new cooking skills as well as to share their own recipes – really does seem to make a difference to the lives of those who volunteer there. In addition to discussing the food they shared, James and Luke also add some South Asian restaurant recommendations of their own, including Dabbawal (Indian Restaurant Newcastle | Dabbawal) and Khai Khai (Khai Khai - An Indian Restaurant in Newcastle). **On the Menu** Gözleme (Turkish flatbread, stuffed with butternut squash, ricotta, and charred cabbage Beef tibs (Ethiopian dish, with beef, onions, tomatoes, and berbere – an Ethiopian spice mix) Injera (fermented Ethiopian flatbread) Mirza Ghasemi (Kurdish-Iranian dish of smoked aubergines, tomatoes, and spices) Bread, hummus, and dressed green salad References: Coffey, Laura (2024). Enchanted Islands: A Mediterranean Odyssey – A Memoir of Travels through Love, Grief and Mythology. Summersdale. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
