Is your curry the real McCoy?

Amongst the debate on bhuna v biryani, rice v naan and who owes what on the bill, the nation’s curry lovers are embroiled, perhaps unwittingly, in a debate over the future of the nation’s favourite dish.

John Landa, owner of The Viceroy on Hucknall Road says it is a hot topic in the restaurant amongst diners, the team in the kitchen and in the wider industry.

“It is being used as a bit of a political football and is rather opportunistic by both sides to be honest. Priti Patel (Tory minister and “Leave” campaigner) says that leaving the EU would “save” Britain’s curry houses, as current immigration policies prevent talented chefs from the outside the EU (such as Bangladesh and India) from being able to come here to work.

“However, you’ve then got Labour MP Keith Vaz, who backs Remain, accusing her of using EU migration as a ‘scapegoat’ and ‘divide and rule’ politics. I can see both points of view. The problem is that current salary requirements for chefs and waiters from India are totally disproportionate to the job in hand. Many restaurants simply end up employing people whose trade and expertise is not in the hotel and hospitality industry, let alone trained in cooking traditional curry cuisine. They can often get staff cheaper but then as a consequence standards drop.

“I’m actually pro-remain but something needs to be done about this. Will it be the case that Indian food is being cooked by non-traditional chefs? Obviously, everyone has a right to work here but what about the longevity of the trade and the dilution of traditional recipes? It is interesting as tastes have slowly changed since the first generation of chefs came over from Bangladesh. Those dishes were nothing like the traditional cuisine.

“However, now Brits are keen to try new things and keep it closer to authentic Punjabi dishes. In future, will restaurants be trying to accommodate their own purse rather than their customers’ palate. Whether we leave or remain, we need to keep traditional chefs in our curry houses as most of our customers tell us traditional and authentic beats run of the mill curries all day long. In our experience people don’t mind paying that little bit more as long as it’s the real McCoy.”