Supporting small, often family-owned, businesses run by Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic groups is a vital part of contemporary anti-racist activism. Not only does your pocket money play a part in closing the racial wealth gap, but it also helps to create job opportunities for minority groups and means local economies can flourish.
Supporting these kinds of food establishments in particular allows the owners to continue to educate and involve the community in the enriching experience of different cuisines by expanding both its taste buds and minds. Showing up with your purse enables these businesses to thrive, and feeds into the vital celebration of Black, Asian and other Minority Ethnic cultures in Nottingham.
Among the plethora of dishes on the menu are authentic vegetarian curries…West African jollof rice, plantain, yams and sweetcorn fritters
The first restaurant I’d like to highlight is ‘Jamaican Ways’ on Hartley Road, owned by boss Richard Newland, who has been feeding the city with his Caribbean dishes for over 25 years. His prolonged success has cemented it as a recognisable and welcoming pillar stone of our community. Among the plethora of dishes on the menu are authentic vegetarian curries, (influenced by the Rastafarian principles of Newland’s family), West African jollof rice, plantain, yams and sweetcorn fritters. You really won’t find his recipes anywhere else as Newland guards them as closely kept cuisine secrets.
Secondly, headed by husband and wife duo Anthony Coore and Sharon Lindo-Coore, the Jamaican restaurant ‘Chez Coor’s’ is also a vibrant business. They serve home-cooked soul-food-delights which enrich Nottingham with a cuisine deeply rooted in family and tradition.
Their offerings are rooted in a beautiful culture of community-based sharing where food becomes a tool for building close relationships
Among the wide range of offerings at Sneinton’s Saturday market, a suburb of Nottingham walkable from the centre, lies ‘Abeyo Ethiopia’. This food business serves traditional Ethiopian cuisine: platters of spicy stews, fresh salsas and greens which are to be enjoyed wrapped up in soft, fluffy, and incredibly addictive enjera – a traditional Ethiopian flatbread. Their offerings are rooted in a beautiful culture of community-based sharing where food becomes a tool for building close relationships.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CAqR2YaFj5-/
Newcomer ‘Viva’, owned by Prashant Jaiswal, has already made its mark on Hockley’s high street with a menu comprised of punchy regional dishes, classic family favourites, and delicious authentic Indian street-food. By supporting this new venture, and others like Jaiswal’s, you will help keep small businesses run by minority groups afloat among the rising capitalist tide of popular chain restaurants.
The quality of these ingredients is phenomenal and once you’ve visited you’ll seriously reconsider your consumption of supermarket oriental foods
Nottingham also boasts many Asian supermarkets which bring speciality oriental foods to the centre of our city community. Family-run ‘OrientalMart’ is located in Hockley and has grown from its online roots by offering authentic, reasonably priced produce which makes Asian cooking accessible to all. The quality of these ingredients is phenomenal and once you’ve visited you’ll seriously reconsider your consumption of supermarket oriental foods – I’m talking about that Aldi curry paste!
So once lockdown is over, and you first get released into the world with the exciting prospect of visiting a restaurant with your mates, consider supporting one of these small but thriving businesses. You’ll be actively supporting some of the most vibrant businesses Nottingham’s diverse city centre has to offer.
Lois Freeman
Sources:
https://www.nottinghampost.com/whats-on/food-drink/indian-street-food-restaurant-viva-3762266
https://www.nottinghampost.com/whats-on/food-drink/must-try-dishes-nottinghams-new-2137329
https://www.orientalmart.co.uk/about
https://www.friendsprovidentfoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Runnymede-report.pdf
https://www.greenamerica.org/blog/6-reasons-support-black-owned-businesses
Featured image courtesy of Arran Bee via Flickr. Image license found here. No changes made to this image. In artcile images courtesy of chez coors nottingham and viva street food. No changes made to these images
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