The Migration Menu

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.

Gain an insight into the businesses we explored in West London, with the video we shared at our launch event 26th June 2024.

OUR PODCAST

Latest Episodes

Reflections: Q&A with James and Luke
August 20, 2024
9
39:1053.81 MB

Reflections: Q&A with James and Luke

Reflections: Q&A with James and Luke     This week we look back on the series, respond to questions and comments from our listeners, chat with Geeta Ludhra about Southall, and look forward to series 2.    We also hear from Dr, Geeta Ludhra, Senior Lecturer in Education at Br...

One Woman Army
August 13, 2024
8
32:3244.86 MB

One Woman Army

This week the food came to James and Luke, from Alaisha Kaishyap, owner of the tiffin delivery brand, The London Food Company. An example of the growing band of home cooks catering to hungry international students and others missing the food of home, they are also joined by a group of PhD students ...

Short Eats Not Short Cuts
August 06, 2024
7
29:4641.07 MB

Short Eats Not Short Cuts

This week James and Luke headed way out west, to Pinner, to visit a new Sri Lankan restaurant called Yako. Following a tour of the Grade II listed building in which they have recently set up shop, they sat down to a colossal meal and to hear the story of Yako’s founder, Darshana Wathadura, A.K.A Da...

On The Spice Train
July 30, 2024
6
30:2041.81 MB

On The Spice Train

This week James and Luke are meeting Sujay Sohani and Subodh Joshi, co-founders of Sri Krishna Vada Pau – or SKVP, the acronym given to the chain by the restaurant’s followers on social media. Tapping into the current trend for vegetarian and vegan food, as well as for affordability, the Vada Pau –...

When My Back Is Against The Wall
July 23, 2024
5
36:1349.87 MB

When My Back Is Against The Wall

This week, James and Luke are meeting and eating with Sanjay Anand, MBE: owner of Madhu’s of Southall, as well as six other restaurants, including Madhu’s of Mayfair at The Dilly. He documents his family’s journey from India to Kenya, where he was born, and on to the UK, where – over the last four ...

A Stomach for Business
July 16, 2024
4
29:4540.97 MB

A Stomach for Business

This week, James and Luke go to the heart of Southall. On the first of two visits to Madhu’s, they meet Ash Verma, a business consultant and former civil servant who travelled to the UK from India with his parents when he was just 8-years-old in 1958, and who over the last 50 years or so has played...

A Home Away From Home
July 09, 2024
3
29:5041.05 MB

A Home Away From Home

This week, James and Luke head to Southall for lunch at Saravanaa Bhavan, an international vegetarian Indian restaurant with branches in 27 countries across the world. They’re going there for lunch with Mukesh Gauthaman, whose ambitious project to reintroduce some of heirloom to his home village in...

For Biriyani, it's the Uxbridge Road
July 02, 2024
2
28:0738.65 MB

For Biriyani, it's the Uxbridge Road

Welcome to Episode 2 of The Migration Menu! This week, James and Luke went to Al Hyderabadi, on the Uxbridge Road, a busy thoroughfare which stretches from Uxbridge all the way to Southall. While Hyderabad – centre of the Mughal Empire in India’s Deccan South – is famous for the biriyani, we discov...

There Will Always Be Momo
June 26, 2024
1
25:2734.99 MB

There Will Always Be Momo

This week we travelled to Feltham to meet Indra Hang Linden, one of the proprietors of Namaste Gurkha restaurants. We wanted to find out how the food of Nepal – and especially that which Indra associates with home – has been reimagined in West London.