Indian

Having read a 'Long Read' article in The Guardian newspaper on the flight home last night about the rise and fall of the Indian restaurant in Britain over the last forty years, there was only one destination tonight, here in Barcelona, when we thought of our dining options.

We wanted to show solidarity with the movement that awakened the British palette in the most spectacular way in the 1970s. Although the dishes were far removed from those of the sub-continent, they created there own undisputed authenticity always with a reassuring provenance in that there was always a Bangladeshi cook with a hard won mastery in using the tandoor oven in the kitchen. .

From a peak of 12,000, there are less than 4,000 Indian restaurants in the U.K now with four closing per week due to stricter immigration controls preventing skilled chefs arriving, second generation family members preferring careers enhanced by university qualifications, rising costs following Brexit (common to all food establishments), competition from other stimulating cuisines such as Thai, Korean or Vietnamese and a trend to home cooking of Indian dishes encouraged by cookery book writers and the increased availability of ingredients on the high street.

I fear the perfect storm that made Indian restaurants such a part of our British culture in the latter half of the 20th century may have moved on . . . hence our prawn masala and lamb bhuna dinner tonight.