The London Traveler » middle eastern food http://www.thelondontraveler.com Travel information for London visitors and residents Wed, 01 Jul 2009 21:30:12 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.1 en hourly 1 Taste of the Orient – a tour with a difference http://www.thelondontraveler.com/2008/03/taste-of-the-orient-a-tour-with-a-difference/ http://www.thelondontraveler.com/2008/03/taste-of-the-orient-a-tour-with-a-difference/#comments Tue, 11 Mar 2008 10:53:24 +0000 http://www.thelondontraveler.com/taste-of-the-orient-a-tour-with-a-difference/ Post from: The London Traveler

]]> In a spare half hour recently I took out the ‘Blue Guide’ to London to flick through it. I wasn’t looking for anything in particular, but as I leafed through the book I began to feel that it was describing a different London from the one I knew.

It was a London that didn’t have Stoke Newington or the Edgware Road in it. A London without curry houses or balti places. A London without gurdwaras or mosques or black people or council estates. In short, it was London presented for the slightly literary traveller as a neat poached fillet – skinless, no gristle, and no spice.

Well I’m glad to report some tourist authorities have made the transition to the twenty first century, and are recognising that London is considerably more diverse than the pictures of Big Ben and bearskin-wearing guards would imply.

Hammersmith & Fulham Council now offers a series of walking tours including one that particularly took my fancy – the Middle Eastern Food Tour.

There are 19 different nationalities of restaurant in Shepherd’s Bush, according to the council – including Lebanese, Syrian, and Turkish. (If like me you’ve spent some time in the Middle East you’ll be able to tell the difference between the national cuisines; they’re subtle but unmistakable. North Africans like their fiery harissa and chili flavours; the Lebanese have a special line in pickled veg; and the Omanis like cardamom, mace and nutmeg. So this isn’t a one-destination tour – it’s more like a whistlestop tour of five countries. If it’s Tuesday this must be Belgium sort of thing.‘Nutcase’ middle eastern sweets and nut shop)

The tour lasts two and a half hours, and is led by a qualified Blue Badge guide. And it includes a chance to sample some mezzes (amuse-gueules, nibbles, hors d’oeuvres, whatever) and sweets. (WARNING! If you are on a calorie controlled diet, don’t even think about the baklava and other nut pastries!)

The next tours this year are May 10th, August 2,November 1 and December 6. You will need to book; contact Catherine Knight, at Hammersmith & Fulham Council (020 8753 3412 or tourism@lbhf.gov.uk).

If Middle Eastern food doesn’t appeal, H&F also offers a Polish tour of Hammersmith, and a curry trail down North End Road in Fulham. There’s a black history tour too.

But I shall be booking myself up for an investigation of Middle Eastern food, I think. Or possibly curries… I could really murder a methi gosht right now!

Photo courtesy of London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham

Post from: The London Traveler

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