Set on the banks of the River Lee, which flows into the nearby Atlantic Ocean, Cork is an attractive city with a population of about 200,000.Ĭork would have been an exotic environment for a young Indian man in the 18th century, a time when Ireland was almost entirely Caucasian.Īt the heart of this city is the English Market. This Irish metropolis, where my father was born and raised, was Mahomed’s landing point when he arrived in Europe at the age of 25. I started in a city close to my heart: Cork. From the ancient markets of Ireland to the high streets and leafy parks of London, I traced the journey of this fascinating character who departed India in 1784 to become a celebrity in Europe. Mahomed not only opened London's first Indian restaurant, he did business with royalty, was the first Indian author published in English, and popularised the practice of shampooing across the continent.Īfter reading about his remarkable life this year, I decided to follow Mahomed’s trail. That description, in itself, is an inadequate one for Sake Dean Mahomed, a Muslim who left a sizeable imprint on Europe in the late 1700s to mid-1800s.Ī plaque marks the site of London's first Indian restaurant, opened by Mahomed.
It seemed like such an insignificant tribute for the man who pioneered Indian cuisine in the capital. Which is why I was not impressed by the small plaque I found in central London in September. Indian food is so intrinsically linked to London that, each October, the city celebrates Curry Week. Not only is it enormously popular, with more than 100 Indian restaurants across the English capital, but this Asian cuisine represents the wide spectrum of influences in one of the world’s most ethnically diverse cities. After high tea, the cuisine most embedded in London’s identity may well be Indian food.
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