Windrush descendants celebrate how Caribbean cuisine changed British food
A chef, a grocer and Britain’s only black farmer have spoken of the profound impact the Windrush generation has had on the nation’s culinary habits.
Thursday marks the 75th anniversary of the HMT Empire Windrush arriving in Britain on 22 June 1948, carrying 500 of the first wave of post-war Caribbean immigrants.
When the Windrush generation first started to arrive on British shores, there would have been a lot for them to get used to.
The cold, the fog and almost certainly the food.
“All that was available was short grain rice, and that wasn’t very nice,” says Collin Mitchell, who runs one of the first Caribbean supermarkets to be established in Nottingham, founded by his dad, Clifton, in 1955.
“People wanted their own food, they wanted their plantain, sweet potato, yam that kind of thing; their Dahseen and cassava.”
But in order to provide these tropical goods, his father would first have to work down the mines – facing challenges and discrimination on the way.
“There was a cultural barrier, trying to get through with the bank to get financing and so on was not easy,” Colin told Sky News.
Neither was getting hands on the produce.
“He would have to get up very early in the morning and travel to Liverpool docks, just to get the produce and bring it back. So he spent many hours on the road.”
Now, 70 years after Clifton set up his shop, it is still a staple of the community in Alfreton Road, Nottingham.
But as the demographic of the community has changed, so has his customers.
Colin says it’s still a place, a community hub of sorts, where people compare recipes from all over the Caribbean.
But now the shop also gets visitors from all different backgrounds.
“It’s probably one of the fastest-growing trends. They taste the food, that decides [if] they want to try and cook it”, he said.
Chef Kiesha Sakrah says food keeps people connected to their culture and traditions
Kiesha Sakrah is a chef currently working on a book about the history of Caribbean food and its influence on British culture.
She says that without the Windrush pioneers who introduced these foods to Britain, “we wouldn’t be able to stay connected to our culture”.
“It’s those foods that kept us connected to those traditions and just everything that my grandparents refer to as a ‘back home’,” she told Sky News.
The Caribbean-inspired drink and food industry is now estimated to be worth around £115m
She says the contributions that generation made “sometimes go unnoticed”.
“The contributions that generation has made to the UK as a whole today is massive. They really have contributed to the fabric of the UK.”
Wilfred Emmanuel-Jones MBE is the first black farmer in the country, providing produce to major supermarkets.
Britain’s first black farmer, Wilfred Emmanuel-Jones MBE, joined his parents after they settled in Birmingham
Food has always played a huge part in his life.
In fact, because he joined his parents a few years after they had settled in Birmingham, his mum’s cooking was one of the few things he recognised.
“Things that were familiar were quite important,” says Wilfred.
“And the only thing that was familiar was the type of foods that I would be having back in Jamaica”.
Traditional Caribbean food allows people to stay connected to their culture as well as influencing British cuisine
Later, he says “as a way of supplementing the family income” he would help his dad out on the allotment.
“This allotment really became my oasis, away from the misery of living in inner city Birmingham at the time.
“And I remember making a promise to myself that one day I’d like to my own farm.”
It would take decades to achieve, but now that Caribbean boy who travelled here decades ago sells the most typically British product.
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Alford Gardner told Sky News there was ‘lots’ of discrimination upon his arrival in the UK
“The Black Farmer really got our reputation from our sausages,” says Wilfred.
“I decided I wanted to be very mainstream, and I thought: ‘Well, what is it that everybody in this country loves?’ Everybody loves the sausage.”
And now, thanks to him, its also available jerked – a true fusion of British and Jamaican cuisine.
The Caribbean-inspired drink and food industry is now estimated to be worth around £115m.
But Wilfred thinks it should be even bigger.
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Windrush victims compensation battle
He hopes his story, as well as those who came before him, will inspire younger generations to follow in their entrepreneurial footsteps.
“It takes a lot of courage to leave everything you are familiar with, everything that you know, to come to another country, to better your life.
“So being an entrepreneur is very much a part of our DNA. Because for everyone that came, there’s a lot more that didn’t have the courage to do that,” he added.
“I think it’s very, very important, especially on something like the 75th anniversary of Windrush Day to remind people that it was a very brave entrepreneurial thing to do.”
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Travellers have been warned to expect disruption to trains in Scotland today as the country continues to feel the effects of Storm Floris.
Services are likely to be affected as the storm – which brought winds of up to 124mph on Monday, bringing down trees and power lines, closing roads and cancelling flights – blows through.
The Scottish government held an emergency meeting last night to discuss the “significant disruption” caused and the efforts under way to recover, as rail operators look to clear routes covered by debris and utilities firms work to reconnect properties experiencing power outages.
Ross Moran, Network Rail Scotland’s route director, said teams had been “working tirelessly to keep services moving where possible and to clear fallen trees and debris from the tracks”.
By the evening, their focus had switched to “inspecting routes which have been closed by fallen trees, debris and other damage”, and work will continue into today.
“We’re grateful to passengers for their patience whilst we do this,” Mr Moran added.
(L-R) Frances Kusz, Jack Kusz, Paul Audoire and Robert Kusz waiting at Glasgow Central Station. Pic: PA
Most weather warnings have expired, but a yellow warning for wind is in place until 8am over the Shetland Islands and Orkney, and showers will remain throughout the rest of Scotland.
Rail, road, and ferry travel was disrupted by the storm on Monday, as 100 Edinburgh Fringe events were cancelled, according to organisers.
At one point, more than 30,000 people were without power.
A worker removes a fallen tree on the A82 road near Onich. Both pics: Reuters
At least 68 flights were cancelled, aviation analytics firm Cirium said, with Aberdeen and Belfast City the worst-affected airports.
Western coastal areas bore the brunt of the storm, but strong winds and heavy rain affected much of the rest of the country.
Police received “multiple reports” of camper vans blown over on the A87 between Broadford and Portree on Skye, while in Aberdeenshire the A96 was closed in both directions near Old Rayne because of fallen trees.
Fallen trees have also seen a number of other roads closed, including the A95 Rosarie road in both directions, while the A9 at Daviot was partially blocked by a fallen tree and the A1 Tyne Bridge was only open to cars and single-decker buses.
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Watch: Bumpy landing for plane in Storm Floris
Those driving in poor weather have been urged to avoid the worst-hit areas and slow down when on the roads while allowing time for delays.
Ferries have also seen widespread disruption, with ferry operator CalMac cancelling a number of sailings because of high winds.
Monday’s top wind speed was 124mph at Cairngorm, a mountain range in northern Scotland, according to Met Office data.
Sky News weather producer Christopher England said Tuesday would be a “much calmer”, though still windy – see your local forecast here.
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