Paper long abstract:

The Brick Lane Festival and the Baishahki Mela are annual one-day events established in the late 1990s in connection with local regeneration schemes. They were developed as part of explicit strategies to use cultural activity to stimulate economic development in a neglected neighbourhood of east London. The focus of both events is Brick Lane itself; relieved of its incessant traffic, the curry restaurants that line the street set their tables and chairs outside on the pavement, and visitors are invited to sample the exotic delights of Bengali cuisine. With an eye on the glittering oasis that is London 2012, organisers today talk of their festivals as part of a cultural tourism initiative in East London. As well as international visitors, they speak of wanting to create a sense for Londoners of 'being tourists in their own city'.

Food is the medium for this magical transformation, yet the use of food as a centrepiece for tourism-based development is also ripe with ambivalence. Bengali curry houses are what makes Brick Lane famous, and work in the catering sector has sustained Bangladeshis in London from the earliest days. But food is both the solution and the problem: media reports from the Brick Lane curry houses regularly focus on the poor quality of the food, or the aggressive nature of the restaurant touts. Restaurant owners themselves complain of the difficulty of recruiting waiting staff, as young Bengalis reject the long hours and poor pay; and the intense competition between businesses can cause conflict. Festival organisers have had to respond to this paradox, seeking ways to counter negative publicity, and continue to attract the tourists. The Brick Lane Festival in September marks the beginning of the fortnight-long International Curry Festival. For the 2006 Festival, a 'green curry' recipe was devised, without artificial colouring or flavouring, and using ingredients grown locally, to minimise 'food miles'.

This paper looks at the ways in which food shapes the area's identity for tourists, at the same time as defining local social, political and economic relations. It traces the efforts of local restaurateurs to manage the Brick Lane 'brand' proactively, and examines the implications for social practice of food's critical role in local economic prospects.