Luke Heslop and James Staples
The Migration Menu
Journey from South Asia to West London through food as we explore migration, globalisation, entrepreneurship, and cultural heritage. In the series, Prof James Staples and Dr Luke Heslop, anthropologists from Brunel University London, talk to restaurateurs and others about what food from their homeland means to them and why. They explore the rich array of culinary traditions that have made their way from South Asia and been made anew in West London, using food as an entry point to wider discussions. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Author
Luke Heslop and James Staples
Category
Podcast website
Latest episode
Dec 10, 2025
Where to listen?
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Episodes
Sathnam Sanghera and The Migration Menu 10.12.2025 37:50
In this special episode, James and Luke interview acclaimed author and Times journalist Sathnam Sanghera in front of a live audience at the Guru Nanak Sikh Academy in Hayes **Starters** (01.14-02.49) A quick introduction to Sathnam Sanghera and his work ahead of our live-recording. **Mains** (02:50-30.58) James and Luke discover what Sathnam ate growing up in Wolverhampto...
Live From Moorgate: Entrepreneurs, COVID, and Food Fusion 07.11.2025 35:58
This week James and Luke were in Moorgate as panelists for 'The Gaze', organised by Middlesex University in collaboration with Small Business Research + Enterprise Centre and the HOMELandS Research Centre at the University of Westminster. They were there to discuss the often-hidden lives of immigrant food entrepreneurs in London. Through oral histories, memories and everyday business, the event ex...
A Sweet Aftertaste with James and Luke 04.11.2025 33:51
In this Episode James and Luke recap the series and answer some of the question and comments they have receieved throughout. They also reintroduce Sohini Banerjee and play a section of the Q&A from their sell out show at Pitzhanger Manor and Gallery. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Amer-Indians 28.10.2025 33:46
TheAmer-Indians In this week’s episode, Luke travels to the outer reaches of London’s underground train network to meet James in Little Chalfont, to explore the places that increasing numbers of South Asian diasporas go when they move on from West London, and how they help transform those places and their cuisines. **Starters** (01.29-12-12) Ahead of their lunch with Vimal Dala...
Measure with the Heart 21.10.2025 30:16
In this week’s episode, James and Luke try out the food of The Maldives, an archipelago of coraline islands in the Indian Ocean. The Maldivian diaspora in the UK, compared to other South Asian groups, is tiny; consequently there are no Maldivian restaurants, but there is at least one Maldivian Supper Club (@maldiviansupperclub on Instagram), run by host Mie Ali Didi, who prepares the food eaten in...
A hunger to succeed 14.10.2025 24:15
This week, James and Luke visit the Broadway in Southall to share a meal with Faisal Ali, co-owner of Giftos Lahore Karahi. As they eat, Faisal reflects on how food brings people together, especially within Southall’s Pakistani community. **Introduction** (0:00 – 3:14) (Starter) Luke introduces the Giftos Lahore Karahi franchise and James and Luke discuss whether there is a...
Grandmother's Heavenly Rice 07.10.2025 30:57
Headed to Northwest London, James and Luke travel to the Persian restaurant Behesht, which means Heaven in Farsi, to have their problems solved and their futures foretold. **introduction**-(00:00-6:55) (Starter) James and Luke discuss the connection between the Iran and the idea of South Asia. **Interview**- (6:55-11:00) (Main) James and Luke i...
Brick Lane is the place for me 30.09.2025 27:17
James and Luke return to series 2 of The Migration Menu exploring how migration has transformed food and the places we call home. Headed to East London, Brick Lane in the borough of Tower Hamlets, James and Luke travel to have lunch at Graam Bangla. (Starter) **introduction**-(00:00-3:20) Luke explains the gap in the Bengali food market in West London which is why the two ch...
Afghanistan in Shepherd's Bush 23.09.2025 33:44
This week, James and Luke travel the length of the Uxbridge Road to Shepherd’s Bush, where they join Professor Magnus Marsden – a fellow anthropologist with fieldwork experience in Afghanistan, as well as with Afghanis in the diaspora – for a tour of the market and a long lunch at the market street stall, Takharistan, run by his friend Zakhir. Closer to home – still on the Uxbridge Road, but back...
Cultivating Compassion 16.09.2025 30:19
This week, James and Luke were invited by Amal Abeyawardene, secretary of the British Maha Bodhi Society, to visit the London Buddhist Vihara, the oldest Buddhist temple outside of Asia. There, they explore how food offerings help tell stories of migration and tradition. **Introduction** (0:00 – 4:58) (Starter) James and Luke begin by discussing where this episode's trip takes pl...
Food for Everyone 09.09.2025 23:35
This week, James and Luke are in Hayes at Guru Nanak Sikh Academy, a faith school where they’ve been invited for a special school dinner by head of history, Mr John Perkins. The occasion is Guru Nanak Gurpurab, celebrating the founder of Sikhism, and they’ll be joining 1,600 students and staff for a Langar which is a traditional Sikh community meal **Introduction** (0:00 – 5:44) (Start...
The Migration Menu: Live from the Pitzhanger Manor and Gallery 05.09.2025 54:14
In this special episode James and Luke are in front of a live audience at the Pitzhanger Manor and Gallery, with special guests, Sohini Banerjee and Dr. Debbie Weekes-Bernard. Sohini is a British-Bengali chef who runs a successful London supper club called Smoke and Lime. Sohini has worked withchef Asma Khan of Darjeeling Express, chef Helen Graham of Bubala and Michelin-starred chef Rohit Gh...
Experience the Brilliance 02.09.2025 33:10
James and Luke return to Southall to visit Brilliant, a North Indian Punjabi family-ran business where they explore how the family’s migration from North India to East Africa, and now the UK, influence their Restuarant's cuisine. **Introduction** (0:53 – 1:35) James and Luke share how Southall is the main food hub for South Asian cuisine. **Introduction of Southall** (1:35 – 7:05...
Reflections: Q&A with James and Luke 20.08.2024 39:10
Reflections: Q&A with James and Luke This week we look back on the series, respond to questions and comments from our listeners, chat with Geeta Ludhra about Southall, and look forward to series 2. We also hear from Dr, Geeta Ludhra, Senior Lecturer in Education at Brunel University London, as she reflects on her visits to Southall as a child and her grandmother’s Ja...
One Woman Army 13.08.2024 32:32
This week the food came to James and Luke, from Alaisha Kaishyap, owner of the tiffin delivery brand, The London Food Company. An example of the growing band of home cooks catering to hungry international students and others missing the food of home, they are also joined by a group of PhD students to reflect on their own food ways. **Introduction** (0:00 – 6:24) (Starter) -James and Lu...
Short Eats Not Short Cuts 06.08.2024 29:46
This week James and Luke headed way out west, to Pinner, to visit a new Sri Lankan restaurant called Yako. Following a tour of the Grade II listed building in which they have recently set up shop, they sat down to a colossal meal and to hear the story of Yako’s founder, Darshana Wathadura, A.K.A Dash. **Introduction** (0:00 – 3:39) (Starter) -Luke outlines the significance of the Yako...
On The Spice Train 30.07.2024 30:20
This week James and Luke are meeting Sujay Sohani and Subodh Joshi, co-founders of Sri Krishna Vada Pau – or SKVP, the acronym given to the chain by the restaurant’s followers on social media. Tapping into the current trend for vegetarian and vegan food, as well as for affordability, the Vada Pau – or the Mumbai burger, as it’s sometimes referred to – celebrates the street food of the pair’s nativ...
When My Back Is Against The Wall 23.07.2024 36:13
This week, James and Luke are meeting and eating with Sanjay Anand, MBE: owner of Madhu’s of Southall, as well as six other restaurants, including Madhu’s of Mayfair at The Dilly. He documents his family’s journey from India to Kenya, where he was born, and on to the UK, where – over the last four decades – he has seen venue managers going from turning their noses up at the aromas of South Asian c...
A Stomach for Business 16.07.2024 29:45
This week, James and Luke go to the heart of Southall. On the first of two visits to Madhu’s, they meet Ash Verma, a business consultant and former civil servant who travelled to the UK from India with his parents when he was just 8-years-old in 1958, and who over the last 50 years or so has played key roles in supporting the regeneration of West London, and the socio-economic development of the U...
A Home Away From Home 09.07.2024 29:50
This week, James and Luke head to Southall for lunch at Saravanaa Bhavan, an international vegetarian Indian restaurant with branches in 27 countries across the world. They’re going there for lunch with Mukesh Gauthaman, whose ambitious project to reintroduce some of heirloom to his home village in Tamil Nadu and has brought him to the UK to study international business at Brunel. Saravanaa Bhavan...
For Biriyani, it's the Uxbridge Road 02.07.2024 28:07
This week, James and Luke went to Al Hyderabadi, on the Uxbridge Road, a busy thoroughfare which stretches from Uxbridge all the way to Southall. While Hyderabad – centre of the Mughal Empire in India’s Deccan South – is famous for the biriyani, we discovered that its dishes also owe a great deal to centuries of pan-oceanic trading and migration, and a particular connection to Yemen. **Intro...
There Will Always Be Momo 26.06.2024 25:27
This week, James and Luke travel to Namaste Gurkha in Feltham to examine how Nepalese food has been reimagined in West London. In doing so, they speak with Indra Hang Linden, one of the proprietors of Namaste Gurkha. **Introduction** (0:00 - 3:41) (Starter) -James discusses how globalization has affected what South Asians now eat for breakfast. -Luke delves into how restaurant dé...
Welcome to The Migration Menu 07.06.2024 1:20
Welcome to The Migration Menu Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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