Across the globe, there is increasing interest in African cuisine, but a series of factors seem to be coalescing to make London one of its premier hotspots. Exploring and celebrating the phenomenon is a new book by food journalist, Jimi Famurewa, called Settlers: Journeys Through the Food, Faith and Culture of Black African London. The presence of restaurants like Pitanga offer a means for African London’s customers and cooks to engage with stories and heritage in a way that, like a Nigerian Full English, can speak eloquently to the happy contradictions that make up modern Black British lives. But with that power comes real responsibility. And an ever growing and ever more prominent African-influenced food scene has also come into contact with disputes over appropriation, authenticity and identity that drive to the heart of what it is to be steeped in a heritage with a new-found cultural currency.
SOURCE: BRITISH GQ
