Globalization’s Impact on the Food Industry: The Case of Chinese Cuisine in Britain

• Globalization’s Impact on the Food Industry: The Case of Chinese Cuisine in Britain

   

  The Chinese culture is considered as one of the strongest and most spread out culture in the world, with Chinatowns all over the Americas, Africa, Europe, Asia, Middle East, and Oceania. It’s rare to meet a person who is not acquainted to basic Chinese cultural practices such as fengshui, Chinese New Year, dim sum, wontons, kung fu, dragons, and many others. It has indeed infiltrated most of the world’s nations, so much so that globalization is argued to morph into “China-nisation”.

  Britain is no exception. Waves of immigration startingin the early 19th century started the British Chinese history, forever changing the landscape of the national economy. Increasing Chinese migrant labour force spilled into industry sectors such as seafaring, hairdressing, laundry, and catering.

  Looking back

  One of the most apparent footholds of the Chinese culture in Britain is its booming catering industry. Every British town has at least one Chinese restaurant offering takeaways and the recently becoming popular traditional Chinese foods.

  In 1884, Sir Robert Hart held a grand display of Chinese Food in an exhibition entitled “The Chinese Restaurant”. This display showcased “olea-scented lotus nuts” and "small treasure chest in the style of the Qing dynasty" prepared by top chefs from Beijing and Guangzhou. This sparked the interest of the British press in Chinese food. Two decades after, the first recorded Chinese restaurant named The Chinese Restaurant opened in London’s Piccadilly.

  The growth of Chinese restaurants was hampered during the war years. Post World War II, the British Chinese industry slowly picked up pace again and continued to grow over the years. From the “chop suey houses” in the 1950’s, Chinese catering developed into authentic Chinese food takeaways and restaurants in the 1970’s; specialist restaurants such as banquets and wontons in the 1980’s; and the fine dining sector in recent years. Chinese wedding caterers London particularly grew alongside the growth of Chinese couples opting to marry in British soil.

  Driving forces of the British Chinese catering growth

  Currently, there are an estimated 17, 500 Chinese catering outlets in the UK. The industry generates an annual turnover of about £5 billion. It directly employs about 100,000 workers and approximately 50% of the British Chinese population. It is therefore safe to say that the Chinese catering industry is the pillar of the Chinese community in Britain and thus needs to be supported by all means.

  The continuous immigration and increase of Chinese population, plus the increasing interests of Brits on conventional and traditional Cantonese foods,are the main factors that push the Chinese catering industry to grow. Chinese caterers are currently one of the most in demand Asian wedding caterers London. Labour force for this industry primarily comes from overseas workerssince there are no comprehensive and established education and training opportunities for Chinese cookery.

  The advent of Internet also impacted the industry in a huge way. A catering agency in London, for example, does not have to publicise their services through traditional means with staggering costs. A well-functioning website and competent marketing team are all it takes to get new customers.

  As national borders continue to blur, we are expecting to see more changes in the Chinese catering industry in UK and therefore the overall political and economic backdrop of Britain.

  
  
  
  
  

   

• How to Find the Best Indian Caterers

   

  Catering companies are the modern-day heroes of event planners. Imagine if you have to cook all the foods to be served and prepare the venue yourself too! To save time and effort, planners opt to hire the best caterers around. This is especially true for Indian weddings here in the UK. Indians have unique tastes when it comes to foods and decorations, so it’s absolutely a must to choose the Indian wedding catering London that knows the Indian culture well.

  So how do you tell which one is the best? Here are a few tips:

  1.       Make a list of the qualities you’re looking for in a catering company. Before you set out to search the best Indian caterers, first settle what characteristics the best catering company should have. Here are some typical parameters: food quality and safety, hospitality and professionalism of service crew, design, reputation, years of experience, credentials, proximity to your venue, price, discounts, and others.

  2.       Ask your Indian friends. Once you’re done with your list, think of any Indian friends who recently threw a party or anybody who might know of somebody who did. Got that? Ask them important questions about the list of qualities you wrote beforehand and make sure to take careful note of them.

  3.       Research online. You can now turn to the powers of the Internet to find out what other customers are saying about the company your friends recommended. There are many restaurant review sites that give honest ratings and comments on restaurant services. One of the most reputed sites is TripAdvisor.com. You can search for the nearest catering companies to your venue and from there choose which companies possess the qualities you’re looking for. This will narrow down your list of choices.

  You can also go to forums and search for related threads such as “best halal caterers London”. Usually customers give more detailed reviews of various products and services on forums than on quick review sites.

  4.       Finalise your choices and visit each one personally. The common mistake some event planners do is to close the deal without meeting the catering staff personally. You have to make sure that they are what they seem to be on the Internet so grab your quality checklist and head over each one of your options. Observe the manners, attitude, and hygiene of the workers; cleanliness and design of the place; and the menu they offer. Also see if you can negotiate a discount; it never hurts to save a pound or two.

  5.       Finalise your decision. Now that you’ve personally visited each of your top choices, it’s time to sit down and go over your notes. Finalize which of the choices possess the most number of qualities you’re looking for in a catering company, and do so quickly. If you decided that the Indian food catering London restaurant is the best fit, book a schedule with them quickly or you may lose the spot to other planners.

  There you have it! Always stay proactive and alert in searching for the best Indian catering company and you’ll surely do just fine.

   

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Indian Food Facts to Enlighten You

Aside from Chinese food, Indian food is one of the best-known types of Asian cuisine that’s easily accessible outside their home countries. Part of what makes Indian cuisine popular is its masterful use of spices evolved for over thousands of years and perfected in the Indian food we know and love today from humble homes to gourmet restaurants and Indian wedding catering London. If you’re still unfamiliar with Indian food but interested in trying it out, here are facts you need to know about Indian cuisine.   

Spices are the secret ingredients to Indian cuisine. Spices are wonderful additions to any dish whether Indian or otherwise. They are natural, healthy, and add instant flavour to your dish at a pinch and without the added fat or calories.

Not all Indian food is hot and spicy or contains curry powder. While a variety of spices are used abundantly in Indian cooking, not all Indian food is red hot and spicy. Some Indian dishes stand out with just the use of 2-3 or even one key spice ingredient.

Also, the spices themselves are not the only things that give Indian food its spicy character. Chillies are often used in Indian cooking, and these add heat to a dish. The heat level depends on the variety and amount of chillies used. If you don’t want to eat something that’s intensely spicy and hot, you can control the amount of spices and chillies you add to your dish.

Many unfamiliar with Indian food readily associate it with curry and curry powder. Not all Indian dishes contain curry powder. Indian cooking also involves the use of a variety of spice mixes like the garam masala. Garam masala is a blend of many Asian spices such as cardamom, cloves, coriander, cumin, ginger, pepper, and bay leaves. It’s a spice blend used in many Indian dishes.

Indian food is healthy. Traditional Indian cooking relies mostly on using fresh, seasonal ingredients, and cooking from scratch. Fresh produce are cooked in simple, traditional methods that helps preserve their freshness and nutrients. For the health conscious, this translates as healthier food and less preservatives. Also, the use of spices such as coriander, garlic, ginger, green chillies, and turmeric in Indian cuisine just to name a few, are known to provide healing and medicinal benefits. Benefits range from relieving stomach upsets and aiding digestion to lowering blood pressure and providing a dose of healthy antioxidants in the body. 

Indian food is tied to one’s culture and identity. If you’re the type who prefers exact, predictable recipes when cooking, Indian cooking might frustrate you because a lot of things aren’t set in stone. Rarely would you find the use of exact recipes since every family has their own version of a basic Indian dish, tweaked to their own preferences. Another thing to consider is the amount of spices used, which varies depending on preference. Also, Indian cooking is tight closely to one’s local culture and identity, and as a result, varies vastly from region to region.

Whether it is served at home, in an Indian restaurant in the UK, or from a food catering London, Indian cuisine still maintains key traits that make it distinctively Indian. 

If you want to serve Indian food on your wedding reception, call Bid for My Catering, a local Indian catering agency in London.

How to find the best Indian wedding catering London

Indian weddings are known for their sumptuous banquet of exotic food dishes. In less busier times and in less busier places, the dishes are traditionally cooked and prepared by the bride’s and groom’s relatives and friends, or even just by themselves. Here and now though, many have to opt to look for a catering company London that will do the cooking and food preparation for them. But you may say, there are so many caterers around and, if you ask them, they’ll often claim that they can do authentic Indian wedding catering London  just to get your business even if they really don’t know how. So how do you decide one which to pick? Surely you can’t possibly vet each and every one of them to make sure that you’ll be able to serve your guests with the kinds of real Indian dishes that will make you proud on your very special day. Fortunately, there’s a catering agency in London that can do most of the work for you. It’s called Bid For My Catering.

Bid for My Catering is a catering agency in London that takes all the hassle out of finding a perfect Indian wedding caterer London for your special occasion. The agency does business online so you do not have to do any actual physical search for service providers who can do food catering London for your Indian wedding. All you need to do is visit the website and fill in your requirements for whatever menu you have in mind, when you need it, the number of expected guests, where you want it done, and other details concerning your Indian wedding reception. There is no charge to you for this service. Bid for My Catering maintains a wide network of reliable Indian wedding caterers London and keeps a complete database of each of their Indian wedding dish specialties. With the assistance of this specialty catering agency in London, you will be able to narrow your search immensely. Particularly if you have religious or cultural requirements regarding how food should be prepared and cooked, Bid for My Catering can help you find the right caterer who can meet your special needs from its network of Indian wedding caterers London.

Bid For My Catering will help you to secure a catering service that will charge a fair price for its work. Also, the catering agency London earns its income from fees remitted by its network of catering partners who are part of its database, so you don’t have to pay them anything. When you use the agency’s website, you will be asked a series of questions regarding the size and cultural profile of the group that will be attending you event, your preferences regarding food, price and timing of the event. Based on your answers, it will narrow the list of prospective providers of Indian wedding catering London service to those who can closely follow and understand your needs and expectations. By availing of the free Bid For My Catering facilities, you save yourself a lot of time and money.

Getting the Best Indian Wedding Caterers in London

Weddings are no doubt special occasions and are expected to be perfect not only by the bride and groom but also the families of the couple, their friends, and the guests they decided to invite and witness their holy union. But no matter how grand the ceremony might be and how sweet the couple looks on the altar, the defining moment of a wedding is the reception and at the center of it all is the food. It is almost accurate to say that getting the best wedding caterers in London is as important as getting the best bride/groom in London – almost.
Call as many caterers as you can
Quite frankly looking for a caterer is like looking for a corporate superstar to come and work for you. You simply need to get the best one out there. And like in hiring the best talent, you need to cast out your net as wide as possible and hope to get the most fish – qualified individuals you can begin to screen for a job. This principle is applicable in selecting the best caterer for a wedding reception. Call up as many caterers in your area as you can. Know more about their offers, their experience, the big jobs they recently delivered, and the kind of food they think they are most qualified to provide for. The more caterers you talk to the higher the chance you can get the best out there. There might be countless Asian caterers in London but in reality you only need one – the one that can deliver both your wants and needs effortlessly.
Match your needs to a caterer’s expertise
Will you be serving an Asian couple and their Asian guests? If so, this is where you will begin in your “caterer hunt”. To please the couple you have to look for Asian wedding caterers London companies that can meet the standards of the couple’s palate, (Asian palate that is). Be sure to know your needs and then try matching the expertise of the many caterers out there to that very specific need. Always remember that the quality of the food that is served in the reception is fully dependent on the ability of your caterer to deliver authentic Asian food. Authenticity is an encompassing word that touches on how the food looks, tastes, smells and feels in the mouth. There is no one caterer among the many wedding caterers in London that can answer to all kinds of food orders and requirements. The sooner you submit to this fact, the faster you can eliminate caterers that might never please your guests. This makes the caterer selection process easier to do.
There are many Asian caterers in London so give yourself a favor, do not feed Asian guests with Asian food that do not quite hit the mark. This can be very disappointing and knowing the Asian culture, even insulting. These people know their food so it is best to get caterers that know Asian food by heart. Expertise is the foundation of well prepared food so get a hold of it first and the rest will follow.