Join us as we head south of the river to Sohini Banerjee’s Smoke and Lime supper club in Kennington, eat some great food, meet a bunch of interesting people, and ponder questions about authenticity, fusion, identity and gender.
** 00:50-01:08: A reminder to sign-up to our newsletter Listen To The Migration Menu Podcast – The Migration Menu, and get some great discount offers from eateries featured on the show!
**Starters** (01:09 – 08:03)
How do supper clubs work? How are they different to restaurants, and why – in particular – are they growing in popularity among diners from South Asian diasporas? These are some of the questions on James and Luke’s minds enroute to Smoke and Lime supper club, keen to expand their understanding of the South Asian food scene beyond the restaurant space. In addition to supper clubs, they encounter a rich array of services, from Vegetarian Brown Girls’ deliveries of chilled chai to Ajji’s Ghee.
**08.04-08.23: A shout-out from Mike Crawley, co-host of The Anthropology Podcast, to have a listen to one of our sibling shows!
**Mains** (08:24-20:23)
James and Luke join eight other guests for dinner in Sohini’s apartment, capturing some of the Bengali adda – hanging out for informal conversation – as well as the culinary experience. Rijil, Sohini’s husband and co-host of the supper club, takes us, course-by-course, through the menu, rooted in the foodscape of West Bengal, with influences from China, Malaysia, and the couple’s recent trip to Vietnam. One of their favourite London restaurants, SMOKING GOAT | Shoreditch | Thai Bar & Grill, has also made a mark on the menu.
**Dessert** (20:28-27:33)
James and Luke reflect on their supper club experience, consider the ways in which they blur the boundaries between domestic hospitality and business, friendship and networking, and public and private in interesting – and often delightful – ways. A focus on supper clubs also allows them to dig down into the gendered dimensions of the food industry, with women’s labor, in particular, often invisibilised
**On the Menu**
Phuchka (A South Kolkata street food special – served at the kitchen counter)
Chicken liver larb, with herbs and peach
Pumpkin bhorta, pickled mooli
Winter vegetables chochori
Wild seabass with turmeric and galangal
Schezwan prawns and sambal butter
Cardamom pannacotta with cocoa and saffron
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