Is Bradford the capital of Pakistani cuisine in the UK?

Well the simple answer to this is yes and here are the reasons we think so.

The beginning

Bradford's first curry house was Mohammed Latif's Kashmir. This opened in the 1950's to serve the growing community of immigrants coming to the area to work in the textile industry. On the whole these were Pakistani men, living on their own, away from their families and the Kashmir with its Cafe style, was a place for them to gather, eat familiar food and socialise.

Dishes were cooked with meat on the bone and the menu was very simple, chicken, keema (mince) and meat curry served as it would have been back home in the Pakistani region of Kashmir.

The 70's, 80's and 90's

The first group of non Asian customers were from the student community. They were curious about Indian cuisine and also appreciated the low prices. Slowly students spread the word through family and friends and the popularity grew and grew. Keema was very popular as it was not 'on the bone' and this then brought about changes to traditional recipes with chicken and other meat dishes served in hot sauces such as madras and vindaloo.

More and more restaurants sprang up serving both Asian and non-Asian customers and the 'beer and curry' culture became popular amongst the post pub crowds

Today

Now we see a new phase, which in some cases is really a return to tradition. The English palate is far more sophisticated, there are many 3rd generation Asian families with a growth in young professionals whose own tastes are changing.

Menus are more authentic, meat is often served on the bone, the vindaloo is dying and drier dishes with much less sauce are increasingly popular. Take a look at restaurants like Chowdreys Ambala, Markaz and Akbars and you will see beautiful interiors and the highest quality service. Millions are being spent.

So what of the future?

We spoke with a few of the leading figures in Bradford's hospitality industry to see where they thought the industry was heading.

Shabir Hussain who owns Akbars is aggressively growing his brand across the whole of the UK, with new openings running at 2 or 3 per year. He bases his restaurants on a strict formula of high quality staff, excellent in-house training and the finest food for a more demanding public. He sees more stringent regulations as a good thing that helps to increase industry standards.

Syima Merali of Markaz has created a restaurant and shisha lounge that marries Asian and Arabic food. She says "we wanted to create a venue where both Asians and non-Asians could go. We don't serve alcohol and our shisha pipes are very popular. We have a very diverse ethnic mix amongst our clientele. The only negative on the horizon at the moment is the smoking ban for which we are trying to obtain an exemption.

At Chowdreys, General Manager, Nadim Khan like many of the leaders in the industry has a background in the luxury 5 star hotels of the Middle East and Asia. He says their food is 100% original with no artificial colours or soy sauce and believes that people will be more and more demanding in the future. They together with Annan's cater for wedding parties and business meetings with special areas of their restaurant's specially kitted out for these functions.

Almost everyone we spoke to still need to bring in talent from overseas, whether its a chef from a top class hotel or front of house staff with the right background in customer service, there seems to be a real skill shortage. Most commented that they had to do the training in-house to reach the quality levels they needed.

So to summarise Bradford's place in the UK's hospitality industry, we believe it can justifiably call itself the UK's capital of Pakistani cuisine. With hundreds of restaurants, people drive (and sometimes fly) from miles around to sample the finest Punjabi, Kashmiri and other dishes and with the restaurant developments we have seen they won't be disappointed.