Tania Rahman (27), was “shocked and upset” as the Salisbury City Council rejected her proposal of serving Chicken Tikka Masala at the St George's Day celebration. They stated that it was “not English enough” and that visitors at the event should eat “English themed food only”.
Chicken Tikka Masala has long been considered one Britain’s favourite dishes, becoming as popular, if not more, than the Sunday roasts or fish and chips. However, the refusal of having the dish at the St George's Day celebration has bewildered Tania Rahman, as well as many others.
After reading the refusal email, Rahman was stunned. She said, “I was hugely disappointed. I consider myself to be English – I was born in this country. It is the utter ignorance of it all that makes me most upset. Salisbury itself is so diverse. The most popular restaurants there are Indian.”
The Salisbury council has apologised to Miss Rahman and invited her to set up stall at the event. However, a spokesman said they had initially felt that chicken tikka masala would clash with the “olde worlde traditional English” theme, which features Morris dancers and dragons. “The council never intended to be racist. The theme of the St George’s Day event in 2015 was olde worlde traditional English with Morris Dancers and dragon fighting. Ms Rahman has raised some very interesting points about modern England and the Council will wish to reflect upon these issues when setting the theme for the St George’s Day in 2016 and onwards.”
