As the UK remains on quarantine lockdown to contain the spread of Covid-19, the epidemic is testing the country’s ability to cook.
With restaurants and takeaways across the country closed for the foreseeable future, Brits are forced to practice their culinary skills at home. But, what dishes are the UK cooking during lockdown?
Food Box Company Gousto tracked which recipes the UK has been searching for, while self-isolating and the full study includes the breakdown of the most popular lockdown recipes. Among the top 10 dishes on the list two Indian inspired items- mild chicken curry and lamb biryani, did land a spot.
An Indian street food restaurant in Newcastle has reportedly revamped to keep its business operating during this pandemic. ‘My Delhi’ is reportedly offering DIY recipe kits to fight the loss of business since its restaurant closure due to this pandemic.
Not only the kits include ingredients and spices, they also have an instructional video on how to make the meals, so that the customers can learn how to make some dishes they love to eat from that restaurant.
Restaurants face financial crisis
But not all is hunky dory in the restaurant circle. In London’s leafy suburbs, many Indian restaurants thrived with their niche menu. One of them is ‘Posto', which has been extremely popular among the Bengali community. Month of March and April are usually extremely busy for restaurants like Posto, with Mother’s Day as well as the Bengali New Year celebration. But this year it has been all very quiet and ever since the announcement of self-isolation, there has been a drastic fall in the number of visitors to their restaurant.
When the government demanded closure, Posto abided by the law. They furloughed five of their staff, the chef and founder of the restaurant, Pritha Mukherjee told Asian Voice. But she remains unsure if her business could withstand the blow of the slowing economy or the extended closure due to Covid-19. Exclusively discussing problems that startups like hers face, she said, “We all have bills to pay. Whether it is rent, or insurance- these are costs that don’t stop, even if the virus forces us to close our restaurant.
“We have to show a healthy cashflow for past two or three years to be eligible for the government’s loan. For a business that is not in central London, and that is only two years old, can hardly show a healthy cashflow. So that makes availing or serving the government loan hard if not impossible. I don’t think this government is doing enough for startups. They have to think differently for startups and make borrowings easier for them.”
Sudharsan Murugavel, the chef and owner at 'Dosa Kitchen' in Newcastle upon Tyne, speaking to Asian Voice said, “Different businesses have different challenges. But I think what the government is doing is absolutely great. You can’t expect anything more from them.
“We have furloughed all the staff. The government has waived off all the business rates, which we don’t have to pay for one year. The only challenge is we have to pay the rent. There is a mortgage holiday for residential landlords but not business landlords. Since the mortgage depends on our rent, we have to pay it. But the government is happy to give a £25,000 grant, so if that money comes in, we don’t have to take it as profit, but we can use that to pay the landlord towards the rent.
“The real tricky situation will be after lockdown is over. It is going to be a global crisis, a lot of people would lose jobs, and they would not be going to restaurants. They won’t have money to spend. While you can’t expect the government to support us for a year, but after the lockdown is over, if the government can do something to support small businesses, that will be helpful.”
