National Curry Week in Great Britain
First Indian Restaurant in Britain Opened 200 Years Ago
National Curry Week will run from 22nd to 28th November 2009 throughout Britain, with the dual aims of promoting the cuisine and culture and raising money for the less advantaged around the world.
2009 celebrates the 200th anniversary of the first Indian restaurant (Hindoostanee Coffee House) opened in Britain by Sake Dean Mahomet in London in 1809. From those very early beginnings, curry has grown to be referred to as ‘Britain’s national dish’ with hundreds of millions of pounds generated for the economy from retail sales and the over 9000 restaurants throughout the country.
Such was the success of the ‘Can You Handle the Heat Challenge’ in National Curry Week 2008 that not only will it be repeated this year but kitchens will now be speed challenged on pakora/samosa creation as well as the production of a signature dish which will be judged nationally.
CurriesOnline.co.uk – a leading online ordering and reservation service for the UK Indian Restaurant industry has already signed up to become lead sponsor for 2009 to lend financial and operational support to the event.
Shamim Hoque, Managing Director of CurriesOnline said "We are delighted to be in a position to support National Curry Week and The Curry Tree Charitable Fund. As an online service provider - we feel that we can bring a lot to the table to help make this year’s event the best ever whilst introducing our commercial online solution to a wider audience."
Over the past ten years, National Curry Week has raised funds for charities such as Action Against Hunger and Oxfam. New for 2009 is the creation of The Curry Tree Charitable Fund to target the 23 million people eating-out market and raise as much as possible for deserving causes around the world. Causes to benefit from the fund will be decided annually by trustees Peter Grove (Founder), Colleen Grove, Rajesh Suri, Cyrus Todiwala MBE, Shamim Hoque, Mridula Baljekar and Enam Ali MBE.
Commented founder Peter Grove, "This year we are trying to pull the national curry family together to have some fun and help as many disadvantaged as possible. Please visit www.thecurrytree.com and join the ‘Pledge a pound’ scheme."
For more information visit: www.nationalcurryweek.co.uk
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