Fifty Chefs, the Hands that Feed London was an ethnographic art project in collaboration with photographer Katie Wilson, that took over a Shoreditch warehouse for one month in 2015.
Katie came to me with 50 pairs of chefs’ hands (from superstar chefs to kebab shop cooks) and I went out to meet them to collect their stories. This is the life-story of London itself, told through the hands that feed it.
Read all fifty stories at www.fiftychefs.com
Shot in a raw documentary style, each subject was photographed on location, before briefings, or as they woke from sleep snatched between services.
“In the Middle East food signifies so much more than it does here. You assert your culture, identity, or heritage via food. We are very fortunate in London in that we can have a nice discussion about cuisine without anybody starting a war over it. That’s the benefit of living somewhere that’s slightly more sane and balanced and peaceful.
The reality is that in London, at this point in history, everything is more established and certain. There isn’t a sense that every culinary decision you make has to mean something elemental about you. It doesn’t mean people don’t have passion but just that they can apply it in a more peaceful way.
There’s a real thirst for new ideas and new ingredients in London. The curiosity about new food has always been there, because the British have always been interested in what’s going on in the outside world.
In the last 10 or 20 years London has become a hub of creativity in its own right. Rather than just absorbing ideas from other parts of the world, I think London has got a lot to offer to the rest of the world in food terms. Interesting things are happening here, especially in the informal dining area. Now you go to New York or Paris and you can see that people are cooking London-style food.
I prefer to use my hands rather than tossing spoons. You can over-mix with spoons, but with your hands you can do things in a more subtle and thoughtful way because you can really sense what you’re doing.”
This is a look at the hard graft that goes on in the restaurant engine room; the blood, sweat and tears that go into making the serene and sometimes glamorous dining experience we’ve come to expect.
“In the 1800s a lot of Jewish people migrated to this area and they opened shops for the community. My uncle used to run the Beigel Shop next door. Before that he had a grocery shop called Kosovs and my dad started working with him, then when this place, which had been a butchery, came available, my dad took it on.
So my dad started this business and he still works here now. I used to work here in the school holidays, then I did a law degree at Leeds University, worked in a firm for a year, started my LPC, and decided it wasn’t for me. I knew I could achieve more here, in the family business. When I first started my forearms used to ache from all the kneading and I did get a few burns from the oven.
I’m still living with my family in Golders Green, but I get on with my own thing. I have two brothers and two sisters. My oldest brother works here and one of my sisters recently got married to a guy from Carmelli Bakery, another Jewish bakery in Golders Green. It wasn’t intentional, but we seem to be keeping baking in the family.
Bread is the cornerstone to life isn’t it? Our recipes are traditional, with origins in Poland and Eastern Europe. Our most popular beigels are the smoked salmon with cream cheese and the salt beef. You’ve got to be a bit intuitive in baking. The amount of yeast you use, how long to rest the dough, these things change depending on the weather.
We’re open 24 hours and there are always people queuing up for a beigel. We have a lot of regulars. It’s nice to see familiar faces. Saturday nights can get intense, but generally it’s a jolly atmosphere in here.”