Curry Oscars part of pioneer Enam Ali’s ‘enduring legacy’
BANGLADESHI ENTREPRENEUR CAMPAIGNED TO RAISE PROFILE OF BRITISH ASIAN FOOD SECTOR
BRITAIN’S curry industry is mourning the loss of its foremost champion, Enam Ali, who died on July 17 at the age of 61 after battling cancer.
He set up his own restaurant, Le Raj, in Fir Tree Road, Epsom, in 1989, but the British Curry Awards he established in 2005 came to be hailed as “the Oscars of the industry”.
Partly, it was the chance to dine on delicious chicken biryani and lamb jalfrezi that attracted many of his celebrity guests. But “Enam”, as he was widely known, had a natural gift for making friends of politicians even as he pressed them to do more to tackle the shortage of skilled chefs and even appoint a minister for hospitality.
Over the years, his chief guests included David Cameron, both as opposition leader in 2009 and prime minister in 2013; Theresa May as home secretary in 2014, even when she was not particularly keen to relax rigid immigration controls to let in much-needed chefs from the Indian subcontinent; Boris John as London mayor in 2011; and an enthusiastic Duchess of York in 2016.
At the ceremonies, he would repeat his tried and trusted jokes.
One was: “While curry was born in India, it has been made great in Britain.”
There was a slight variation of this: “Curry may have been born in India, but the Oscars are happening here.”
Perhaps his favourite quip was: “The British arrived in India with gun powder and we came here with curry powder.”
His office announced the news of passing: “Enam Ali, among the most revered and cherished members of the Bangladeshi community, has passed away at the age of 61 following a brave and courageous two-year battle against cancer.”
Like many members of the Bangladeshi community, he was born in Sylhet, on December 1, 1960. He came to Britain in 1974 to study law, but switched to hospitality and management.
He revealed it was a chance meeting with Margaret Thatcher in 2007 that changed the course of her life. She had come to Surrey to launch coins produced by the Pobjoy Mint, the world’s largest private mint, to mark the 25th anniversary of the Falklands War.
Enam’s daughter, Justine, then aged five, presented a bouquet of flowers to the former prime minister. When she passed away in 2013, he paid tribute to Lady Thatcher: “Margaret Thatcher is the lady who really inspired me to observe politics. She opened my eyes as to how important politics is.”
He also united the curry industry. Although curry is associated with Indian food, it is the hard work of countless Bangladeshis who turned small curry houses into a national industry. At one stage, it was estimated that the UK has some 10,000 curry restaurants employing 100,000 in an industry worth £5 billion.
The British Curry Awards were held initially in the ballroom of the Grosvenor House hotel in London’s Park Lane, and later at the more spacious Battersea Evolution.
When he attended as prime minister, Cameron said: “Can I say, Enam, you have been an absolute inspiration in the way you have got these awards together, in the way you back your industry. Now, over these years, these awards have become a fixture in our national life.”
He pinpointed: “What we’re celebrating tonight – 10,000 restaurants up and down our country, £3.5bn worth of turnover, 2.5 million customers every week. Or let me put it in a slightly more mouthwatering way. I reckon that is about 31 million chutney trays, 62 million naan breads, 160 million poppadoms. As we say, in Westminster, a light lunch.” Cameron made “a promise that this government will keep on backing you every step of the way. From the moment we took office, we said that we would back enterprise, and there is no better embodiment of enterprise than this industry.
“I know there have been questions on immigration and getting chefs with the necessary experience. So let me promise you this. We will work through this together and continue to help you to get the skilled Asian chefs that you need.
“As prime minister, you get to go to quite a few industry dinners. But there aren’t many where you feel quite as much pride as this one.”
As home secretary, May, who wore a sparkly blue salwar kameez, said, “I’m excited to be here at the 10th annual British Curry Awards. I was here when you first started the awards in 2005 and it is tremendous to see how big it has become over the years.
“It’s not hard to see why the prime minister and others have called these the Oscars of the curry industry.
“Enam, you’ve done a terrific job and I would like to congratulate you for bringing this to us for 10 years now.
“Now, of course, the success of the British curry industry is about much more than your tremendous economic contribution to this country. It’s about the way you’ve become so much a part of the British way of life. Your businesses are as familiar and much loved as the local pub.”
Until the end, Enam pressed the government to appoint a minister for hospitality. There was a Commons debate initiated by Catherine McKinnell, the Labour MP for Newcastle upon Tyne North, on January 11, 2021.
She was supported by Tobias Ellwood, the Tory MP for Bournemouth East, who said, “I absolutely support the... call for a hospitality minister. I was the shadow minister for tourism when I first came into parliament. I wanted that job to continue when we went into government, but the size of government restricts the number of ministers it is possible to have.”
In 2009, Enam was made an MBE for his services to the hospitality industry and to charity by the Queen at an investiture in Windsor Castle. In 2011, he was granted Freedom of the City of London. In the same year, he was awarded Best Business Personality of the Year by his local area of Epsom and Ewell at its Business Excellence Awards, in recognition of his contributions hosting charitable events over the previous 26 years.
Enam is survived by his wife Shakina, his daughter and sons Jahid and Jeffery.
Among the tributes paid to him was one from the foreign minister of Bangladesh, Dr AK Abdul Momen, who said: “He has brightened the face of Bangladesh besides contributing to the curry industry with his talent.”
There was a flood of message on social media, expressing shock at the news.
Krishnan Guru-Murthy, the Channel 4 News presenter who has attended the British Curry Awards, said: “Such sad news. Enam Ali was a lovely man with huge energy who helped build the profile and prestige of south Asian restaurants in the UK.”
There were many similar expressions of grief. One called him “one of life’s truly good guys who leaves a huge legacy in the curry industry and community generally,” while another said it was “a great loss for the entire curry industry”.
Enam was described as “a legend of the curry industry”, while another summed up, “A giant of our community has gone.”