At the final meeting of the judges at the close of National Curry Week®, Bradford was named Curry Capital of Britain® for an amazing fifth time in succession – making six in total. Close on their heels was old curry rival Glasgow, the curry capital of Scotland, who were just five points behind, with top southern challenger, Brighton, taking third spot.
'Winning Curry Capital of Britain is a long and arduous process,' explained founder Peter Grove, 'and all the restaurant teams have to be commended on their efforts. Unfortunately, some councils take the event more seriously than others, which means fewer points in the final analysis.'
Points are awarded to each of the teams, which includes the judges' scores for each team of four restaurants, health and hygiene from Scores on the Doors, public votes, a council submission and finally, any fundraising for charity is also taken into account.
'The underlying concept of the event is Community Cohesion through Curry - not necessarily which city has the best restaurants,' explained Peter. 'I realise some restaurateurs will feel aggrieved,' he continued, 'but council support is part of the process and if that is not there, there is little we can do.'
Leicester managed to pip self-styled curry capital Birmingham to fourth place, with Birmingham fifth and London South and London Central joint sixth. The two London teams also achieved the excellent record of being the only 100% health & hygiene scorers amongst all the teams.
A full list of the places for 2015 is available on the event website, at www.currycapitalofbritain.co.uk
With Bradford seeming to have cracked the winning code for claiming the title, they will be sorry to hear that this is the last year that it will be contested under the present rules. Next year Curry Capital of Britain® will be going international, with preliminary events to determine the Curry Capitals of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. The successful home nation teams will then compete against each other, as well as London to determine who will be the Curry Capital of Britain® and go onto compete against representatives from other countries for an international title.
The battle between England and Scotland in particular is certain to be hotly contested, as each is very proud of their curry industry. In this year's event not only did Glasgow come a close second with a very solid presentation, but Edinburgh was placed 8th and new entrant Aberdeen, 10th.
When told about the plans for the 14th Curry Capital of Britain®, Patricia Tillotson, on behalf of Bradford said, 'bring it on!'
The 18th National Curry Week® took place from 12-18 October 2015, supported by Sainsbury's, Amira Rice, Bhai Cider and Kingfisher Premium Lager Beer.
