Since today, August 21, would have been the 71st birthday of Joe Strummer, the legendary frontman for The Clash, I thought it would be appropriate to post a passage from the terrific, infectious "Bhindi Bhagee" by Strummer and his band the Mescaleros from 2001, about eating in London’s eclectic, ethnic neighborhoods, which is easily relatable to our at-least-as-diverse and also very vibrant dining landscape:
Well, I was walking down the highroad,
And this guy stops me,
He’d just got in from New Zealand,
And he was looking for mushy peas
I said, “no, we hadn’t really got them ‘round here
I said, but we do got…
Balti, Bhindi, strictly Hindi,
Dal, halal, and I’m walking down the road,
We got rocksoul, okra, Bombay duck-ra,
Shrimp bean sprout, comes with or without,
Bagels soft, or simply harder,
Exotic avocado or toxic empanada,
We got ackee, lassi, Somali waccy baccy,
I’m sure back home you know what tikka’s all about…
Welcome stranger…to the humble neighborhoods,
You can get inspiration on the highroad,
Hommus, cous cous, in the jus of octopus,
Pastrami and salami and lasagne on the go,
Welcome stranger, there’s no danger
Welcome to this humble neighborhood…”
Not that we have any highroads in Houston, nor hills, much less too many pedestrians or mushy peas on menus, though there are some New Zealanders (and an Humble). As fun as it is to dine globally and (somewhat) affordably in and around London, I believe that we have it better here in Houston, at least for my palate; good Mexican and Tex-Mex food is a little more prevalent, for starters.
The lyrics are reprinted courtesy of the band’s label, Epitaph Europe, or at least it gave me permission a number of years ago when I asked to use it for the last edition of my Houston Dining on the Cheap.
Well, I was walking down the highroad,
And this guy stops me,
He’d just got in from New Zealand,
And he was looking for mushy peas
I said, “no, we hadn’t really got them ‘round here
I said, but we do got…
Balti, Bhindi, strictly Hindi,
Dal, halal, and I’m walking down the road,
We got rocksoul, okra, Bombay duck-ra,
Shrimp bean sprout, comes with or without,
Bagels soft, or simply harder,
Exotic avocado or toxic empanada,
We got ackee, lassi, Somali waccy baccy,
I’m sure back home you know what tikka’s all about…
Welcome stranger…to the humble neighborhoods,
You can get inspiration on the highroad,
Hommus, cous cous, in the jus of octopus,
Pastrami and salami and lasagne on the go,
Welcome stranger, there’s no danger
Welcome to this humble neighborhood…”
Not that we have any highroads in Houston, nor hills, much less too many pedestrians or mushy peas on menus, though there are some New Zealanders (and an Humble). As fun as it is to dine globally and (somewhat) affordably in and around London, I believe that we have it better here in Houston, at least for my palate; good Mexican and Tex-Mex food is a little more prevalent, for starters.
The lyrics are reprinted courtesy of the band’s label, Epitaph Europe, or at least it gave me permission a number of years ago when I asked to use it for the last edition of my Houston Dining on the Cheap.
