In its earlier phase of expansion, Britain took what could be called a “small plates” approach to empire – non-contiguous bits of land spread across the tabletop of the world, rather than one meat-and-two-veg continental slab. This is not a completely insane metaphor. East London, where the rent is high and the bill for a fashionable, crockery-intensive dinner for four isn’t far behind, pips any eroding statue in Whitehall for post-colonial resonance.
Let me explain. I recently moved near London Fields, a small park with Hackney to its east and Dalston to its west. Below it is Broadway Market, a stretch of shops that accommodates a line of hectic food stalls on the weekend. That market has existed in some form since the 19th century but, as with the street itself, has been thoroughly gentrified. After 120 years of service, the F Cooke pie and mash shop closed in 2020 and was replaced by a branch of the expensive glasses brand Cubitts. Like the Ottomans taking over the Hagia Sophia, it left much of the original shopfront unchanged.
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