Thursday, February 28, 2008

A food tour of Thorncliffe

Thursday's edition of the Toronto Star has a great article on Thorncliffe's South Asian Food variety - here. The best line in the article is the first one:
Today's Thorncliffe Park is tomorrow's Canada...

It's a striking statement and one that Jehad Aliweiwi makes over a Pakistani meal of haleem, shish kebab curry and chicken tikka masala at Iqbal Kebab & Sweet Centre...Statistics Canada predicts visible minorities (mainly South Asian and Chinese) will be the majority by 2017.That's already true in this little-known Toronto neighbourhood."This is maybe the true global village of the city," says Aliweiwi. "It's not a random neighbourhood with troubles or a bad reputation that's to be avoided. It's a neighbourhood with something to offer."

"This neighbourhood is 90 per cent Muslim," explains co-owner Jenny Hsiung, who comes from Calcutta and is happy to see Hakka (Indian/Pakistani/Chinese hybrid) taking off in Toronto...

Thorncliffe Park, which housed a farm that bred racehorses in the 1800s and then a racetrack from the 1920s to 1950s, retains a unique, circular feel. Aliweiwi loves how the area's apartment dwellers have taken ownership of its public spaces and, especially in warm weather, head out to stroll, chat and gather...

"As a cultural experience, the food and the people are something to be really proud of in this diverse city."

One omission from the article was the recent closing of Thorncliffe's Burger King, which was unable to compete in this South Asian community. That's today's Thorncliffe Park, that's the future of Canada.

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