Food and Heritage: The Politics of Food

Dr Asma Khan, founder of Darjeeling Express, will deliver the Food Studies Centre's Annual Distinguished Lecture of 2026

Abstract

The food of our ancestors and our heritage is part of our DNA. It is so intertwined in who we are that we often take our family culinary traditions for granted. As an immigrant, a mother, and a storyteller — and as a restaurateur of an all-female immigrant kitchen — Asma Khan will highlight the politics of food. Who has a seat on the table, who is making hot chapatis in the kitchen, the gender inequality: women eat last, and girls eat least.

Speaker

Indian-born British restaurateur Asma Khan is a trailblazer in London’s culinary scene and an outspoken activist. Her Michelin Guide restaurant, Darjeeling Express, known for its revolutionary all-female kitchen has become a favourite of Hollywood A-listers while remaining a safe space for women. Through authentic, homestyle food, it has risen to the upper echelons of the food world while staying true to Khan’s commitment to grassroots social and environmental causes.

In 2024, TIME magazine named her one of the world’s 100 most influential people. She is a chef advocate for the UN World Food Programme and holds an honorary doctorate at SOAS and honorary fellowships from Queen’s College, Oxford, and King’s College London, where she earned a PhD in British Constitutional Law.

Khan was the first British chef on Netflix’s Chef’s Table and has appeared on Celebrity MasterChef and Top Chef. Her third cookbook, Monsoon, celebrates seasonal Indian home cooking. In 2025, she hosted the 10-episode series ‘Secrets of the Curry Kitchen’ on the Food Network and became the first patron of the Sodexo Stop Hunger Foundation, championing food justice.

Further information

This event will be followed by a wine reception. The event is free but registration is essential

Image (inset): Asma Khan

Inset (banner): Zoshua Colah, Unsplash