Europe’s biggest carnival takes place this Bank Holiday weekend with over two million people expected to enjoy the pulsating sights, sounds and tastes of Notting Hill.
Dating back some 60 years, this particular Carnival is relatively late to the party with its roots in the celebration of West Indian culture brought to these shores by the Windrush generation.
Whilst every Carnival will have its own identity, most follow the basic theme of bands, dancers and entertainers carried on floats through the streets where crowds party and enjoy revelry and feasting.
Such community celebrations date back to antiquity and in 16th century Europe attempts were made by the ruling elite to try to bring some sort of order. Events were brought in line with the Christian calendar to mark a final day of celebration before the pre-Easter fasting period of Lent.
The word Carnival is thought to derive from the Latin derivation carne vale meaning a farewell to meat.
Faced with the prospect of no fun ‘til Easter, the excesses of Shrove Tuesday became even more wild as the public tried to pack six weeks of party into a long weekend, culminating in mass feasting on Shrove Tuesday – Pancake Day.
In France the final blow-out became known as Fat Tuesday or “Mardi Gras” and on Fat Tuesday 1699 French explorers held a celebration and gave the name Point du Mardi Gras to their landing spot in the US. It was just a few miles downstream from New Orleans and the Mardi Gras carnival lives on.
Some 50 years earlier Portugese settlers introduced a Carnival in Brazil in celebration of the Greek wine gods. This would become the biggest and most famous Carnival in the World, now celebrated every year in Rio de Janeiro.
With food at the centre of such revelry each community would add its own twist – the Cajun seasonings in New Orleans, the feijoada of Rio or the Afro-Caribbean taste of Notting Hill.
SK offers the chance to try street food from around the globe all year round. So, turn up the music, kick off your shoes, grab some Moroccan lamb parcels or falafels, some spicy chicken and our selection of dips and sauces and party like its 1699.
About Sean Flint
Development & Innovation Chef of SK Foods.
Your food. Our Passion.
