Tom Zahir, the Big Dog of Hot Dogs

I think New Orleans and the region, in general, is unique in its multiculturalism, and that has found its way into the cuisine. New Orleans was a main port during the trade of slaves - so West African, Indian, Native American and European cultures all found themselves where the Mississippi met the Gulf of Mexico. The regional identity of New Orleans, specifically, is one of Creole culture - which in itself is the confluence of multiple cultures and races not only coexisting but thriving and creating an entirely new identity. This plays out through food, which literally traveled across oceans; in seeds kept in pockets of those forcibly removed from their homes, knowledge of farming practices, recipes and culture around food. If you pull at the strings of any recipe from New Orleans you can uncover hundreds of years of history - in everything from Gumbo (translated from the West African dialect word for Okra - Gombo) - to King Cakes (Rosco de Reyes from Spanish, Catholic countries and Galette de Rois from France) to Courtbouillon (a kind of New Orleans version of the classic french strew Bouillabaisse). The history is rich and deep and important and I love being a custodian and respecting that, but the root of the cuisine is with the multiculturalism that is woven in the very fabric of the city. 

I think the big difference (and I say this as a mixed-race kid) is that New Orleans learned to embrace multiculturalism, and let it become a part of what makes it brilliant, but I think the UK still struggles with the idea of integration. Historically, we didn't so much as assimilate cuisine and culture in the UK, as much as plunder and even when that happened, it was met with skepticism. That being said, in 2024, the UK is much more willing to embrace new cuisines, and you can find so many different unique diasporas and their restaurants in this enormous city. New Orleans, while also being a much smaller metropolis, can also be very traditional and slow to move with modern trends and embrace different cuisines. People are so proud of their culture and fight to preserve it, even if that is at the behest of change, and I absolutely respect that. It's an interesting duality of the city and one of many hundreds of reasons that keeps me returning, to learn, eat and cook.

We love Two Tribes and know Justin Hutton, one of the head honchos there really well. He loves New Orleans and we've spent many an event together talking about the city, so it was great to have a chance to work with them and use some of their beer to cook with for this collab! Their beers are so complex so it almost feels like cheating to add something with so much inherent flavour to a dish - to really ramp up the complexity with all those beautiful bitter and fruity notes. From a brand perspective, working with a brewery that has such a passion for music and art suits us, as a business with New Orleans at it's core, down to a tee.