The Corner Shop Chronicles: Cooking, Community, and Change in Hackney

On a quiet morning in Hackney, the smell of spices drifts from a family kitchen above a bustling corner shop. Anju Patel is preparing the day’s menu: dhal simmering on the stove, Patra rolled with care, and chapati dough ready to be worked by hand. Downstairs, the shop hums with life. Customers pop in not just for groceries but for a connection, a familiar face, or a shared memory.

For the Patel family, food is more than sustenance; it’s a way of preserving heritage. Anju’s recipes, passed down from her mother-in-law, are acts of quiet preservation, bridging the family’s roots in Gujarat and Punjab with their lives in Hackney

I learned these recipes to keep our culture alive

Anju Patel

Anju says, rolling dough with practiced hands.

Now it’s my turn to pass them on.

Anju Patel

Homemade samosas, warm and fragrant, sit alongside jars of salsa and fresh produce—a reflection of the shop’s ability to embrace tradition while adapting to an ever-changing Hackney.

When the Patels arrived in Hackney in the late 1970s, it was a place where new beginnings and close-knit communities thrived. Over the decades, the streets have transformed, shaped by waves of migration and gentrification. Through it all, the family shop stood firm. It adapted, as all good corner shops do—adding new items like kimchi jars and gourmet salsa to cater to shifting tastes while keeping its roots firmly planted in tradition.

You have to change to survive,

Mayank Patel

Mayank Patel reflects.

But that doesn’t mean forgetting who you are.

Mayank Patel

The Heart of the Community

For decades, the shop has been more than a business—it’s been a gathering place, a link between past and present. Priyesh Patel recalls doing his homework behind the counter, watching as his parents served customers with care.

It wasn’t just a shop; it was part of the community,

Priyesh Patel

he says.

Despite rising rents and the pressures of gentrification, the Patel family’s corner shop remains a cornerstone of resilience, adaptability, and tradition in Hackney.

Listen to The Hackney and Newham History Social Podcast wherever you get your podcasts or listen here The Hackney and Newham History Social Club | Immediate Theatre to hear the full story.