John Street Market

We’re in Frikassé, a small café in John Street Oastler Market. Here I want to share some of my ‘back home’, the food and a bit of the culture. I’m half-Moroccan and half-Tunisian. Frikassé is Tunisian street food. This is something different in Bradford. Before I opened this shop I did my research, and there’s no other place that serves North African, Tunisian, Algerian or Moroccan food. So that’s what I’m sharing.

Food is about sitting down together and sharing. I try to implement some of the things that we’re missing nowadays, because everyone is busy and it comes to a point where they don’t even think about what they’re eating. Just fill up the belly and go back to work or whatever they’re doing. It’s essential to know what we’re eating, and how we’re eating, so we enjoy our food and get the benefit.

That’s why I have this shop, so they can be more mindful about things around them. Not only food, but in general. Stress took over our lives! But mindful eating is not culture for a specific country – it’s for all human beings. And it’s for everything. Once you’re present you give your best, and your best is the best! And that’s what we need in Bradford: healthy food, healthy minds and healthy Bradford!

I’m Gunther and I’m the owner of Roswitha’s Delicatessen. This is certainly the oldest deli in Bradford. It’s been around for about 60 years. Originally it was a Polish deli connected to a Polish bakery and meat factory. We’ve had it since 1991.

It’s always been a mixed delicatessen from different European countries. Even though it was a Polish shop, Ukrainian people were married to Italians were married to Polish people and German people, back in the late 1940s and ’50s when people came over after the war. So the delicatessen has always represented the people who use it.

We used to have about six or seven European delis in the centre of Bradford. I’m the last one at the moment, but I remember my grandfather getting dressed up in a suit and putting a cap on just to go down to the market to do some shopping. And everyone else was dressed up in their best to go shopping, and it was a big social thing where people would meet up and in the evening they’d go to a dance. Whether it was at the Latvian Club or the Estonian Club, there’d be something going on somewhere.

I enjoy food and I enjoy talking about it. That’s why I’m here, really. In my family, my mum’s Austrian, my father’s Italian. My grandfather is not blood-related but he was always there. He was Polish and I was christened in the Polish church. So I’ve grown up with German food, Italian food, Polish food. I’ve grown up with all the things that I now sell.

There are so many cultures in Bradford, it enlightens Bradford and it’s the heartbeat of Bradford. And then if you go outside of the city centre then you’ve got woods and countryside just five minutes away.

My stall is Solly’s Fruit & Vegetables in Oastler Market in the city centre, BD1. Its famous name is John Street Market. My grandad’s name was Suleiman – people used to call him Sol, and then from Sol to Solly.

My grandad started in a shop in 1974 on Oak Lane, and he taught me how to do it. I’ve done my best and since 1974 I’ve never worked for anybody else. And then I came here. It’s about 28 years now, and now I’m trying my boys.

When I started here about 28 years ago I’d say it was 80 per cent English customers, and Polish and Ukrainian. Very few Asian customers. But nowadays there’s very few English customers and the people who come here are European, Asian, Brazilian, Chinese, from the Philippines. All kind of people come here and we try to cater for them.

We see more different faces every day. Some people come from Skipton, Harrogate and Leeds to do their shopping here and we try to get their stuff for them. Like we have Polish and Ukrainian people who come to us from Harrogate at Easter to get fresh horseradish – nobody else will do it. It’s all about knowing your customers.