At Angel’s Bakery in Peckham, south London, a queue forms for Nigerian-style suya on Fridays. Food writer Jimi Famurewa recalls waiting amid Yoruba jokes, conversation and music from inside. Suya has roots in Hausa food culture: thin meat is coated in the spice blend yaji and traditionally grilled in two stages.
In a food culture strongly centred on home cooking, authentic suya remains something people value buying from a specialist. Hunger alone did not make this Friday line. Technique, language and the weekly rhythm of an immigrant neighbourhood converged during the wait, turning a parcel of grilled meat into a point of contact with family and place.