Kahn and Botsman, Salt beef and provisions shop, London E1, 1912Photograph from the collection of the Jewish Museum London

In the early years of the twentieth century, a sizeable community of Jewish immigrants settled in London's East End. They brought with them the culture and traditions from their homes in Eastern Europe, founding synagogues, speaking Yiddish, and setting up kosher butchers, Jewish food shops and restaurants. Salt beef is a Jewish speciality, and shops such as Kahn and Botsman in Brick Lane would provide their Jewish customers with many of their essential provisions and foodstuffs.

As Jewish people moved away from the East End to the suburbs, the Jewish food shops and restaurants followed them. Blooms, a Whitechapel institution, closed its doors there a few years ago. There are now no Jewish restaurants left in the East End, although many flourish elsewhere in London.

The story of Jewish life in London is told at both branches of the Jewish Museum in London, at Finchley and Camden Town.