Tamil town, Paris
The heart of Paris’ Tamil town is the stretch along rue du Faubourg Saint Denis, between the Gare du Nord and the La Chappelle metro station. It is chock-a-block with Tamil restaurants, and grocery, jewelry and clothing shops. (It is also known as “Little Jaffna”, after Jaffna, the Tamil town in northern Sri Lanka.)
Who are the Tamil people?
They are a Dravidian ethnolinguistic group who natively speak the Tamil language and come from India’s southern state of Tamil Nadu, the union territory of Puducherry (whose capital is Pondicherry), and Sri Lanka. The Tamil language is one of the world’s longest-surviving classical languages, with over 2000 years of Tamil literature, including the Sangam poems, which were composed between 300 BCE and 300 CE.
There are reportedly over 100,000 Tamils living in Metropolitan France. There are also Tamil communities in the French overseas dominions, with around 220,000 people in the French department of la Réunion.
How did the Tamils get to France?
From the 17th century until 1954, France had a number of small colonies in India, namely, Pondichéry, Karikal, Yanam on the Coromandel Coast, Mahé on the Malabar Coast and Chandernagor in Bengal.
The earliest Tamil migration into France from Pondichery can be traced back to the 17th Century. And Tamil migration has continued, notably after decolonisation when former colonial subjects were offered easy access to French nationality.
In Sri Lanka, the civil war was essentially a conflict between the majority Sinhalese and the minority Tamil populations. One consequence was that many Sri Lankan Tamils became refugees and went to France and other countries. A majority of Parisian Tamils are indeed of Sri Lankan origin.
Much of the Tamil community in the French department of la Réunion, moved there during the colonial period of the 19th century to work as laborers, petty administration officers, and in clerical and military duties.
An important point of clarification. The Indian community in France is made up of not only Tamils, but people from other Indian states such as Punjab, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, and Kerala.
What is special about Tamil cuisine?
Probably the most famous Tamil dish is “masala dosa”. A dosa is a fermented crisp crepe made from rice batter and black lentils. It becomes a masala dosa when stuffed with a lightly cooked filling of potatoes, fried onions and spices.
Another must is “idli”, or cakes made by steaming a batter consisting of fermented black lentils (de-husked) and rice. Indian food would not be Indian food without spices. So idli’s are always accompanied by tomato chutney, onion chutney, coconut chutney, coriander mint chutney, street style chili chutney or some other delight. Despite the spicy chutneys, idlis are a common breakfast treat.
There are of course many other great Tamil dishes, and I will leave it to you to discover them. But whatever you eat, you must wash it down with masala chai, a spicy Indian tea.
Which are the best restaurants in Tamil town?
I have tried many, and most are very good. But my favourites are Chennai Dosa and Dishny. There is however much fun to be had in trying several and deciding on your favourite.
Beyond gastronomy, Tamil Town is a very lively place. The famous annual Ganesh Festival and its crowd drawing processions of dancers, rituals and floats has been celebrated at the end of August each year since the late 1990s.
Bon appetit!