Checked plastic tablecloths and bring your own drink.

Birmingham apparently wish to "copyright" the balti. For anyone from Mars, a balti is a type of curry dish, the main characteristic of which is that it is served in the vessel it is cooked in. This is a small deep dish with a handle on each side, and the generally accepted wisdom is that this gives the dish its name - balti being the Hindu word for bucket. Birmingham's claim is that the balti originated in the Sparkbrook area of the city in the late 70s, and therefore "belongs" to Birmingham. Not that their claim goes unchallenged - Bradford in particular can point to a similar - if not quite so well-documented - history. As far as I can see, they are both wrong - the concept of the balti was brought to these shores by immigrants from Northern Pakistan, and obviously if it can be said to have originated anywhere, then it originated back in their homeland. The balti is a culinary treasure which belongs to us all.