Cultural cook-alongs
During lockdown, we have loved hosting online ‘cook-alongs’ led by different HLP members, celebrating their favourite home-cooked vegetarian dishes. The idea was kicked off by Shemeika and Issa, who wanted to show us how to cook the Jamaican food they love to eat with their four children. Shemeika cooked and Issa filmed for a live feed to YouTube. We loved seeing Issa’s obvious appreciation as he tucked into ‘hard food’ such as dumplings, yam and plantain, served with spicy callaloo.
More cook-alongs followed for Black History Month in October 2020, with HLP members from Black and African communities sharing their healthy recipes. Check out Angolan Bean Soup with Adelaide and the famous Caribbean “Washout” with Rosemarie
This year, as we went back into lockdown we continued with our online cook-alongs and gave them the title ‘Cultural Cook-Alongs’ with the intention of providing a space for people to share and learn about foods from one another's cultures, childhoods and countries of origin. We had contributions from HLP members of Ghanian, Nigerian, Jamaican, Algerian, Indian and Peruvian descent, to name but a few.
The first ten participants to register for a session were eligible for a free recipe pack containing most of the ingredients with which to make the dish.
The sessions were hosted by Zoe, our food co-ordinator. They were relaxed and fun, with participants showing one another their dishes and sharing different cooking tips.
HLP member, Emma, attended all of the online cook-along sessions. She wanted to learn how to make healthy dishes for her family, and loved the chance to ‘hear stories from so many of the cultures that are the fabric of my local community’. As a new mum, she really appreciated being able to cook along from home and learned lots of new skills. She told us: ‘I have been inspired to cook with new foods and ingredients, and I’ve learnt some fantastic tips that will stay with me for life. For example, adding more lemon instead of salt to a dish has been a game-changer!’
A recent favourite was HLP member Preeti’s chickpea flour pancakes (besan ka chilla) with spicy potatoes (indori aloo). ‘I found all the ingredients I needed locally,’ Emma says. ‘The potatoes were delicious – seasoning them with spices, herbs and lemon gave them such a depth. And I learnt how to make a quick and delicious coriander chutney that will definitely become a staple in my home.’
This was the first cook-along Preeti had led, though we hope she will be able to run some more ‘real-life’ cooking sessions soon as we move back towards face-to-face sessions. Preeti is from Madhya Pradesh, a central state in India, and has lived in the UK for 5 years. She started attending sessions with Healtlhy Living Platform when she had her twin girls, then trained to be a HLP Food Ambassador.
Preeti appreciated the support of Healthy Living Platform during lockdown, too. Not only did she join in other cook-alongs, where it was it was ‘good to see other people talking and cooking together’, but she was able to get fresh food for her family after her husband had developed Covid symptoms and they were stuck in the house.
Of her own cook-along session, Preeti says, ’I chose a recipe that had lots of familiar ingredients, that were easy to find, and which are all very nutritious. I was a bit nervous just before it started, and because English is not my first language it was difficult also, but it went well and everybody seemed to enjoy my food!’
You can catch up with some of our previous cook-alongs on our Youtube channel. As restrictions allow, we are planning to return to small group in person sessions which will be inspired by this online format - being led by different members in the community, providing more opportunities to learn about healthy dishes from one another's cultures.
Contact Zoe on 07944240420 to learn more about our Cook Alongs or to plan one yourself.