“I was delighted to discover Brixton People’s Kitchen a few weeks ago, thankfully just in time to help build the fabulous mobile kitchen. I helped out at The Remakery in April and really enjoyed the experience of being creative and making something useful for the community. The wonderful welcome from other volunteers has made me feel like I have been part of Brixton People’s Kitchen for a lot longer than a few weeks.
After talking to everyone and anyone about the mobile kitchen and this great project in my local park, it was great to cook for the first time on Sunday. I really enjoyed the process; the kitchen was really well organised, the cooks were great company and the ingredients were fresh and asking to be eaten….
The initial discussion made my mouth water! 84kgs of donated food was spread out in front of us. It was like a community version of the television programme Masterchef; that task when there is a selection of ingredients and each contestant has an hour to create a dish that is delicious and sufficiently skilful to take them to the final; I’m certain we would have scored ourselves a place in the final on Sunday.
We talked about textures, complimenting tastes and sides to make a good dish a great dish. We considered what ingredients could be saved for another day to make the food last longer and reach more people in the community. Cooks volunteered themselves to make a dish, we all agreed which ingredients would be used in which dish and everyone got busy. While the majority of us were focussed on a particular dish, it was really nice to have spare cooks at hand to help with ideas, chopping, peeling etc.
Our feast included:
Celeriac soup with croutons
Summery colourful pasta salad (to thank the sun for making an appearance and making it feel like summer)
Potato and French bean salad with lots of fresh mint
Stir-fry greens with a Satay sauce on the side
Mushroom stroganoff
Roasted vegetables
Mint Tea
Vegan fruit crumble
Hungry passers-by were lured in by the soulful sounds of Samuel J Harrison a musician from Birmingham who graced us with himself and his guitar. Around 40 people enjoyed food, music and good company on a sunny Sunday afternoon. I think my plate of food tasted even better having being part of the process; cooking and sharing a healthy meal with friends and strangers is certainly something I encourage others to do with Brixton People’s Kitchen.”