GUEST BLOG: Ministry Of Food

By guest blogger CRACKING COOK AVRIL POVAH

The sun was shining as Adele and I set off over the Pennines to Bradford on Monday 24 May. We were going to see the latest Jamie's Ministry Of Food centre, opened by Jamie Oliver following his famous TV programme of the same name. The first opened up in another Yorkshire town, Rotherham, which was highlighted in the show as being one the “fattest” places in England, and we were keen to learn how people were being inspired to get back into the kitchen to cook good wholesome meals instead of eating takeaways and ready meals.

Jamie's Ministry Of Food centres are council funded and their kitchen costs, whatever they may be, are outweighed against the long-term savings in treating obesity in their respective areas. The centres are centrally positioned right in the heart of the towns so local people just passing by can pop in to learn the basics of cooking and how to make good simple meals on a tight budget, or just get friendly advice on recipes, shopping, nutrition, equipment, and local and seasonal ingredients.


Soraya Overend, the project manager at Bradford, made us feel very welcome, showing us the ultra modern and sleek kitchen, perfectly designed with cookery classes in mind. She explained that they offer 10-week cooking programmes covering a range of meals from simple egg dishes to homemade soups, pasta and pizza, and roast dinners. People from all walks of life can learn how to cook quick, simple, healthy and cost-effective meals in just one hour, and the “pass it on” strategy encourages them to tell their friends and family all about it. One lesson is just £4 and you get to eat the food afterwards, either at the centre or to take home.

We arrived early to ask Soraya (pictured on the left, with me on the right and Adele reflected in the window!) how it all started and how it’s going, then joined the Week 5 group for a Thai green curry lesson. Some of the participants had popped in during their work lunch break - what a great idea: learning a new skill and getting fed too! Soraya explained all the ingredients we were using for the Thai green curry - we even had fresh seasonal asparagus to cook with - and demonstrated how to make a Thai green curry paste. There was lots of herb smelling, and we were all hooked on the fresh lemon grass and coriander. We picked from a choice of chicken, prawns or Quorn (which Adele plumped for immediately), then we were let loose on the induction hobs to prepare our stir fries. When we tucked into our creations afterwards, all the fresh flavours came flooding through - it was absolutely delicious!

The next Jamie's Ministry Of Food centre opens in the centre of Leeds this month, and I hope it's as successful as the others. Please come to Manchester, Jamie!


Avril works for Nutrimens and The Sunshine Cafe in Sale. She is also on Cracking Good Food's team of Cracking Cooks and will be running a public session called Tasty Salads With Pulses'n'grains on Tuesday 22 June at Chorlton High (6-9pm). All details on the June and July sessions, which cost just £15 for three hours (£10 concessions), are on the Cracking Good Food website here.

GUEST BLOG: Chorlton Good Neighbours puddings cooking session, Wednesday 2 June

By guest blogger AVRIL POVAH


Adele was on her jollies en France – ooh la la - so I stepped in to coordinate a cooking demo for Chorlton Good Neighbours at St Ninian's Church on Wilbraham Road. The session was on themed puddings, which Rob, our Cooking Leader, executed wonderfully, helped along by our super cooking assistants, Kate from Jam Street Cafe and Donna from Chorlton High School.


At first, I was worried that it seemed rather an ambitious menu for a two-hour session, but despite all the chopping, fruit stewing, mixing and baking, we pulled it off! Our menu consisted of Apple and Pineapple Sponge, Rhubarb and Apricot Crumble and Semolina Pudding with Prunes, accompanied by lashings of homemade custard. Each had plenty of fruit content, but as they were also laden with fat and sugar, we explained straight away that puddings aren't nutritionally balanced and we cannot live on sweet dishes alone (I wish), but that they're to be eaten as a treat and not over portioned.


The sponge was delicately spiced up with cinnamon, while the hint of ginger in the crumble really made all the difference in tasting at the end of the session - truly delicious. Rob was a brilliant raconteur, relaying passionate stories of ingredients and origins of food, together with his vast knowledge of working in the food industry.


You can join Rob for his sessions on Cooking With Fish The Sustainable Way on Tuesday 8 June at Chorlton High (6-9pm) and Saturday 12 June at St Ninian's (11am-2pm). Meanwhile if the thought of puddings has tickled your fancy, Kim will be running a session for the general public on Tuesday 15 June at Chorlton High (6-9pm). All details on the June and July sessions, which cost just £15 for three hours (£10 concessions), are on the Cracking Good Food website here.

Avril is on Cracking Good Food's team of Cracking Cooks and will be running a public session called Tasty Salads With Pulses'n'grains on Tuesday 22 June at Chorlton High (6-9pm). She also works for Nutrimens and The Sunshine Cafe in Sale.

Picnic in the park

Join us on Saturday (5 June) to bring World Environment Day to Whalley Range at a community picnic in Manley Park. Cracking coordinator Adele and Cracking Cook Kim will be helping picnickers rustle up some tasty nosh (for a small fee) from 11am, with the picnic running from noon until 4pm. On the menu are felafels, couscous with nuts and fruit, raita, potato salad with maple syrup, sesame seeds and torn parsley... all kinds of yummy veggie fayre.


Loads of other local groups will be there as well as Cracking Good Food, including Friends Of The Earth, Meat Free Monday, Eat Your Streets, Celebrate Your Alley Gates and Adopt-A-Tree, and there will even be some planting taking place from 2.30pm.

New sessions booking up fast!

Get cracking and get booking your places on the June and July cookery sessions in June and July!

The sessions still available are:

Cooking With Fish The Sustainable Way (with seasoned chef Rob - get the joke?): Tuesday 8 June and Saturday 12 June

Easy Puddings (with Kim, who runs the café at Islington Mill): Tuesday 15 June

Tasty Salads With Pulses'n'grains (with Avril of Nutrimens - which means "food" in Latin, so she should know what she's doing!): Tuesday 22 June

Something Spicy (with Kate from Jam Street Café): Tuesday 29 June and Saturday 3 July

Pasta Plus (with Jay, the Hickson in Hickson & Black's): Tuesday 6 July

Mexican Tapas (with Unicorn's Fernanda): Tuesday 13 July and Saturday 17 July


Aimed at individuals and parties of friends, each one-off three-hour class costs just £15 or £10 concessions thanks to all the lovely funding we've managed to secure from the Local Food Fund (National Lottery), The Co-operative Membership and the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation.

The Tuesday evening sessions take place from 6pm to 9pm at Chorlton High School on Nell Lane, while the Saturday classes run 11am to 2pm at St Ninian’s on Wilbraham Road. Vegetarians can easily be catered for and full details on how to book are available on the Cracking Good Food website. Alternatively, you can just pop in and see our friends at Hickson & Black’s deli in Chorlton and sign up there.

Festival fever!

On Sunday, Chorlton Arts Festival comes to a close with a huge Street Feast from 5pm-7.30pm in Chorlton Precinct. There will be tables in a big long line down the middle and a cracking good community atmosphere is guaranteed! Everyone is encouraged to bring decorations to make their table the best dressed and it would be great to see as many people as possible there donning their best bib and tucker. Cracking Cooks Rob, Kath and Vic will be manning the Cracking Good Food stall, purveying their wares alongside other local food and drink vendors, and performers will be providing entertainment for the troops!


It's a free event, but you need to get tickets in advance - you can pick these up from the Festival Hub in the Precinct (open Wed-Sat 10am-4pm), by calling the ticket hotline on 07794 860305 or by emailing tickets@chorltonartsfestival.com

Take a walk on the wild side

The third "Guestrant" evening at Electrik bar on Wilbraham Road takes place on Monday 24 May from 7.30pm and coincides with the tenth annual Chorlton Arts Festival which kicks off on Thursday.

We're delighted to announce that the star cook that evening is Cracking Good Food's very own Beth Creedon. Beth will be serving up a three-course meal made entirely from wild food, using ingredients foraged from "fields, hedges, woods and the sky". The fayre on offer is hand picked, home grown, locally sourced and, of course, in season. Beth has been cooking with wild food for over six years and likes to make classic dishes from exciting alternative ingredients. Past menus have included: Hawthorn and Sanguinello Chilli Salad; Razor Clam Chowder; Rabbit with Wild Mushrooms, and Nettle and Jack By The Hedge Ice Cream. An interesting evening is definitely in store!

Tickets are £25 from Electrik (email info@electrikbar.co.uk). Remember to state if you have a vegetarian preference when you buy your ticket.

GUEST BLOG: Seeing the Cooks On The Hop in action

By guest blogger SARAH-CLARE CONLON

Having been helping out Cracking Good Food with their press and PR for a while now, I was beginning to feel a tad guilty that I hadn't yet managed to see the Cooks On The Hop properly in full swing. Yes, I was there for the launch at Chorlton's Big Green Festival, and even put my name down for a session, but demand was so great on the day that I had to step aside so non-Cracking Good Foodies could have a go. Not that I'm complaining - I want as many people as possible to try out the fantastic stop'n'chop idea!


When Adele told me that the Cooks On The Hop gazebo was going to be rocking up outside nice new Barlow Moor Road deli Hickson & Black's today, the date was straight in my diary. Obviously for promotional purposes (I hope you're keeping up with events on our new Facebook page, BTW!), but also so I could finally get a piece of the action.


Well, I know I'm biased, but the wait was certainly worth it! When I rolled up, Steve (the Black of Hickson & Black's) was in full swing serving up perfect pasta on paper plates. It was less about getting hands on and more about taste testing, but trying to decide which I preferred between the Putanesca and the All'amatriciana was tricky stuff, I can tell you. The smoky pancetta gave a lovely depth to the All'amatriciana, while you could taste the freshness in the subtly spicy Putanesca. (In the end, my favourite was the Putanesca - absolutely chockablock with flavour.)


If you were also lucky enough to snaffle a sample today, great news, because Steve's colleague Jay (as in Hickson) will be running two workshops for Cracking Good Food in July. All the details about the Pasta Plus courses are on the Cracking Good Food website, along with details of all the new sessions running in June and July. Hey - maybe I'll see you there!

Sarah-Clare Conlon is a writer, editor and press officer who lives in Chorlton and does PR for Cracking Good Food. You can read her award-winning blog about arts and culture here.