Community cooking

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The cooking events aim at creating respect for each other and offer space for informal networking.

Description of the activity

About twice a year, the whole association invites people (all internals and ~ 10-20 externals) to a community cooking event. Typical meals from all the different participant´s cultures are made and the knowledge is shared. Whoever wants to prepare a dish can do so. The surpluses of fruits and vegetables from the community garden are used. The aim is that the garden members come together and enjoy and celebrate outside the usual gardening (or sewing) work setting. External guests within the local community and also the migrant communities are invited.
This event is also sometimes carried out outside, directly in the garden (e.g. Barbecue, campfire) if the weather is suitable.

Competences and training needed

Basic cooking skills and the planning of the menu are important. This is because they need to plan for the number of meals they need to make. Somebody must organise a suitable kitchen and eating area. It should be well planned who prepares and brings what food in advance. Too much structure is not good for this format. Just let the dinner/lunch time and following activities/ideas flow naturally as they evolve. Also be open for new recipes, tastes and meals. Be sure to decide on how to deal with the leftovers, waste and the cleaning up afterwards together so the work is shared and not a single person is responsible for all.

Steps for the implementation of the activity

Organise a kitchen, which is suitable for the size of the group (rented kitchen or a private house).

Invitation of the members of the association (migrants and Austrians) at garden meetings / sewing sessions / WhatsApp group.

Personal Invitation of external people per mail, social media or face to face.

Everybody who wants to contribute can decide on a typical dish from his/her home county.

Buy the ingredients and use vegetables and fruits from the garden.

Cook together and enjoy the meals.

Materials and methods

Infrastructure:
Kitchen, electricity, dishes, recipes, tables and chairs.

Materials and human resources:
Food, cooking tools. Time and effort to organise and prepare meals.

Time/Workload:
1x/week for some hours: 2x year, approximately one evening +time for preparation.

Costs:
Low costs - money may be needed for renting a suitable room (if it’s not possible for free) and the ingredients.

Learning outcomes for the participants

The participants can improve their knowledge about international dishes and their cooking skills. Cultural differences and similarities can be identified and understood. Many social skills like communication and respect are trained when people come together, prepare meals and eat together. Friendships or partnerships can start at such events, which may be important someday either for “new locals” and “old locals”. Through networking and new contacts also job offers, education possibilities or other opportunities can arise.

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