(SOLD OUT) Eritrean Cookery Class with Helen | Family Style | LONDON

Nothing beats a home-cooked meal shared with family! And this is what inspires our Family Style Cookery Classes, a fun, laid-back homestyle cooking experience. Here, you will learn to prepare different dishes and then enjoy them with people who, like you, fuel our mission of supporting refugee and migrant chefs on their journey to integration. It’s a cookery class with a conscience, like they say!

Your class will be led by our wonderful Chef Helen from Eritrea at at All Saints Peckham Church.

At our Family Style Cookery Classes, you will be grouped with other participants and prepare dishes together as a team. Think of Helen as the head of the family! She will take care of dividing the class into groups, and each group will be responsible for creating one of the dishes. Of course, you are welcome and encouraged to move around during the class to learn about the other dishes being prepared. Throughout the evening, Chef Helen will share stories about their food and culture, and explain how to prepare each of the dishes so you come away with some new cooking tricks and inspiration from Eritrea. You will also be emailed the recipes after the class.

A sample menu of the dishes that will be taught include:

• Adas (Red lentils with Berbere pepper)
• Timtimo (Brown Lentils)
• Hamli (Curried Greens)
• Shiro (Chickpea flour and Berbere Stew)

This menu is Vegan. Allergens include: Celery. Vegetable stock may contain: Gluten, Eggs, Milk, Mustard, Nuts.

Please let us know if you have any specific dietary requirements so our team is aware ahead of the class but kindly note that we will not be substituting any ingredients to accommodate dietary needs so please only book into classes that suit your dietary preferences and needs. Please see our Food and Allergen Policy when booking into the class for more information.

A message from our Chef Helen:

“Hello, my name is Helen Goitom. I am from Eritrea. I was brought up in a city called Asmara – the capital city of Eritrea. My mother taught me to cook when I was 12 years old. I have 6 brothers and 2 sisters. My brothers never cooked, only me and my sisters. I have been in the UK for 1 year and 5 months. I got my refugee status last year, age 28.

In 2014 I was forced to join the army in Eritrea. Everyone in my country had to join. Only my father couldn’t join because he was ill. After 3 years of being in the army I wanted to leave the army because it was very dangerous and scary, I didn’t like it. Often there was not enough food and water for the soldiers, there was never any rest, every day working and no rest. My father was very sick so I asked to go visit him in hospital. They wouldn’t let me. I escaped to see my father. The authorities went to the hospital and put me in prison. I spent 6 months in prison. Then my aunt’s son paid someone to help me escape.

I went to Sudan, then Turkey, the Greece, then Italy, Belgium. In Belgium 12 of us snuck into the back of a lorry, the driver was asleep, he didn’t notice us. And the lorry got to the UK.

I am happy here in London. People help me. There are so many amazing services. When I’m ill I can get medicine. In Eritrea there was no medicine. There were no good schools. I feel very grateful to be here. My friends who I met in the lorry I am very good friends with still, they are like family to me.”

We’re excited to have you in the class! Please take note of a few final reminders:

• We sell Migrateful aprons that you can purchase either when booking your ticket (pick it up at the event) or before the cookery class starts at the venue. They cost £18 per apron. Please note we only accept card payments.
• We will send you a reminder email 3 days before the class takes place that will include our In-Person Class COVID-19 Policy. You can also find more information on our website and social media pages.
• This small-scale class for 12 participants is not socially distanced. For those seeking a Covid-secure cookery class, please see our events online.
• Payments made through Paypal can take up to 48 hours to have the order confirmed. To guarantee your spot in a cookery class we recommend using a debit or credit card.
• We only process refunds and ticket transfers if we are notified 7 days before the class takes place.