“There is gold in everyone,” says John Daynes, a prison leaver who came to work at COOK seven years ago. Through our RAW Talent programme I’ve learned he is right. And the gold we discover in others brings genuine value to COOK both as a business and a community.
Vegetarians and vegans may no longer be viewed with the sort of suspicion reserved for naturists or members of the Flat Earth Society, and yet we are still largely a nation of carnivores. Meat is at the heart of many great British culinary traditions: the bacon sarnie; the Sunday roast; sausages on the BBQ; lamb at Easter; turkey at Christmas; cold cuts; hot pots; pork pies; Cornish pasties; Scotch eggs…it’s a very, very long list.
Imogen and John from our team had a hot cross bun off recently, and we’re sharing Imogen’s family recipe for you to try at home. John made a sourdough version from a recipe on the BBC. If you have a sourdough starter at home, you can try it here.
The main takeaway is that they are not for the fainthearted! But baking is good for the soul and the results were delicious, so we think it’s well worth it. If you share a photo of your creations on Facebook or Instagram, please tag us @theCOOKkicthen – we’d love to see.
Rosie, our Co-CEO, shares her thoughts on the today…
Today is International Women’s Day. Gender is an issue society has grappled with for generations, and never more so than now. Women are still under-represented in leadership positions around the globe. I am proud of the work COOK is doing to become more inclusive for all, including around gender, and everywhere you look in COOK there are brilliant women leading the way. We plan to help even more emerge over the new few years. So where to begin on this particular high wire?
Veganuary has hit a new landmark this year with close to 610,000 people taking part. Whether you took the Veganuary pledge or just dipped your toe in the water, a lot of people find that one of the hardest things about making the vegan switch is the menu planning - thinking about what to eat for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
So, we spoke to one of our chefs, Theo, and asked him for a recipe recommendation to help us on our way, and he shared this with us: Sweet Potato and Peanut Butter Curry. There are similar recipes out there, but this is a variation on a theme, we’ve called it Theo’s Theme.