"Tasty simplicity" is what one person said about our cooking session with families in Tauranga.
This session was part of Travelling Kitchen's 'trial roadshow', where we wanted to test if we could throw everything (equipment, ingredients, and ourselves) in a van, and deliver a really great food experience in an unfamiliar venue in a distant location. The good news is, yes we can!
The families split into teams to make kumara nuggets, pickled cucumbers, honey-soy chicken, and quick-cook flatbread. We adapted the flatbread to be dairy-free (using coconut yoghurt) as well as gluten-free, to suit the participants with allergies. It tasted sensational - even better than the original version! Think we'll make that switch for all future flatbreads.
We were stoked to get feedback about how easy it was to follow the visual recipes, how satisfying it was to get hands-on with the food, and how confident people felt to cook again another time - we even received a photo today from one of the teenagers who attended and cooked the chicken and flatbread for her mum the next day. That's what Travelling Kitchen is all about :-)
As we chopped, mashed, mixed, and cooked the food, we talked a lot about food substitutions according to what's available, and what people like. Don't like cucumbers? Use the same recipe to pickle a different vegetable that you like instead. Have some carrots or taro hanging about in your pantry that you're not sure what to do with? Follow the vegetable nuggets recipe and use the carrots or taro instead of kumara.
Our one piece of negative feedback was not making enough time for the participants to do their own dishes. That's an issue we can easily resolve for future sessions.
We've been asked to return and run sessions with more people around the region. We would love to, and will do our best to make it happen.
Thanks to Bay Venues for your enthusiasm, support, and having us along to cook with your wonderful locals.
