Deaf Group Cooking Up a Storm!

Some of our Deaf Cafe members are meeting up regularly for a Cookery Session at Feel Good Factor and they are cooking up a storm!

Six profoundly Deaf BSL users aged 50+ from the Feel Good Factor Deaf Café have joined a six week cookery course run by Shabana Kosar, Choices Coordinator, with communication support from Tracey Nicholls, our Sensory Impairment Development Worker.

Five of the group are Iranian along with one British person, and each of them are interested in trying out recipes from different cultures.

The course will cover British, Asian, Italian and Caribbean dishes. Two of the members have previously worked as pizza chefs and were particularly interested to learn how to make chapatis, taught by Shabana. All are enjoying learning different food prep techniques by tutor Yvonne and comparing cultural differences in how to prepare ingredients and what to use or avoid… there was much surprise recently when Yvonne used only the coriander leaves, and the stalks were carefully saved and taken home to be used.

Ali, a filmmaker by trade enjoys filming and editing the sessions each week and so we’ll drop these films in here for a taste of what everyone gets up to. See below.

Tracey says, “For some of the group the Cookery Session is the first time they’ve visited Feel Good Factor and they’re making themselves right at home – there’s a lot of laughing and joking each week. The group share lots of ideas of how to add their own twists to the recipes.”

Coming up the group will be making quiche and Tracey explains “Most of the group didn’t know what quiche is and when I showed them photos they thought it was an apple pie! The course is so engaging on many levels, helping everyone learn more about British culture and igniting some really interesting conversations.”

After enjoying eating together group members take any leftovers home, along with an easy to follow visual recipe card, so they can try making the food again at home.

Check out the Cookery Group in action in these short films below…

Courgette and Tomato Quiche

Stir Fry

Veggie Chilli

Lentil Soup & Chapatis