Come and peel some garlic with us!

Over the last couple of weeks our volunteer team in Calais has been growing smaller, however the need for hot food in Calais has not.

We have called out to the RCK community for additional support over the last couple of weeks and the response has been great with lots of emails asking about how volunteering works and people committing to come over.

Consequently, for the first time in a while we are able to operate for 6 days this week. This means an additional hot meal for those who want it in Calais and with temperatures falling and heavy rainfall access to hot food becomes more important.

However, volunteers are set to drop significantly beyond next week unfortunately making the 6 day week unsustainable unless we have more volunteers!

The kitchen could not operate without the tireless of work of volunteers both in person and from afar and so this post is simply about saying thank to you all for your continued support. It is hugely appreciated.

If you are interested in learning more about volunteering and coming to Calais then please email volunteering@refugeecommunitykitchen.org or if you would like to make any donation (of any size!!) then please click below.

Come and peel some garlic with us!!

Sam Jones' Chilli Oil

Ingredients

- 500g Peeled Garlic Coarsely Chopped

- 200g of Whole Dried Red Finger Chilli

- 3tbsp Quality Sea Salt

- 1lt Olive Oil

Method

1. Combine chopped garlic, oil and salt in a large heavy bottomed frying pan and set over a medium/low heat, keeping oil to around 100c (ie garlic not bubbling too aggressively), gently fry until garlic turns a rich golden colour, now add whole chilli’s, keep stirring gently and fairly continuously.

2. Fry until garlic has caramelised to a deep hazelnut brown colour, this means the garlic has had most of its moisture cooked off and much of the precious essential oils from the chilli and garlic will have infused into the olive oil.

3. Remove from heat and allow to cool, once cool enough to handle, blend garlic chilli oil mix with a food processor or blender, adjust salt to taste.

Best stored in glass jars, no need for refrigeration , it will keep for many months, be careful it is very addictive !

There are loads of variations form all over the world to add to this simple recipe, many spices can be added, eg coriander, cinnamon, cardamon, star anise, fennel, clove, Szechuan pepper and even salted shrimp, peanuts or try with a spoonful of sugar, all added toward the end of the process, the possibilities are endless.

August update

This August Refugee Community Kitchen served 14,418 meals to displaced people in Dunkirk and Calais.

This has been our busiest month of the year so far. As the weather turns and begins to get colder and wetter the option to access a warm, nutritious meal becomes more important.

The kitchen is run completely off donations and is dependent on the support of the entire community from volunteers to monthly donators. If you are interested in supporting the project please consider donating, any amount is hugely valued and appreciated! You can donate via our JustGiving page, the link to which can be found below.

The team on the ground in Calais continues to cook and distribute hot food 5 days a week. However, we would love to be able to open the kitchen 7 days a week but our volunteer numbers are just too low. If you are interested in coming out to volunteer then please email: volunteering@refugeecommunitykitchen.org

Hummus

Hummus often goes out on our condiments table and nicely compliments the curry or the pasta salad depending on whether its a lunchtime or evening distribution.

Making hummus in our kitchen requires in excess of 25kg of chickpeas and litres of tahini. But dont panic we have scaled down the recipe so you can make it for a family dinner or for a few friends!

We often like to add a few extras bit and pieces, some ideas include, roasting red peppers and blitzing them in the other ingredients to make a delicious red pepper hummus or sprinkling some nuts/seeds/coriander on top.

Ingredients:

250g of cooked chickpeas

70ml tahini

1/2 teaspoon cumin

30ml lemon juice

50ml water that the chickpeas were cooked in

2 garlic cloves

2 spoons olive oil

2 oven roasted red pepper (optional)

harissa paste (optional)

chilli powder (optional)

1/2 teaspoon salt

Method:

Add it all to a blender and blitz it together until it reaches a consistency your happy with!

Taste it and adjust to your preferences. RCK loves a garlicy hummus and so goes heavy on the garlic part!

Spices

Spices are vital to the food we cook in our kitchen. In Calais we have a spice store that the best kitchens in the world would be jealous of. Crates of paprika, harissa, chillies, sumac, turmeric, nutmeg etc etc. You name it we probably have it...

We use these spices to make spices mixes which form the base of our curries but also for our rices, condiments table and even to make spiced tea.

One classic spice mix we use is Berbere. Berbere is a spice mix that is central in Eritrean and Ethiopian cooking. Using spices mixes like this ensures the curries we serve have a cultural relevance and the familiarity of home.

Producing dishes that reflect the communities we serve is a cornerstone of the RCK ethos.

A challenge to all the spices lovers out there, can you name all the spices in the last photo??

Basbousa

Serves 5

YOU WILL NEED:

Syrup:

- 150g sugar

- 1/2 cup of water

- Few drops of orange blossom water

Cake:

- 150g sugar

- 80g yogurt

- 225g course semolina

- 75g melted butter

- Optional, crushed pistachios for decoration

METHOD::

1. Make the syrup by sugar, water and orange blossom and bring to boil. Let the syrup then cool.

2. To make the cake beat together the sugar and the yogurt (aim to make the sugar dissolve)

3. Mix in the rest of cake ingredients and mix until it all comes together

4. Score with a diamond pattern on the top

5. Bake for 25 minutes

6. Once out the oven pour the syrup over the cake

7. Enjoy! And if you make don’t forget to send us your photos!!

Happy baking!