Eat my Words – Seeking Community Cooks
Food combined with story-telling is an inviting concept. Whilst perhaps best not done at exactly the same time, eating good food while being part of the story is better yet.
GULP NT (Growing and Using Local Produce) is a community project run by like-minded local food gurus. Together they encourage Top Enders to embrace local tropical produce and connect to community through food. Their latest venture, Eat my Words, brought together a diverse team of cooks who created a five-course menu using all-local ingredients – while telling their own stories of cooking.
“I grew up in Kerala in South India and came with my family a few years ago to Darwin to live and work,” says Eat my Words community cook Biji Nair.
“I was told by my mum that you connect with people’s thoughts and emotions through their stomach. When you feed your loved ones with good food they love you from their heart.”
Served in a hidden away community garden setting, the event featured dishes from West Papua, the Philip-pines, Southern India and the Top End – and the team at GULP are look-ing to do it all again.
“I made a jackfruit curry called ‘chakka’. It’s called poor man’s feast in Kerala. When jackfruit is cooked everyone can be full and it is a kind of luxury. It connects people and unites them,” says Nair.
“I love this fruit and it brings back childhood memories of harvest and celebration. As well as having connections to my home in Kerala, it has connected me to my new community in Darwin.”
Want to be involved in the Eat my Words project? If you, or someone you know, has a passion for cooking local tropical produce – or you would like to be involved in another capacity – please get in touch with the team at GULP NT.
INFO gulpnt.com | gulpcommunity@gmail.com
Thumbnail image: Biji Nair and family
Banner image: Jackfruit curry by Emma Lupin
