In the week of 5th December 2015, #BushWok was engaged by Jesuit Social Services and My Pathways to travel to Engawala and conduct cooking workshops and an outdoor cooking competition. The aim of the program was to share basic cooking skills and nutrition information with the community and enthuse residents to cook vegetable-rich meals more frequently.
The site selected for the cooking competition was a community cooking area within walking distance of the community. Power was supplied from the Health On Wheels truck, and water was available in 20 litre containers with taps fitted.
Dark clouds threatened to empty their contents on the event but thankfully failed to do so but provided a cooling sprinkle and a double rainbow for good measure.
In all, nine family teams sliced and diced their way through chicken and a wide range of colourful vegetables to impart their secret cooking alchemy and produce their contribution to the competition banquet.
When all teams had finished cooking, 5 independent judges taste-tested samples from all the dishes and awarded scores for each dish. The scores were added up and place getters were announced to thunderous applause and loud cheering. Out of a possible score of 25 all teams scored greater than 17 and the winning score was 23.5.
And then it was time to eat. 120 men, women and children lined up for a bowl of rice and helped themselves to the healthy banquet they had prepared themselves. It wasn’t too long before all the woks were empty once people had returned for second and third helpings.
As a thank you for being part of the event, each team received a participation prize of an electric frypan so they may continue practicing their newly acquired cooking skills in the days to come.
thrivalinternational 