Made in Hackney is a legendary vegan kitchen dedicated to feeding vulnerable and at-risk Londoners.
If you don’t know about their amazing cooking classes and community outreach, click here to read all about them.
The biggest news for the charity is the fundraising campaign just about to come to a close. How much money does Made in Hackney need to raise for 2022?
£150,000 and they are about 70% of the way to the target.
This money will help Made in Hackney make delicious and nutritious meals, as well as deliver them to households around Hackney.
To help raise awareness of the fundraising campaign, I am having a chat with Made in Hackney founder Sarah Bentley on Tuesday December 28, 2021 at 6:30pm.
If you don’t see this in time, I will share the Live video online.
You might need to hurry if you wanna get your hands on this one.
With the way the threat of lockdown is hovering over our heads, I’m not sure if shops and restaurants will stay open for the remainder of the year.
And to make it even tougher to grab, this vegan Xmas burger special from Temple of Seitan is available in limited quantities each day until December 23, 2021.
The Kievin McCallister is the Temple version of a chick’n Kiev burger featuring garlic butter, rocket leaves, a seitan fillet, bacon, and a deep fried ‘Camembert’ patty.
Such intense festive flavours.
You can order in stores on via the online ordering system only. This special is not available via UberEats and it has limited daily quantities.
You can also follow Temple of Seitan on Instagram.
And… if you don’t know, I have been working a little bit with Temple of Seitan and I’m telling you that for the sake of transparency.
Black Cat Hackney and Huitzmil present Tacos Against Borders, a benefit for Akwaaba.
Akwaaba is a Hackney-based social centre for migrants. They offer a space for rest, play, learning and mutual support. Akwaaba is for all migrants regardless of immigration status, ‘race’, religion, country of origin, age, sexual orientation, gender identity and (dis)ability.
Akwaaba doesn’t currently have a venue and they are putting all their efforts towards securing one, so you can support them by attending this event (and letting them know about a spare venue if you know of one!). They need space every Sunday so a school hall in the Hackney area would be perfect.
Now… onto news of the event taking place inside Black Cat Hackney this Sunday December 5, 2021 at 6:00PM.
Talks and activities
Huitzmil speaking about how he crossed from Mexico to USA and the challenges he faced
Andres Posada from Colombia speaking about how he arrived to the UK and the challenges he faced as a migrant
Mini market
Acoustic set by Hugh Vivian from the anarcho punk band Omega Tribe
Everything served on corn tortillas or house made flour tortillas.
And of course you can follow Black Cat Cafe on Instagram.
Extra note: if you cannot attend this event in support of Akwaaba but would like to donate to help the important work they do, please donate via their website.
Hey! How about a fun and informative wild food class that also raises funds for a crucial vegan charity?
Read more.
Saturday 18th December 2021
10:30am – 12:30pm
Cost
£40 (£30 concession/£12 unwaged). All proceeds help fund the Made in Hackney community meal service which continues to provide free nutritious, tasty meals to households struggling to access food.
Location
Tower Hamlets Cemetery Park, Southern Grove, Mile End, London E3 4PX (a short walk from Mile End Tube Station in E3)
Join wild food enthusiast, Ken Greenway, for a foraging experience at the amazing award-winning Tower Hamlets Cemetery Park, one of London’s Magnificent Seven Victorian Cemeteries. Closed to burials since 1966 and a designated public park and Local Nature Reserve, the park has an extraordinary diversity of both woodland and meadow plants.
The event will include:
A guided walk to safely identify wild foods and enjoy samples of the plants along the way
Tips on where and how to forage
Learning to identify edible plants
Take samples home to turn into your own wild creations
Information on the health benefits of wild foods
Opportunity to ask Ken questions
Digital foraging info recommended by the park supplied after the walk
Numbers limited to 15 with Covid-19 safety guidelines in place
Ken Greenway is site manager of THCP and is also an accredited Humanist celebrant, Horticulture Manager for Grounded Ecotherapy and the course leader on Forage London’s event ‘Wild Food, Wild Nature’. Ken studied Environmental Biology at the University of Greenwich and has worked at THCP since 2002 where he has developed his intimate knowledge of the site as well as his passion for wild food and foraging. Ken is also a Come Dine with Me winner!
Fee: £40 (£30 Concession/£12 unwaged*) inclusive of VAT. Please come weather-prepared (the class will not be cancelled in case of wet weather).
Doesn’t this all sound wonderful?
Learn about foraging from an expert AND raise funds for this community kitchen that works hard to feed vulnerable people in our community.
If you hang around these parts of the Internet often, you will probably know that I have been doing some work with legendary vegan fast food business Temple of Seitan.
I really couldn’t have picked a better time to be aligned with the London eatery as they have just released a brand new version of their vegan chicken and it is truly sensational.
You will be blown away by this stuff.
You might be thinking that there was no room for improvement when it came to the Temple of Seitan chicken, but they have somehow managed to take it a few levels higher.
Rebecca has been working on this new recipe for a long time and has been unstoppable in her determination to create the best vegan chicken on the planet.
She has succedded.
The new recipe uses significantly less wheat gluten than the original recipe, making it lighter and more chicken-like. The pieces actually tear like chicken and the texture and taste are both incredible. So succulent.
I also find that because it is lighter, I am able to eat more of the stuff. I love that!
You gotta get along to one of the Temple of Seitan locations ASAP to get your paws on the new recipe chicken. All their locations and opening hours can be found on their website.
You can also follow Temple of Seitan on Instagram.
Do you wanna support independent women in business and eat delicious vegan food?
You need all this news!
Lady Lane Catering Co and The Canvas are proud to bring you Lady Lane Kitchen: a veritable pop-up feast running until the end of 2021. The kitchen is taking over The Canvas Cafe five nights a week, and is is all about sharing cultures, empowering women, sustainable lifestyles, and great food.
The cooperative brings together six women from all different backgrounds who tell a story of their love, their lives, and their dreams through their food. Launched in October, feedback has been overwhelmingly positive and the pop up kitchen is set to stay for the rest of the year.
They are now going to be running Tuesday-Saturday from 6pm, and in December will shake up the menu to offer a selection of dishes called ‘What we eat at Christmas’.
These women set up Lady Lane Catering Co in 2020 and they haven’t even let a pandemic stop them. They have persevered and have made it to this stand out London pop up, even as other hospitality businesses are struggling. It’s not been easy. Childcare, budgeting, and schedules could get in the way of a thriving business, but these women are excelling.
The strong women are coming together through a love of food, a fierce drive to succeed, and a vision to bring their family and heritage recipes to more people.
Flavour and passion abound in a menu featuring Caribbean, South Asian, Persian, Mediterranean and Somalian food from a group of single mums and super women.
Leila is a single mother who has created a Caribbean menu in her kitchen and is quick to point out the parallels between cultures; “Pilau rice is used in Caribbean cooking too – food shows us that we’re not so different after all!” Leila runs Munchbreaks, an eclectic multicultural catering service from the heart of East London (a bit like the person behind it). She says that it’s about community and caring for them.
Woin Ethiopic Kitchen is passionate about making traditional Ethiopic food 100% vegan and has created her business to create high quality, plant based menus, full of rich flavours.
Aseel’s Kitchen was started 5 years ago by Sophia, a mother of four lovely children. Providing for her family and friends great quality and scrumptious food has always been a point of great joy and pride and she specialises in providing great flavoursome dishes from the southern Mediterranean, Levant and Arabian Peninsula kitchens. She says that “cooking isn’t just about serving food, but sharing your story” and hopes to do jus that through her tasty menu.
Dadu’s Kitchen LDN opened in 2019 as a way of spreading love and joy through full bellies! Syeda, a mother of 6, and a grandmother, has had over 40 years of experience cooking a wide range of Bangladeshi foods, using aromatic spices from the south of Asia. Her passion is to extend the joy and love for her food beyond her family and friends, with a vegan twist! She says that “cooking isn’t just about serving food, but sharing your story” and hopes to do jus that through her tasty menu.
Amiira started making her own hot sauce Basbaas (which means chilli) after she lost her job in 2017. She noticed there was a gap in the market for Somali foods and condiments, and decided to use this downtime to launch her own business, as it had always been a dream of hers.
Ruth Rogers, founder and owner of The Canvas says: “The pop up was originally planned to run for a month, but we’ve seen just how transformative it has been. From customers saying they never realised vegan food could be inspired by cultures around the world, to the growth in confidence the women have found, we’re delighted they’re staying around a bit longer.”
Lady Lane Kitchen is a cooperative of women in partnership with business and government:
● Tower Hamlets Council
● The Canvas – East London Profit for Purpose Cafe hosting the pop up
● Heura Foods – proactive vegan meat brand who are donating products for the ladies’ menus
● Lady Lane Market – London’s first women-led market, in east London
Click here to see the exact location of The Canvas thanks to Google Maps.
Follow The Canvas cafe and event hub on Instagram. You can also follow The Lady Lane Kitchen on Instagram.
Book your table for one of these wonderful pop up dining experiences… or all of them!
