Spice up your Life
Urgh… I’m running out of pithy titles. Heydeho! Pack spice bags here in London (or wherever) and make Calais warehouse lives easier
People still arrive in Calais. Some of them are children, to which the UK could grant entry immediately but don’t. The authorities threaten to clear the camps completely… this will not make anyone disappear, it will just be harder to reach people to show them solidarity with well prepared food.
People continue to cook, and pack food for, their friends and fellow humans.
If you’d like to show the same solidarity here in London — we have had a few spice-bag sessions and it’s both fun, and much appreciated. Here’s how to do it! You just need some big bags of spices and some mates!
Katerina, on the last delivery… “It’s not just about the spices, it’s about you caring so much and meeting our needs exactly… it saves us hours and days of work here: such a support, such a relief. I’m speechless and overwhelmed.”
That’s Katerina there on the right. She used to be a social worker in Germany… she’s stopped that indefinitely.
Want to pack some Spice Bags? YAY!
You’ll need:
A ruck of spices. There are wholesalers with dead good prices, this group can tell you more if you’re in East London…
Big bowls, egg cups and espresso
Loads of small plastic bags.
A living room, or a church hall, or the back of a cafe… and a few tables.
And some people! The more the merrier, but much can be done with just a couple… Karaoke vans are optional, but lunch definitely helps!
Check in with Calais Kitchens if you want to make surethey’re not swamped, but right now they are VERY happy to recieve.
Into each bag generally goes a combination of the following: 2 garlic cloves, 1 or 2 stock cubes, and a small bag each of salt, ginger, garam masala/cumin.
Bags like this will keep a while until the next van is heading out so it takes the pressure off — best to avoid fresh ginger etc in these bags, though the fresh cooking kitchens take it.
When people get going, even if there’s just a few of you, you can get through ALOT of bags so do be prepared!
The smell is pretty divine, but a couple of other suggestions — if you’re doing it with kids, stick to the salt bagging and the final-everything bagging, be wary of the finer spices as they can go everywhere!
When you’ve got your bags ready, you can generally find someone heading off in the following week. The local E17 group supporting the Refugee Community Kitchen often have a van going out, and you can tell them what you’ve got and where here. Right now, there a plans for a van to go out in the second week of August for example.
You can also post in the liftshare group. Or you could head out yourself! As I’ve said many times before, that warehouse is BLOOMING INSPIRING.
Let me know if you do it? Thanks!
