Cooking school helps newcomers learn about local foods
Imagine moving your family to another country thousands of kilometres away, far from all things familiar including the food?
It’s a colossal task, but Mary Jane’s Cooking School in Wolseley is helping. Since the early 1990s, they’ve been offering programs designed for immigrants learning to cook with new and different ingredients in Winnipeg.
Many newcomers are struck by the vast number of fast food places and junk food options available in the city. With a preference for whole fresh foods and garden-to-table produce, finding help from community nutritionist Mary Jane Eason is a bonus.
“They love to see herbs being brought in from the garden and are delighted to use them. They feel it, taste it, press it and talk amongst themselves as they compare the taste and appearance of the herb to something they have in their country of origin,” says Eason, founder of Mary Jane’s Cooking School. “There is always an interest in the local produce, a reminder of the markets from countries of origin where there is less an emphasis on packaged and canned goods.”
They love to see herbs being brought in from the garden and are delighted to use them.
Mary Jane Eason
The Flavours of Home program, a current class of women from Afghanistan, focuses on the preparation of healthy lunches for children going to school, where they can bring Canadian-style foods for lunch as a way of fitting in with their peers. Students in the class were drawn to the unpasteurized honey stored in a glass cabinet.
“They became very interested in the honey, perhaps after seeing it being served at the school along with sugar to accompany tea. They saw it, tasted and examined it and at least five of the women bought a one-kilogram container of this locally produced clover honey. I find that with all the classes I have had involving people from African and Asian countries, there is an inherent appreciation of locally grown food and an interest in being able to acquire it,” Eason explains.
