The Commonwealth Games may be over but there is still a chance to sample the culture and cuisine of its member countries with two free community events in Birmingham.
This Saturday, August 20, visitors to the Aston Park Community Games will be able to try some tasty treats from Bangladesh as chef Abdul Quddus hosts a cooking demonstration.
He will be accompanied by musicians Mendi Singh and Eleanor Turner, a tabla player and harpist that make up the group Tala Tarang.
The following Saturday, August 27, will see a focus on of the food of Pakistan at a demonstration at the Lozells Outdoor Cinema night in Georges Park, Wills Street.
The events are the final two of 10 organised by Communities Engage and Thrive, a community interest company based in Birmingham, and supported by Birmingham City Council. Each one celebrates the food, music and culture of a different Commonwealth country.
Organiser Parveen Talwar, from CET, said: “These final two events promise once again to offer brilliant, healthy food for visitors to taste and entertainment as well. The cinema night in particular will be a grand finale not to be missed!”
The community games are being held at Aston Hall, in Trinity Road, Birmingham from 11am to 4pm and the cooking demonstrations will take place between 12 noon and 3pm.
The Pakistan-themed event will run from 4pm to 8.30pm at the cinema night, when Space Jam 1 will be shown. Tickets for the film can be booked at www.georgespark.org.uk but the cooking demo is free to attend and open to all.
At each community cooking demonstration, organisers are giving away recipe cards and samples of herbs and spices so that visitors can go away and recreate the healthy dishes at home.
Parveen aded: “We have had a fantastic turnout for each of our events over the past few weeks and lots of people have taken away lots of herbs and recipe cards, so we’re sure there are some wonderful healthy dishes being cooked up in homes across Birmingham.”
The events are linked with the council’s Cook the Commonwealth project, which is asking for people to submit recipes from around the Commonwealth. (https://www.bvsc.org/blog/cook-the-commonwealth-recipes-needed)
All the CET events are free to attend. For more details, visit www.cetcommunity.co.uk
