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The Food On Our Table

The Food On Our Table is a celebration of a project that united Lewisham's restaurants, writers, and communities. This special booklet features commissioned poems written by local Lewisham writers inspired by residencies at local independent restaurants/ cafés, by: Laura Barker, Jody Burton, Jamie Hale, Y.A. Poet, Laila Sumpton, and Carinya Sharples. It also celebrates Lewisham community groups and residents, who have also contributed their words and energy to this book. The Food On Our Table is based on a project led by Carinya Sharples, supported by Spread the Word and funded by Lewisham Council through the Lewisham Borough of Culture Creative Change Fund.

The Food On Our Table is a celebration of a project that united Lewisham's restaurants, writers, and communities. This special booklet features commissioned poems written by local Lewisham writers inspired by residencies at local independent restaurants/ cafés, by: Laura Barker, Jody Burton, Jamie Hale, Y.A. Poet, Laila Sumpton, and Carinya Sharples. It also celebrates Lewisham community groups and residents, who have also contributed their words and energy to this book. The Food On Our Table is based on a project led by Carinya Sharples, supported by Spread the Word and funded by Lewisham Council through the Lewisham Borough of Culture Creative Change Fund.

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Graphic by Tinuke Illustration<br />

<br />

Photos by Carinya Sharples unless otherwise<br />

stated


<strong>The</strong> <strong>Food</strong> <strong>On</strong> <strong>Our</strong> <strong>Table</strong><br />

When <strong>The</strong> <strong>Food</strong> <strong>On</strong> <strong>Our</strong> <strong>Table</strong> project began, the idea was to bring creative<br />

writing into community spaces, and to connect local writers with<br />

independent cafes and restaurants in Lewisham. Finding venues was no<br />

challenge, as the borough is full of fantastic food spots, though not every<br />

owner was convinced they wanted a writer in residence scribbling among<br />

their ketchup and salt sellers. Luckily six came onboard: Peruvian<br />

bar/restaurant Chichas in Lewisham; <strong>The</strong> Greenhouse Café and Park Café<br />

Hönle, both in Deptford; Jamaican restaurant-lounge Junction876 in Forest<br />

Hill; Singaporean-inspired Big Mouth <strong>Food</strong> Court in Catford; and<br />

Indian/English brunch spot Vanilla’s Coffee, close to Hilly Fields Park in<br />

Ladywell.<br />

To each venue, we sent one local writer to get stuck into some meaty<br />

conversations and (not necessarily meaty) food. We were delighted to have<br />

Jamie Hale, Jody Burton, Laura Barker, Laila Sumpton and Y.A. Poet taking<br />

part. Following their mini residencies they each wrote a poem based on the<br />

weird and wonderful things they encountered, which we then printed, framed<br />

and shared with each of the venues. <strong>The</strong> aim was to support local writers and<br />

businesses – both hit hard by the Covid pandemic – but sadly it was too late<br />

for some. Though it was bustling when we visited, <strong>The</strong> Greenhouse recently<br />

closed down: the busy periods were just not enough to cover for the quiet<br />

days.<br />

Huge thanks to all the participating writers, venues, and groups, and to Ruth<br />

Harrison, Laura Kenwright and the wonderful team at Spread the Word, and<br />

last but by no means least to Lewisham Council for their backing through the<br />

London Borough of Culture Creative Change Fund.<br />

<br />

<strong>The</strong> <strong>Food</strong> <strong>On</strong> <strong>Our</strong> <strong>Table</strong><br />

Carinya Sharples, July 2022


Contents<br />

<br />

Writing Residences pages 5 - 20<br />

<br />

Community Poems pages 21 - 32<br />

<strong>The</strong> <strong>Food</strong> <strong>On</strong> <strong>Our</strong> <strong>Table</strong>


Chichas, Lewisham<br />

Red macaws swoop the door,<br />

a carnival of flags shimmies to greet you -<br />

a fiesta for the eyes!<br />

Peruvian skirts pause mid swirl<br />

as the chatter rises over trumpet trills -<br />

it’s like we’ve travelled - found Peru in Lewisham,<br />

at Chichas - a charismatic dancer,<br />

an outrageous aunt brimming with stories.<br />

She grins when her home is full,<br />

after a year of stillness and partial chatter.<br />

<strong>The</strong> waiter keeps saying sorry we're fully booked,<br />

it seems strange to say… and if Chichas could rise up<br />

and build tables over rooftops, she would.<br />

<br />

Her feathers took centuries to fan into wings -<br />

she serves corn from Inca ceremonies,<br />

Latin gold fermented underground<br />

for 21 nights till Independence Day<br />

till a girl who grows to be our host<br />

finds the flask, then finds sleep.<br />

Chichas gathers some of the 4000 styles<br />

of potato which all rolled down from the Andes,<br />

drizzles soy sauce bought to Lima by Chinese sailors,<br />

then harvests chilis hot off contestant lips.<br />

<br />

<strong>The</strong> Americas mountains, cities and ports<br />

jostle and collide in bowls as Chef Francis<br />

brings palm heart ceviche with coriander zing,<br />

suckerd limbs curling round pomegranate gems,<br />

fhe fragranced chew of lomos saltado,<br />

then cauliflower taco and tomatillo sauce<br />

with a guzzle of grandma’s corn cake.<br />

<br />

<br />

<br />

<strong>The</strong> <strong>Food</strong> <strong>On</strong> <strong>Our</strong> <strong>Table</strong><br />

<strong>The</strong> <strong>Food</strong> <strong>On</strong> <strong>Our</strong> <strong>Table</strong> 5


Diners take heel spur kicks of pisco sour<br />

saying - food is life, whatever your day<br />

you live for dinner - you can plate happiness.<br />

Don’t measure, go with feelings, and remember:<br />

food does not matter without friends.<br />

When our hosts arrived in London<br />

there was no ceviche fresh enough,<br />

so they welcomed Chichas to townpeople<br />

need to talk and dance,<br />

we wanted to bring in some Latin Love.<br />

<br />

Laila Sumpton<br />

<br />

(with words from the diners and staff of Chichas).<br />

<strong>The</strong> <strong>Food</strong> <strong>On</strong> <strong>Our</strong> <strong>Our</strong> <strong>Table</strong> <strong>Table</strong><br />

6


Photo of Laila by Damian Wilk<br />

Writer Laila Sumpton in residence at Chicas<br />

<strong>The</strong> <strong>Food</strong> <strong>On</strong> <strong>Our</strong> <strong>Table</strong> 7<br />

<strong>The</strong> <strong>Food</strong> <strong>On</strong> <strong>Our</strong> <strong>Table</strong>


park café hölne<br />

We are mostly local<br />

<br />

<br />

We are mostly local. <strong>The</strong> park. <strong>The</strong> brass<br />

band is local, and the sunshine and the<br />

people are also local. Martin lives round<br />

the corner and so do the vegetables - a<br />

greengrocer, some 200 metres away. <strong>The</strong><br />

butcher in Bermondsey makes his sausages<br />

and the rest of his meat is British too. Bread<br />

is delivered from Greenwich and the juice<br />

comes from Chegworth in Kent. Martin,<br />

himself, German, like his beer. <strong>The</strong> salami<br />

comes from Sardinia. We are mostly local.<br />

Hamid is local, enjoys stewing aubergine<br />

with courgette, but not so much red meat<br />

or spices, he comes from a family of butchers.<br />

And he’s right that the local fish in England<br />

often isn’t organic. He cooks at his local home,<br />

round the corner, and likes to come here.<br />

<strong>The</strong> food is simple. affordable. European.<br />

It is local, fast, fresh and healthy. Flavourful<br />

low-waste, cooking into a community. Half<br />

the staff here are also musicians, friendly.<br />

<strong>The</strong> silent boy eats his brownie, the local<br />

men talk around him. <strong>The</strong> sun is soft, and it’s<br />

just-about still winter, the wind is sharply fresh.<br />

<strong>The</strong> park here is local, the local children are<br />

learning to skateboard, crowding into the cafe<br />

after, in a joyful lunchtime rush. Sometimes<br />

it’s the simplest things that are local. Here,<br />

local laughter, and local grass, and, watch,<br />

as the world turns its face to the summer.<br />

Jamie Hale<br />

<strong>The</strong> <strong>Food</strong> <strong>On</strong> <strong>Our</strong> <strong>Table</strong> 8<br />

<strong>The</strong> <strong>Food</strong> <strong>On</strong> <strong>Our</strong> <strong>Table</strong>


Writer Jamie Hale in residence at Park Café Hölne<br />

<strong>The</strong><br />

<strong>The</strong> <strong>Food</strong> <strong>On</strong> <strong>Our</strong> <strong>Table</strong><br />

<strong>Table</strong><br />

9


<strong>The</strong> Greenhouse<br />

Letters from <strong>The</strong> Greenhouse<br />

H is for hamantaschen, three sides of Harlequin hope<br />

I is for intense butter sandwich, infamous shortening idolatry<br />

J is for jalebi, jubilant, jaunty, jolly<br />

K is for kluski na parze, kitted kingpin of kitchens<br />

N is for endoscopy, and Nora Ephron’s Heartburn<br />

P is for pineapple rash, ten thousand pounds of prickly<br />

S is for sim, sensational, sensuous<br />

T is a thing for my husband because we were supposed to have lunch together<br />

V is for villa and variegated veggies<br />

W is wet, wily, and warm<br />

<br />

In the Fridge<br />

Take-away container of Dad’s congealed intentions, a still sweet lump of pongal,<br />

disused pickle jar of Granddad’s no banana, slimy vegetable crisper, three meals of<br />

postpartum stew, scorpion butch hot sauce forever<br />

<br />

<br />

Based on decisions I’ve made and can no longer reverse<br />

I need your help<br />

Turmeric, coriander seeds, simmer not completely<br />

Pasta, pizza, roti<br />

Toast Foundation, Heinz baked beans<br />

Plain pasta with television and cheese<br />

Subnaturally replenished dumplings<br />

Soufflé collapsing<br />

Sauna for newborns<br />

Maida wheat mocktails<br />

Cake and wine<br />

Blunt knives<br />

Laura Barker<br />

<strong>The</strong> <strong>Food</strong> <strong>On</strong> <strong>Our</strong> <strong>Table</strong> 10<br />

<strong>The</strong> <strong>Food</strong> <strong>On</strong> <strong>Our</strong> <strong>Table</strong>


Writer Laura Barker in residence at <strong>The</strong> Greenhouse<br />

<strong>The</strong> <strong>Food</strong> <strong>On</strong> <strong>Our</strong> <strong>Table</strong><br />

<strong>The</strong> <strong>Food</strong> <strong>On</strong> <strong>Our</strong> <strong>Table</strong> 11


Vanilla's Coffee<br />

Everyone thinks their mum makes the best food<br />

I never thought tradition could feel so new but this Son’s belief is true.<br />

Vanilla reminds us.<br />

She places love in each dish and seals it with kindness.<br />

It’s more than India and yet it honours a nation.<br />

It’s uncertainty and fear, perseverance and patience.<br />

It’s ancient.<br />

It’s the legacy of her love.<br />

It’s everything as it is now and all it once was<br />

It’s life.<br />

It’s the most authentic statement.<br />

It’s a mother and a wife.<br />

It’s family history in the making.<br />

It’s an observation.<br />

A commitment to community.<br />

A place for connectivity, a devotion to unity.<br />

To beauty. To family. To the guarantee of life’s changes.<br />

It’s a mother’s sacrifice for her children ignited in flavours.<br />

Gifted to strangers and passed through generations.<br />

Dad’s old sweets shop, now their Son can dream.<br />

A trust in him, a support system, it’s everything it means to be in their family.<br />

<strong>The</strong> menu is a map, the foundations are more than bricks and mortar,<br />

they whisper “there’s no going back.”<br />

We’ll be happy here.<br />

<strong>The</strong>y ask how bold one has to be to relinquish all their fears?<br />

To pack up her hopes, to gather her clothes, to travel from her home.<br />

So a home cooked meal, could help to heal and make one feel less alone.<br />

Vanilla garnishes with memories.<br />

<br />

<br />

<br />

<br />

<br />

<strong>The</strong> <strong>Food</strong> <strong>On</strong> <strong>Our</strong> <strong>Table</strong><br />

<strong>The</strong> <strong>Food</strong> <strong>On</strong> <strong>Our</strong> <strong>Table</strong> 12


She folds her bravery in her dosa.<br />

She honours her history.<br />

She breaks in her samosa.<br />

She stands with her ancestry and her mother in laws recipes.<br />

Remembering her origins and declaring “We belong”,<br />

Past the paddy fields or the concrete streets, our heritage lives on, we’re strong.<br />

It’s the compromise, the inclusion, the innovation, the fusion.<br />

It’s the consulting the community with ideas before deciding what they're doing.<br />

It's fearless and authentic, extravagant and energetic, it’s vibrant and eclectic, it's a<br />

retreat.<br />

It’s “I cook the daal, and my son cooks the meat”.<br />

It’s belief.<br />

Y.A. Poet<br />

<strong>The</strong> <strong>Food</strong> <strong>On</strong> <strong>Our</strong> <strong>Table</strong> 13


Writer Y.A. Poet in residence at Vanilla's Coffee<br />

<strong>The</strong> <strong>Food</strong> <strong>On</strong> <strong>Our</strong> <strong>Table</strong> 14<br />

<strong>The</strong> <strong>Food</strong> <strong>On</strong> <strong>Our</strong> <strong>Table</strong>


Big Mouth <strong>Food</strong> Court<br />

<br />

Twist & Shout<br />

<br />

Can you Katsu,<br />

Kung Pao or Kopi?<br />

Turn raw rainbows<br />

into dishes with depth<br />

that defy geography,<br />

transplant tongues.<br />

<br />

Walk through the jaws<br />

of Big Mouth <strong>Food</strong> Court:<br />

sunshine-yellow oasis of<br />

Catford's Sangley Road,<br />

where Singapore is chopped<br />

tossed, sizzled into life.<br />

<br />

Behind the swipe screens<br />

of this new Covid normal,<br />

secret-recipe sauces are<br />

marinated with memories;<br />

a heart of red sambal<br />

to quicken the pulse.<br />

<br />

Fire roars under and over<br />

shrimp, chicken, diced,<br />

poached, pan fried to<br />

your portioned plate,<br />

cornered with lime,<br />

quartered to complement.<br />

<br />

<br />

<br />

<br />

<br />

<strong>The</strong> <strong>Food</strong> <strong>On</strong> <strong>Our</strong> <strong>Table</strong> 15<br />

<strong>The</strong> <strong>Food</strong> <strong>On</strong> <strong>Our</strong> <strong>Table</strong>


It’s the breaded eggplant,<br />

the egg planted on the<br />

classic Singapore fried rice.<br />

Half moon dumplings,<br />

golden tipped, dipped<br />

in Japanese sauce.<br />

<br />

Mom's Curry Chicken;<br />

tender, full of warm<br />

spices, stirred through<br />

with lemongrass,<br />

love and music,<br />

by Ed and Dupree.<br />

Carinya Sharples<br />

<strong>The</strong> <strong>Food</strong> <strong>On</strong> <strong>Our</strong> <strong>Table</strong> 16


Big Mouth <strong>Food</strong> Court<br />

<strong>The</strong> <strong>Food</strong> <strong>On</strong> <strong>Our</strong> <strong>Table</strong><br />

17


Junction876<br />

<br />

London calling<br />

Jamaica 876<br />

Come<br />

Discover this home from home<br />

A slice of Caribbean sun in the SE<br />

<br />

Seafood Friday<br />

Jerk Saturday<br />

Roast Sunday<br />

& Vegan fare too<br />

<br />

Fresh & tasty<br />

Come and dine<br />

Meal for two?<br />

Family, friends &locals<br />

A warm welcome awaits you<br />

<br />

Too Good To Go<br />

So relax<br />

Lounge in our front green<br />

Sip on something cold<br />

Something sweet to eat?<br />

<br />

London Calling<br />

Junction876<br />

Order direct<br />

Or come<br />

Discover this home from home<br />

a slice of Caribbean sun un the SE<br />

<br />

Jody Burton<br />

<strong>The</strong> <strong>Food</strong> <strong>On</strong> <strong>Our</strong> <strong>Table</strong> 18


Writer Jody Burton in residence at Junction 876<br />

<strong>The</strong> <strong>Food</strong> <strong>On</strong> <strong>Our</strong> <strong>Table</strong> 19<br />

<strong>The</strong> <strong>Food</strong> <strong>On</strong> <strong>Our</strong> <strong>Table</strong>


Participating restaurants of Lewisham with their poems


Community workshops,<br />

Community Poems<br />

<br />

Four community workshops were also held as part of the project. Greenfingered<br />

volunteers of Grow Lewisham gathered at <strong>The</strong> Plot, their<br />

allotment in Downham, to scour the beds and branches for inspiration<br />

to write haikus – sharing tea and homemade cakes before the cold drove<br />

us all home. <strong>The</strong> next weekend, parents pushed prams and small<br />

children up the hill at Honor Oak Allotment, where Action for Refugees<br />

in Lewisham (AFRIL) has a handy activity hut, to swap food memories,<br />

play ‘Guess the seed’, and make nature notes – before the cold wind<br />

again sent us packing. Heading safely indoors, volunteers of TimeBank<br />

Rushey Green gathered for their usual Coffee & Chat Morning; this<br />

time with added writing, and even music. While the regulars of <strong>The</strong><br />

Front Room Club at St Luke’s Church in Downham – and a few<br />

volunteers from a nearby school – put pen, glue and scissors to paper to<br />

capture their favourite foods, before eating a bargain slap-up lunch<br />

made with ingredients donated by FareShare.<br />

<strong>The</strong> <strong>Food</strong> <strong>On</strong> <strong>Our</strong> <strong>Table</strong> 21


From seeds we grow<br />

Inspired by AFRIL/Helping Hands<br />

<br />

How to plant a child:<br />

take seed, plant it deep<br />

in dark, rich soil. Water it.<br />

Feed it. Breathe words<br />

that synthesise fresh air.<br />

<br />

How to transplant a child:<br />

extract seedling from earth,<br />

shake soil loose, wrap roots<br />

with care – it will need them.<br />

Hold gingerly, do not crush.<br />

<br />

How to re-home a child:<br />

dig fingers in compost,<br />

let dirt encrust nails,<br />

scoop out a fresh bed,<br />

tuck in with steady hand.<br />

<br />

How to tend to a child:<br />

share food, water, words.<br />

Remember: it will take time<br />

to settle, to acclimatise<br />

to this new micro-climate.<br />

<br />

How to grow a child:<br />

let them unfold, blossom,<br />

reveal their true colours,<br />

bear fruit of your labour<br />

and nourish you both.<br />

Carinya Sharples<br />

<strong>The</strong> <strong>Food</strong> <strong>On</strong> <strong>Our</strong> <strong>Table</strong> <strong>Table</strong><br />

22


AFRIL / Helping Hands photos<br />

<strong>The</strong> <strong>Food</strong> <strong>On</strong> <strong>Our</strong> <strong>Table</strong><br />

<strong>The</strong> <strong>Food</strong> <strong>On</strong> <strong>Our</strong> <strong>Table</strong> 23


<strong>The</strong> Front Room Club<br />

<br />

I shouldn’t be here, she winks,<br />

crutch propped, crunching through<br />

crispy seabass on paper plates.<br />

Doctor said: Give it a few more weeks.<br />

<br />

<strong>The</strong> room warms with not just food.<br />

A waitress in a school blazer offers<br />

Weetabix soup! Weetabix soup!<br />

that tastes of earthy mushrooms.<br />

You’re eating the burnt bits?<br />

asks a girl drawing speckled doughnuts<br />

and piles of spaghetti bolognese.<br />

I say, I like it crispy.<br />

<br />

<strong>The</strong> table is littered with elbows,<br />

mobiles, newspapers, expectant<br />

bingo cards, Scrabble, knitting –<br />

scraps of stories and poems.<br />

<br />

<strong>Food</strong> and time is donated, shared.<br />

We put our £3 in the kitchen kitty<br />

and for what we receive<br />

we are truly thankful.<br />

<br />

In an empty home round the corner,<br />

shadow fingers grip knife and fork;<br />

the ghost of a crutch leans weightlessly.<br />

<strong>The</strong> quiet is deafening.<br />

<br />

Carinya Sharples<br />

<strong>The</strong> <strong>The</strong> <strong>Food</strong> <strong>On</strong> <strong>Our</strong> <strong>Table</strong> <strong>Table</strong><br />

24


<strong>The</strong> Front Room Club photos<br />

<strong>The</strong> <strong>Food</strong> <strong>On</strong> <strong>Our</strong> <strong>Table</strong> 25


TimeBank Rushey Green<br />

<br />

<strong>Our</strong> lives are a bank<br />

of time,<br />

of stories still to be told.<br />

<br />

<strong>On</strong> this day, the hour we give<br />

is to ourselves<br />

– and each other.<br />

<br />

From Birmingham to Spain,<br />

we gather to remember,<br />

to write<br />

<br />

every shade of the blues,<br />

every beat, every bar<br />

and ballad.<br />

<br />

She was born in a bomb.<br />

<strong>The</strong>y’ve been best friends<br />

for 50 years.<br />

<br />

I’ve been writing my life story.<br />

My mind is a blank<br />

page.<br />

<br />

A duo of guitar and harmonica<br />

play us out, over<br />

empty cups<br />

<br />

tea and coffee, biscuit crumbs,<br />

an optimistic bowl<br />

of fruit.<br />

<br />

As always, it’s an hour<br />

well spent.<br />

<br />

Carinya Sharples<br />

<strong>The</strong><br />

<strong>The</strong> <strong>Food</strong> <strong>On</strong> <strong>Our</strong><br />

<strong>Our</strong><br />

<strong>Table</strong><br />

<strong>Table</strong><br />

26


Writing by volunteers from TimeBank Rushey Green<br />

during their <strong>The</strong> <strong>Food</strong> <strong>On</strong> <strong>Our</strong> <strong>Table</strong> writing workshop<br />

<strong>The</strong> <strong>Food</strong> I Remember<br />

I remember when I was young my mum always was making ginger beer, which<br />

was nice when it wasn’t too strong. She also used to make sough buns, which<br />

were really nice. I can remember her standing at the table in her wrap round<br />

pinny. That was the only time she really spoke to anyone.<br />

<br />

I also remember my nan, mum’s mum, taking me shopping to get new shoes.<br />

All the shoes I liked she didn’t, so I ended up with a pair that were meant for<br />

someone in their 20s. I was only nine at the time.<br />

<br />

I remember when I was small, five or six, being in my nan’s kitchen with my<br />

mum and they were getting ready for Christmas. Nan had a big, white pudding<br />

basin she would make the Christmas puddings in and the Christmas cake, and<br />

she always said to me, “Have a stir and make a wish’, then she would put a<br />

couple of sixpences in the pudding. <strong>The</strong> Christmas cake she made long before<br />

Christmas but every now and again she would bring it out and put a bit more<br />

alcohol in it. I just used to have a small bit of pudding to see if I got the<br />

sixpence, but never the cake as I didn’t like fruit pudding or cake and I still<br />

don’t.<br />

<strong>The</strong> <strong>Food</strong> <strong>On</strong> <strong>Our</strong> <strong>Table</strong> 27<br />

<strong>The</strong> <strong>Food</strong> <strong>On</strong> <strong>Our</strong> <strong>Table</strong>


Writing by TimeBank Rushey Green volunteers<br />

It takes about one hour...<br />

to mend a bike<br />

to darn a dress<br />

to make a call<br />

to cook a lunch<br />

to sort the admin<br />

to fix a laptop<br />

to give a lift<br />

to make a hamper<br />

to wrap up toys<br />

to run a class<br />

to give... happiness.<br />

Are you more like a spoon, a fork, or a knife?<br />

<br />

<strong>The</strong> spoon<br />

I am more of a giving person. I like to help people and give as much of myself as I<br />

can. That is why I do a lot of volunteering and look after my family. I think a spoon<br />

can be full to overflowing.<br />

<br />

<strong>The</strong> spoon<br />

I like dipping into things just to see what happens, also I am quite nosy. I’m also<br />

round and deep like a spoon. I am quite a reserved person and don’t like to be at<br />

the front of things too much. I like to reflect on life and stay in the background,<br />

and I think a spoon represents that. I haven’t much confidence in myself; I try, but<br />

I find confidence hard.<br />

<br />

<strong>The</strong> knife<br />

If I were a knife I would be quite blunt.<br />

<br />

For the want…<br />

<br />

For the want of a phone call, the connection is lost.<br />

For the want of a connection, the hope is lost.<br />

For the want of hope, the connection is lost.<br />

For the want of connection, a phone call is lost.<br />

<br />

<br />

<strong>The</strong> <strong>Food</strong> <strong>On</strong> <strong>Our</strong> <strong>Table</strong> 28<br />

<strong>The</strong> <strong>Food</strong> <strong>On</strong> <strong>Our</strong> <strong>Table</strong>


TimeBank Rushey Green photos<br />

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<strong>The</strong> <strong>Food</strong> <strong>On</strong> <strong>Our</strong> <strong>Table</strong>


Spring on the Plot<br />

inspired by Grow Lewisham<br />

<br />

Muddy pond, just dug.<br />

Beds in hairnets lay grave-like,<br />

waiting for new life.<br />

<br />

Carinya Sharples<br />

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<strong>The</strong> <strong>Our</strong> <strong>Table</strong>


Public submission<br />

Red Herring & Ackee, Boiled Dumplings & Green<br />

Bananas<br />

I was 14 when I first tasted red herring & ackee. My paternal grandmother was the<br />

first to prepare and cook it for me. At the time a lot was going on in my life in<br />

Kingston, Jamaica, but that was a memorable moment. I thought I knew most<br />

Jamaican dishes so I was a little hesitant to eat it. But that smell, that taste. Mmm!<br />

<strong>The</strong> hesitation was soon gone.<br />

<br />

This dish holds a special place in my heart and in my life. I don't have it regularly<br />

but when I do it's a beautiful thing. It has a unique taste. <strong>The</strong> red herring is<br />

smoked and dried, then you pick the flesh away from the bones. <strong>The</strong> green<br />

bananas and dumplings must be boiled with a little salt, depending on your taste.<br />

<br />

<strong>The</strong> traditional dish is ackee & saltfish but quite a few Jamaicans prefer ackee &<br />

red herring. A meal that is breakfast, lunch or dinner. I love it!<br />

<br />

Malcolm Richards<br />

(Lewisham resident)<br />

<strong>The</strong> <strong>Food</strong> <strong>On</strong> <strong>Our</strong> <strong>Table</strong> 31<br />

<strong>The</strong> <strong>Food</strong> <strong>On</strong> <strong>Our</strong> <strong>Table</strong>


<strong>The</strong> <strong>Food</strong> <strong>On</strong> <strong>Our</strong> <strong>Table</strong> was funded by

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