Things are really cooking at the St. Albert Food Bank and Community Village.
There is a Community Cooking Class series that’s aimed at helping local foodies better understand the finer points of international cuisine, while also boosting the coffers at the social agency. For one night each month until May people can make donations to the food bank and learn the finer points of canapĂ©s, for instance.
“Our kitchen is taking off and morphing into something that’s pretty cool,” said Suzan Krecsy, describing how the facility has already had a successful run of instructional food preparation lessons for the general public.
“We’re going off into some really neat directions,” she added.
The community village features a newly-renovated kitchen area that first gave instructors the counter space and appliances to guide the food bank’s clients on how to prepare healthy meals on a budget.
It now hosts an ongoing regular – and free – Cultural Kitchen event whereby people from all nationalities come in to demonstrate how to make specific ethnic dishes to the attendees. In the past, there have been East Indian and Lebanese meals. Last Tuesday’s kitchen, for example, featured a Sri Lankan dish.
“They cook a traditional meal and we all get to try it,” Krecsy continued, adding that the presenting chefs also get to talk about their countries.
“We discovered how culturally diverse St. Albert is becoming.”
For the Community Cooking Class series, professional chef Alex Johnson (of the Edmonton’s Cactus Club CafĂ©) will offer his expertise in the creation of some of his favourite dishes.
He attended one of the Cultural Kitchens and offered his services to help raise the profile of the program and to help out the community kitchen and its programs. It’s important to continue to raise awareness about what the food bank and community village have to offer St. Albertans, Krecsy said.
The first lesson for Tuesday’s class is about canapĂ©s.
“He’s actually won awards for his canapĂ©s! He’s a really talented young chef!” Krecsy said.
The April class will feature an entrĂ©e and May’s session will have a dessert. Other Community Cooking Classes are in the works for the future. They will be posted when they are finalized.
Event details
• The first Community Cooking Class takes place on Tuesday, March 25 from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. at the community village.<br />There are only 12 spots available. Each spot can be reserved for a donation of $50. Tax receipts will be provided. Call 780-459-0599 or email at [email protected].<br />More information can be found by visiting www.stalbertcv.com/community-kitchen-program.<br /><br />• The St. Albert Food Bank and Community Village is located at 50 Bellerose Dr., next to Canadian Tire.<br /><br />• The food bank is also set to host its annual Hors d’Oeuvres and Silent Auction fundraiser. That takes place from 7 to 10 p.m. on Saturday, May 10 at the St. Albert Community Hall. Tickets will be available soon for the event.
