Eight booked out cultural cooking classes promoting healthy eating and enjoyment through food were hosted by the Nutrition and Dietetics in August as part of Flinders’ 50th Anniversary. The free workshops were attended by approximately 140 staff and some students from every corner of the Flinders University community. The workshops were located in the purpose built Oasis kitchens, where participants learnt about different cuisines facilitated by academics from the Languages Department and Nutrition and Dietetics. A couple of sessions were also facilitated by students from the Chinese Association and Temesak Polytechnic, Singapore. Cuisines included Australian, Singaporean, Iranian, Spanish, French, Chinese, Greek, and Italian. Each Master Class was facilitated by people from that culture using authentic, healthy recipes with minimal ingredients, that families have used for generations. Throughout the sessions, our recent graduates chatted about the health benefits of the Mediterranean Diet, the French paradox, the health benefits of spices and pulses and more!
Based on evaluation results, the Master Class Workshops were an overwhelming success. Every participant said they would recommend the workshops to a friend! As a result of the positive responses, numerous offers for collaboration have been put forward, expressing enthusiasm for providing the workshop again next year. It was insightful working with the Humanities Department, particularly with senior academic staff in Languages and Linguistics who have students interested in food and migration to Australia. Perhaps there could be the potential for future research collaborations!
Thanks must go to Jessica Jarrett and Gabrielle O’Dea, graduate dietitians who organised the classes alongside project leads, Dr Kacie Dickinson and Louisa Matwiejczyk. A huge thank you to our facilitators too:
- Antonella Strambi (Head of Department, Department of Language Studies)
- Olga Sanchez Castro (Lecturer – Department of Languages and Applied Linguistics)
- Foorough Kavian (Research Fellow – Health and Exercise Sciences)
- Isabel Mut Rueda (Lecturer – Office of Humanities and Creative Arts)
- Jessica Jarrett – Graduate
- Gabrielle O’Dea – Graduate
- Fran Flint – Student
- Julia Liu – Student
- Daniel Yao – Student
- Novenine Loo – Temasek Polytechnic students (Singapore)
- Jacelyn Chau – Temasek Polytechnic students (Singapore)
Thank you to the student volunteers who also assisted with hosting this wonderful event. Watch out for the free e-book featuring these fabulous recipes!