Bristol Pop Up Kitchen

In October we set up our first ever Saint Cooks Pop up Kitchen in Bristol!

Taking part in the local community events in our adopted city Bristol has always been a treat for us. It’s important to take part and get to know the people who live around you. Life is enriched by those you meet within different communities, the different things you experience no matter how big or small. Its a core part of what we are trying to do with Saint Cooks. To celebrate all the aspects of the St Helena community – it’s people, culture, places and of course it’s food. So when we can, we make a cake for others to share a little of our community.

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One of the ways we take part each year is to exhibit artwork at one of the local art trails in the area. Art trails are one of those many quaint and quirky events that happen all over the city throughout the year in peoples homes and communal spaces to help to unite small communities through art, craft, workshops, performance and of course a lot of tea and cake.

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This year we wanted to do something different, so in addition to selling our artwork, we decided to do a pop-up tea and cake stall over the two-day weekend event selling and celebrating St Helenian food with people within our neighborhood.

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We set up our pop up kitchen at the Windmill Hill Community Centre as part of this year’s Art on the Hill Art Trail. Offering a selection of St Helenian staples like Pumpkin Pudding, Coconut Fingers, Curry Puffs and the South African meringue tarts, Hertzoggies. Alongside a small selection of cake classics for those of a less adventurous nature 🙂

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Our two days of baking paid off and the cakes were a huge success. With people coming back for seconds along with the obligatory questions of “where is St Helena?” “How big is it?” etc. With the help of Emma-Jane’s sister, we almost completely sold out on the first day and had to get back in the kitchen that night to bake fresh batches of curry puffs and pumpkin pudding for the following day.

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By the end, we left exhausted and equally exhilarated by the support and well wishes we received. It was a fantastic opportunity to celebrate and showcase St Helena in the community to people who had never tasted its food or even heard of the Island.