Chopwell Italian Café
Who took part?
Members of the Chopwell and Blackhall Mill Live At Home Scheme and Year 5 pupils from Chopwell Primary School and Chopwell Library.
Why?
- To connect young and older people in the community, share skills and experiences around food and healthy eating and create greater understanding between generations.
- To assist the school in achieving International Status, raising aspirations and awareness of other cultures by pupils and parents.
- To encourage family convivial eating and broadened understanding of ingredients, tastes and cultures.
What took place?
The groups worked with graphic designer Cathy Sharp to produce flyers, posters and letters. These were taken home and distributed in the local community to advertise their Italian Soul Soup café event and raise awareness of the need for volunteers in the local allotment garden. The groups also worked with artist Kate Eccles who helped them with the theme of Italian architecture to create bunting, aprons, tea towels and the leaning Tower of Pisa!
The local library staff helped the children to source information on world soups and ingredients, and as a result the groups decided to explore Italian themed foods. Using fresh herbs as inspiration, they made a number of soups and chose Italian Tomato and Basil soup for the final event, with cheese straws and foccacia bread. They also had a bread making session with home economist Jill Weatherburn, who showed them how to mould dough into rolls and knots. The groups learnt basic food hygiene and healthy eating and had a trip to a nearby Italian Restaurant in Shotley Bridge, where they made – and then ate – their own pizzas.
Soul Soup Café Event
The Chopwell Italian café event was held in the Chopwell Primary School canteen, where they invited friends, family, and the wider community into the school to sample the homemade soup and bread, followed by ice-cream. The children served from their very own gondolier table, and took the opportunity to ask the people of Chopwell questions about their area – their likes, dislikes and improvements that could be made.
Find Out More:
Chopwell Primary School
Chopwell and Blackhall Mill Live at Home Scheme
