Levenshulme-based dumpling project Heart & Parcel to publish first ever cookbook in June 2019 in order to continue providing English language support for migrant women in Manchester.
“Dumplings in all cultural forms are nourishing, delicious little parcels perfect for sharing, made with care and many hands”.
The process of making dumplings is a food-making tradition passed down through many cultures, where grandmothers or mothers teach their children how to make dumplings whilst spending time with one another. The humble dumpling brings people together. It is no surprise that different forms of dumplings are made on the eve of many new year’s celebrations around the world. By creating a dumping, you are creating something special. Dumplings in all cultural forms are nourishing, delicious little parcels perfect for sharing, made with care and many hands.
Heart & Parcel is a Manchester based food and women’s project focused on developing English language skills whilst cooking. The project uses dumpling-making as a medium to connect with women from migrant communities around Manchester, practising English whilst sharing stories, experiences, making connections and breaking down barriers.
This cookbook is the result of three years of weekly English language and cooking sessions, where recipes brought in by women, would be presented, cooked together, eaten together, written about and shared. Many of these dishes were showcased at Heart & Parcel’s popular fundraising supper clubs, local markets, catering and open workshops, where the users of Heart & Parcel’s projects could develop their skills further through business, employment and English language.
Over 250 women have benefited from Heart & Parcel’s sessions. Incredible homemade unique dishes normally cooked in many domestic kitchens across Manchester have been shared with us, and now Heart & Parcel would like to share them with you.
The book is a collection of recipes and stories generously offered by some of the women Heart & Parcel works with. The book contains 29 home-cooked recipes from Syria to Greece, Pakistan, to Bangladesh, Ethiopia to Poland, Iraq to Gambia, Morocco to Tibet to with a selection of hot and cold dishes, warming soups, fresh salads, versatile sides and indulgent sweets. Dumplings are the main attraction, showing favourite parcels such as Tibetan steamed momos, Polish pierogi, Chinese jiaozi and Syrian kibbeh.
All dishes celebrate the women’s own identities, their daily lives, memories and experiences. Every nourishing recipe is presented alongside its own story from each woman’s memory. The nature of the stories mean that each page is full of individual takes on traditional recipes and nostalgic memories surrounding the selected foods.
The book is accompanied by stunning photography from local photographer, Rebecca Lupton. Each section contains spreads of the final dishes, photos of the Heart & Parcel women themselves and of the food being lovingly made in their Manchester kitchens.
The Heart & Parcel Cookbook is an essential kitchen cookbook for anyone who agrees that food is much more than what you see on your plate.
If you enjoy reading beyond the recipe and trying new flavours you will appreciate the ethos behind Heart & Parcel. This cookbook is for anyone who recognises the connection of food across the world, whilst also celebrating and respecting those differences that are created through influences from our life stories. This is a book for anyone who believes getting to know more about your community through food.
This book is self-published using only local Manchester-based designers, printers and creators to produce the book.
All profits from the book go back into Heart & Parcel’s projects, providing further English language provision for women from different communities.
Heart & Parcel cookbook launch video – the cookbook is a collection of recipes and stories generously offered by some of the women Heart & Parcel works with.
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