For those that are old enough to remember you might recognise a slight reference to Sidney Poitier’s famous line in the film In The Heat of The Night with the title of this piece. But unlike the scene which portrays a confrontation between two very different cultures in the deep American south, the same cannot be said of the different cultures and cuisines offered by the social enterprise Mazi Mas.
I’m very open minded about trying new cuisines I’ve never tried before as they open up new learning experiences and spark interest with wanting to find out more. That’s what happened following the first meetup of the Hospitality Sharing Network which took place at Mazi Mas’ pop-up restaurant at The Ovalhouse Theatre in The Oval, South London. The name Mazi Mas comes from the phrase Eláte na fáte mazí mas: meaning come eat with us in Greek; it is a social enterprise providing support, training and employment opportunities for migrant and refugee women through cooking good home cooked food but on a commercial scale. The women involved come from all over the world including Brazil, Peru, Iran, Turkey and Ethiopia and all have different reasons for settling in London. 'There was an amazing buzz and hive of activity' The short-term pop-up residency was provided by The Ovalhouse Theatre, a local community theatre providing opportunities to radical and experimental plays and performances for the last 50 years. Entering by the main doors we mingled with the theatregoers and ordered drinks from the small bar which is connected to the kitchen. To the left was the bistro style dining tables with decorative tea lights and water carafes ready and waiting. There was an amazing buzz and hive of activity from a predominantly young crowd with a range of languages and accents denoting a cosmopolitan attraction both for the food, play and the experience. The restaurant was fully booked but despite that, the activity that could be seen from the open kitchen where you could see the food being prepared was one of measured quiet, demonstrating the chefs’ confidence, skill and experience of cooking for well over 30 covers on a regular basis. 'Brazilian cheese bread – little balls of cooked dough filled with molten cheese that oozed out like lava' The starters remain pretty much the same each evening with the main courses changing daily depending on the chef cooking that evening. Cassava chips, Brazilian cheese bread – little balls of cooked dough filled with molten cheese that oozed out like lava from the Trindade archipelago and Borek, a Turkish filo pastry filled with feta and spinach. Each were served in tapas style dishes and just enough for one, although you could choose a sharing starter platter consisting of a selection of the starters on offer including baba ganoush, muhammara and borek. The evening we chose to meet offered us a selection of Ethiopian main courses – one meat option – Tibs, a stir fried beef stew dish - and one vegetarian – Mirkik Wat made with lentils. Both were flavoured with a spice blend used widely in Ethiopian cuisine – Berbere - which is predominantly ground chilli pepper with up to 20 other spices added. Both mains were served with a traditional bread/pancake accompaniment – injera – which was rolled up tightly similar to a hot towel you get served at the end of an Indian meal but traditionally injera is laid flat out on the plate and the food served on top. It has a very sour taste which complements the spicy and salty flavours of the other dishes. If you are interested in finding out more about Ethiopian cuisine, as I was, take a look at this comprehensive site http://uncorneredmarket.com/ethiopian-food/. A Bright Future If you are inspired to learn more about the role and how you could help them, go to their website http://www.mazimas.co.uk/ for more information and follow them on Twitter @eatmazimas. And if you get the opportunity, I would seriously recommend eating with them – you won’t be disappointed.
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