Families in
Peterborough have shared their favourite recipes for a cookbook which we have
created in partnership with City College Peterborough.
The Peterborough
Family Cookbook features recipes from families across the city, with recipes
from a range of different cultures. The colourful cookbook celebrates the
literacy-boosting benefits of families cooking and sharing mealtimes
together, with quotes from books and food facts included throughout.
Families were
invited to submit their recipes at the Peterborough
Pop-Up Literacy Hub, which was open for five weeks over the summer last
year. Recipes in the cookbook include:
- ‘Extra energy
explorer porridge’ from local author Justin Miles
- Fishcakes from
adult learners at City College Peterborough
- ‘Pre-game pasta’
from James Ferrara, captain of the Peterborough Phantoms ice hockey team and
Head of Year 7 at the City of Peterborough Academy
- Chapattis from
local Indian cookery tutor Ravi Pathak
The cookbook also features healthy options, including ‘breakfast fruit kebabs’ from local mother and son duo Nicola Arbon and Jack O’Sullivan, and a recipe for carrot and lentil soup from Peterborough resident Katie Hopkins. Healthier options for ingredients are also indicated throughout the cookbook, guiding families to make healthier choices when trying out the recipes.
The Peterborough
Family Cookbook was created as part of the Peterborough Literacy Campaign, an
initiative from us and Peterborough City Council which aims to boost literacy
levels in Peterborough.
Our research shows
that children who talk regularly at mealtimes become more confident
communicators. However, one child in four (26%) doesn’t have daily mealtime
chats and almost a third (30%) spend more time online or watching TV than
talking to their family.
To pick up a free
copy of The Peterborough Family Cookbook, visit Peterborough Central Library
or City College Peterborough where copies are available.
Manager
of the National Literacy Trust Hub in Peterborough, Sally Atkinson, said:
“Families all over Peterborough submitted recipes for this cookbook and
shared their stories of the ways that food brings them together.
Cooking and
enjoying meals together as a family is a great way to improve children’s
literacy skills. Asking your child to read recipes, write shopping lists for
ingredients and talking together at mealtimes are all simple activities which
can make a big difference in their development.
This cookbook
celebrates both the diversity of Peterborough’s residents and the benefits
that family mealtimes can bring. Pop down to the library or college today to
pick up your copy and get cooking!”
Pat
Carrington, Principal of City College Peterborough, said:
“This is the first
time the college has produced a family cookbook and I am delighted with
outcome. The cookbook combines fantastic recipes, submitted by families of all
cultures and backgrounds from across the city. Sharing meals as a family is a
great way to stay connected and enjoy time together. I am really pleased the
college supports such an important imitative to help boost literacy levels
while also helping to promote healthy eating.”