Celebrity chef takes inspiration from MF project

11th May 2007

A culinary event by Michelin-starred chef Paul Merrett on behalf of the MF raised an astonishing £15,000.

More than 60 MF supporters attended the Good Housekeeping Institute in London's West End to sample dishes from around the world prepared by Paul and a team of helpers.

Highlights included a Sri Lankan curry, a Nepalese noodle dish and a lamb stew with ricotta and spinach dumplings. The surprise of the evening was that BBC TV chef Paul, generously offered to auction off a night of him cooking a three course meal for 6 guests in the winner's home!

Raffle prizes included a day's course at Jean-Christophe Novelli's cookery academy, and signed books by cooker writer Nigella Lawson.

During the evening, Paul Merrett spoke about his visit to our allotments in Ealing where he got a hands-on idea of the MF's work with survivors of torture.

While at the allotments, the Ritz-trained chef spoke with a Sri Lankan couple who arrived at the MF after escaping the recent escalation of violence between the Tamils and Sinhalese back home. He was able to share with them cooking techniques from Sri Lanka, which he picked up during a brief stint working there as a chef ten years ago.

"I can definitely see there is a huge value in a project like this," said Paul, who is working on a book about his family's experience of growing and eating the produce from their own allotment.

"Food crosses all boundaries. People who don't speak any English can all talk about food. There's nothing quite as satisfying as having people around for dinner and giving them food that you've grown."

The Ealing allotments are part of the MF's Natural Growth Project, a unique form of horticultural therapy, led by an organic gardener and a psychotherapist, that is particularly beneficial for clients who are too emotionally wrought by their experiences to express themselves verbally.

The peace and calm of the allotments, located in Ealing and Collindale, offer a sanctuary that is far removed from clients' past lives but also has the ability to transport them back to a time before torture, when they may have had a connection with gardening and nature.

Agmedilla came to the UK with his wife after escaping conflict in Azerbaijan. Almost every day for the past three years he has tended to his allotment, where he has cultivated an impressive array of herbs and vegetables, bordered by rose bushes and flowers.

Hysen, from Kosovo, is another long-standing MF client, who has tended an allotment for the past seven years, finding respite from the daily worries about his family's battle to be recognised as refugees.

Theirs are stories that are replicated a dozen times over amond MF clients whose lives are slowly nurtured back to health with the aid of a project that recognises that talking is not always the answer.

We would like to thank the following for kindly donating their services free of charge: Paul Merrett, Eleanor Smyly, Anton Manganaro, National Magazines Company, Bernard Zieja, Olive Magazine and all the volunteers on the evening.