Indian cooking class at Guysfield

Some of the residents at Guysfield Care Home in Letchworth enjoyed an Indian cooking class.

This was an idea from one of our resident meetings. The cookery workshop was run by our care assistant Bella and two residents: Shardabana and Bakshish, the activity had a very positive impact on them as it reminded them of home and filled them, with pride. One lady said: "This means so much to me, thank you. I feel so proud I can show you my culture."

This was a very special day, learning how to make traditional Indian home-style cookery, hands on. Firstly, we washed our hands and put on a protective apron and gloves. In this class we were taught about the wonderful spices and flavours of Indian cooking and our residents were able to use cooking utensils brought in by their family from home. Residents took turn in mixing, kneading and chopping vegetable.

We had so much fun and laughter! We also learnt Punjabi phrases and listened to Indian music.

This activity provided interest and stimulated conversation between fellow residents as well as helping care workers to get to know people and their personal stories better.

The culinary therapy was effective in so many ways that we are planning another cooking class soon.