5 things to know about the Intercultural Community Kitchen at N2N’s community food centre on Hamilton Mountain

What's cooking at the Hamilton Community Food Centre?

Each Wednesday it's a dish from around the world.

The Limeridge Road West food centre, which is run by Neighbour to Neighbour Centre, resumed the popular free Intercultural Community Kitchen last September.

It's about people sharing the (cooking) skills they have," said Krista D'Aoust, director of community food and family services at Neighbour to Neighbour/Hamilton Community Food Centre. We have a lot of folks that come from different countries that may have lived in Canada a long time, but it's about sharing their home recipes and food that is important to them."

Caitlin Craven, community food skills co-ordinator at the food centre, said socialization is a big part of what they do.

I think the biggest thing is (the participants) get out of it is to meet people and share food as a way to learn about each other," she said.

Vidya, one of the participants, noted she is finding a lot of similarities among the cultures when it comes to food.

I'm learning a lot about other cultures and it's great socializing with all the other cultures," she said.

Here are five things to know about the Intercultural Community Kitchen (ICK).

QUARTERLY SESSIONS

The kitchen runs in 12 weekly sessions each season from 11:30 a.m.to 2:30 p.m.

PARTICIPANTS TAKE THE LEAD

There is room for up to 15 people each week and each participant gets to lead one of the meal preparations. The food is purchased by the food centre.

LOTS OF SHARED MEALS

Since last September, 145 meals have been shared at the ICK.

INTERCULTURAL COMMUNITY KITCHEN RAN DURING THE PANDEMIC

During the coronavirus pandemic, ICK morphed into a lockdown meal kit take-home program and virtual/outdoor conversation circles.

HOW DO I FIND OUT MORE ABOUT INTERCULTURAL COMMUNITY KITCHEN?

Contact Caitlin Craven at ccraven@n2nCentre.com or 905-574-1334 ext. 304.

STORY BEHIND THE STORY: Hamilton Community News wanted to find out more about the weekly Intercultural Community Kitchen at the Hamilton Community Food Centre.