BSAF's little foodies

Sunday, August 20th, Thornbury Centre

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BSAF's little foodies was a tasty activity for our younger visitors, designed to help them connect with the food of their and their peers' heritage in a fun and interactive way.

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BSAF's own Rahila Hussain - previously a winner of a TV cooking competition -  introduced the children and their parents to some of the basics of cooking South Asian dishes. The aim was to foster a love for South Asian cuisine, share some messaging around good nutrition and perhaps even discover the next culinary star, like Nadiya Hussain or Atul Kochhar, right here in Bradford!

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little foodies as a concept began as a pop-up marketing gimmick for Bradford South Asian Festival 2022. We decided to host fun, participatory, family-friendly activities related to cooking and food heritage at some summer events in Bradford. We launched with a chappati-making competition stall at the Bradford Curry Mela. People loved it, and hundreds participated in our chapatti-making stalls that year.

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Encouraged by this success, we expanded the idea in 2023 with samosa-making pop-ups during the summer. It was, once a gain a huge hit, amd we decided to integrate the concept into the main Bradford South Asian Festival space, hosting an afternoon of cooking as part of our Day 3 events at the Thornbury Centre. Both children and their parents absolutely loved it, and the joy on the children's faces was something special to behold, as you can see from the pictures!

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This session offered an amazing opportunity for children to connect with the food of their South Asian heritage or - for those from other backgrounds - to explore South Asian cuisine they might have heard about but not fully understood or tried at home. It was a chance for young people to learn to cook together with their parents, take on messaging around nutrition and healthy eating, and experience the joy of cooking.

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Bradford boasts a very mixed, diverse, and rich heritage from different communities, each bringing a distinct food heritage. Food and heritage are intrinsically linked, and the stories we tell about ourselves often trace back to the tastes and smells of our childhood. This core principle guided us to develop little foodies, and we hope it becomes a bigger part of the Bradford South Asian Festival - and beyond -  in the coming years.

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