Third day of the Liverpool Healthnic workshop

The third session 14 November introduced herbs and spices with a focus on culinary and medicinal uses.
All together we talked about how we used herbs and spices. In three groups – Chives, Parsley and Coriander, our first activity matched a spice and herb with a description of its medicinal properties as its health benefits. Spontaneously stories were shared about natural remedies that have been handed down through generations “from home” and are still used today.
Our facilitator Rosie, asked everyone if they could identify the contents of a small jar of herb salt (basil, garlic and raw salt) through smell and taste. Then in a group activity we chose a cocktail of herbs from the garden considering taste preferences and medicinal qualities – for example – mint, calendula petals, garlic and salt.
Everyone had their individual jar of herb salt to take home, store for a week in the fridge and use. Preserving herbs this way allows them to be used like a stock cube.
Next, each group prepared a seasonal salad with their group herb (chives, parsley or coriander) to be the dominant flavour – transforming its taste of season.
The salads were served with baked potato and Ali’s delicious tomato smoked beans flavoured with garam masala and smoked paprika, a cheap and nutritious autumnal meal. The discovery of new tastes and unusual flavours in today’s lunch drew consensus that previously held reservations about using herbs and spices in home cooking were to be abandoned.
After eating we were joined by Ewan and he introduced the group to digital storytelling. He showed examples of several two minute digital stories created in the Erasmus+ Tell Your Story 2016 project. This helped our participants focus on their own stories in a context of food.