This October it's Black History Month and we're celebrating the achievements and contributions of black people across our stores, sites and those doing great things in our communities. Our development Chef, Jon, is in the kitchen with some of our colleagues enjoying learning how to cook some new dishes.

What are we doing to celebrate Black History Month?

We're proudly supporting a raft of initiatives to support Black History Month this October, reinforcing this year’s national theme of Time for Change: Action Not Words.

  • Our Community Champions are working with local groups, to donate £25,000 of food and hair products sought by Black communities that can be distributed amongst local food groups, schools and charities.
  • We've adopted the Halo Code, the UK’s first black hair code which explicitly protects employees who come to work with natural hair and protective hairstyles associated with their racial, ethnic, and cultural identities.
  • Look out for our Black History Month book range in store which includes inspiring and educational cookery and children’s books.
  • Our colleagues will be wearing red on 21st October to Show Racism the Red Card.

Read more on the Halo Code>>

Recipes

Fiona's Escovitch Fish

What better way to celebrate Black History Month than with delicious food! Join our Regional People Manager, Fiona, on how to cook her version of the Caribbean dish Escovitch Fish. Dig in to Fiona's delicious recipe below. The dish is usually made with snapper or red bream, but you can try it with sea bream or seabass if you prefer. 

Ingredients

  • Fish - usually use snapper or red bream but you can use either sea bream or sea bass
  • 1 lime or lemon
  • 1 onion, thinly sliced  
  • 2 carrots, cut into thin strips
  • 1 red bell pepper, thinly sliced
  • 1 green bell pepper, thinly sliced
  • 1 yellow bell pepper, thinly sliced
  • 1 scotch bonnet peppers, thinly sliced
  • 1 cup of white vinegar
  • Vegetable oil 
  • Salt (optional if using all-purpose seasoning)
  • 1 tsp black pepper
  • 1 tbsp of fish or all-purpose seasoning 

Please note the amount of ingredients required will depend on volume of fish being used

To prepare fish 

  1. Rinse well and squeeze lemon or lime to cleanse. Season the fish with fish seasoning, salt and pepper. (You can marinate overnight or season on the day). Deep fry the whole fish, over a high heat, until crispy.

To prepare marinade

  1. Place the sliced onions, peppers, carrots, scotch bonnet and white vinegar in the small pan.
  2. Bring to boil and allow to simmer for a few minutes.

To serve

  1. Place the fish in a dish and pour the marinated vegetables over the fish.

Dehe's Cote d'Ivoire Grilled Lamb and Attieke

Meet one of our colleagues, Dehe, sharing her classic and delicious recipe for Attieke with lamb chops originating from Cote D'Ivoire in Africa. Watch Dehe show chef Jon how to make this versatile celebration dish, packed full of flavour, and keep scrolling to check out the full recipe.

Ingredients

  • Lamb Cutlets
  • Oil
  • English mustard
  • Vegetable stock cubes
  • 2-3 cloves garlic
  • 2 onions
  • Salt
  • Pepper
  • 400g chopped tomatoes
  • 1 red chilli or scotch bonnet
  • 200g Attieke (Cassava Cous Cous) available in specialist shops or use standard cous cous
  • 1/2 cucumber
  • 2 peppers (red pepper/yellow pepper)
  • 2 tomatoes, chopped
  • Fresh lemon for the juice

Method

  1. First make the marinade for the lamb, crush up 1x stock cube and mix with salt pepper and a little oil with some English mustard (about 2x teaspoons), in a large bowl coat the lamb chops well, and chill until needed.
  2. If using Attieke, crumble the defrosted Cassava Cous Cous with your hands before steaming for 10-15 minutes until soft and fluffy, if using standard couscous, cook following the pack instructions.
  3. Make a sauce/dressing for the lamb by blending the tinned chopped tomatoes with 1/2 an onion peeled and chopped, 1x red chilli, 1x clove of garlic, a splash of olive oil, and blend until smooth. Add to a pan, crumble in a stock cube and bring to the boil. Simmer until cooked down by half, remove from the pan and pour into a serving dish.
  4. To make the salad, roughly chop the cucumber, peppers, onion and fresh tomatoes and mix together with a little oil and lemon juice. 
  5. Grill the Lamb chops until charred on both sides and allow to rest for 5-10 minutes. In a frying pan add a little oil and add the last garlic clove sliced thinly and a finely chopped onion and cooked and golden brown, stir in the couscous and season well.
  6. Serve the cous cous on a serving platter, with the salad and the lamb chops and pour over the sauce. Enjoy!

David & Caroline's Fried Rice & African Buns

In our latest video, David and his Mum Caroline show us how to make Fried Rice with Chicken and Puff Puff Buns. Tuck in to the recipe below. 

Ingredients

Fried Rice:

  • Basmati rice 500g
  • Frozen mixed veg (including carrots, peas, sweetcorn)
  • Onion 
  • Curry powder
  • Dried thyme
  • Chicken stock cube 
  • Whole ginger fresh 
  • Chicken of your choice, we recommend chicken thighs

Puff Puff/African Buns: 

  • Self raising flour 500g
  • Whole nutmeg 
  • Eggs
  • Sunflower oil
  • Sugar 

Method

Chicken & Fried Rice:

  1. Peel and chop carrots and onions and chop the ginger. 
  2. Cook the rice as per pack instructions with water, stock cube and curry powder until tender. Once the rice is cooked and strained, heat some oil in a large frying pan or pot, and fry the carrot, onion and ginger until softened. Stir in the rice and cook until just gently browned.
  3. While the rice is cooking marinade the chicken by mixing a crumbled up stock cube, a pinch of curry powder, a good grind of pepper and some sesame seeds (black and white sesame seeds work great) add some oil just to bind the marinade together and rub into the chicken, place on a baking tray and bake in the oven for 35-40 minutes at 190oc till juices run clear.

African Buns:

  1. Bind the flour egg and milk together, to make a dough.
  2. Heat the oil for frying carefully and test with a little bit of the dough, if the dough floats and begins to colour the oil is at the correct temperature. 
  3. Add the dough in little balls carefully into the hot oil, around 3-4 at a time, once they are floating and golden brown on all sides they are ready, place on a tray with a bit of kitchen towel so they can drain off any excess oil.
  4. Serve all with the fried rice. 

Videos