Children of the Azizia Madrasa enjoyed a tasty morning as they learnt a fundamental skill to last them a lifetime, cooking healthy, nutritious meals using locally sourced, low cost ingredients.
Etihad Airways Inflight Chef Sanjay Thakur, famous for breaking the world record for creating the highest pop-up restaurant in the world at Everest Advanced High Camp last year, and President of the World Chef Association, Thomas Gugler, hosted the Abu Dhabi-led initiative to teach children the benefits of healthy eating and how they can use locally found ingredients as the cornerstone of a nutritional diet.
“I am a strong believer in the old adage that if you teach someone to do something for themselves you have given a lesson for life, and that is what we are trying to do here today. It is not enough to simply donate a meal, our goal today is to teach these children and their carers healthy habits that will last a lifetime, and the skills to implement them,” said Chef Thakur.
The day’s menu was sourced entirely from local markets and even foraged from wild foliage, with the intent to show that healthy, and sustainably-sourced meals can be created for little to no cost.
Over 70 children who live at the orphanage were shown how to source and prepare simple dishes before enjoying Chef Thakur’s tasting menu including locally foraged shisnu and wild spinach soup for the starter, a main course of locally farmed chicken casserole with barley, and rhododendron rice pudding with yak dairy for dessert.
Madrasa caretakers were also taken through a course to teach cooking and food preparation skills.
As part of the initiative, the UAE Ambassador to Nepal His Excellency Saeed Hamdan Al Naqei, and Etihad Airways donated 10 double bunk beds to the orphanage.
High-res images can be downloaded here: https://we.tl/t-B0dDZ6fTR4
