We were delighted to take part in the inaugural Irish Refugee Food Festival which took place 
across the country throughout June. The festival was the brain-child of Mayo woman Lisa Regan and Jess Murphy from Kai in Galway and saw 15 different restaurants in Ireland open their doors to chefs and bakers with refugee status, or refugee applications under consideration, allowing them to showcase their skills and share their culinary heritage.
As part of the festival, Mabel joined us for 2 days cooking during the week of the week of June 18th. Originally from Cameroon, Mabel fled the West African nation in 2013 and is now based in Sligo. 
We loved having Mabel share her wonderful recipes with us and we featured some of her wonderful dishes in our cafes and deli over the week. The Beef and Peanut stew went down really well as Wednesday’s hot pot, and those who attended the ‘Slow Food Mayo’ talk that same night loved her canapés including the fried Plantain.
Mabel also worked with Javier in New Antrim street and together, they developed a delicious Cameroon inspired sharing board for our Friday night supper. We also served some delicious Irish Mackerel, marinated in Mabel’s chili marinade that our customers loved.
If you’re spending anytime in Sligo this summer, keep an eye out for the ‘Global Kitchen’ project which is run by Mabel, Binta and some other great cooks. They do pop ups at different venues including the Model Arts Centre, and hope to take the kitchen on the road nationally in 2019.
Thanks to Lisa and Jess for including us and the introduction to the lovely Mabel. We’re already looking forward to next year’s festival.
