From October 2019, we organised food and memory cooking sessions with a Bangladeshi women’s Thursday group (with Equality Action as part of the Positive Minds Project in Loughborough.
In discussion with the group, each session was themed so the dish would reflect memories of certain times and places. Sessions included: Forgotten dishes, food from childhood, food from ‘home’ and a session that celebrated Language Day.
Food is a significant way to evoke autobiographical memory and memories of migration, family life and historical events. The sessions were significant in evoking memories of Bangladesh and articulating British Bangladeshi community and identity through cooking and eating the dishes.
“we have a lot of fish, that would be our identity (laughing) I don’t think people from any other background have as much fish as we do … I don’t think English or Indian people have us much fish as we do, they do have it but not as much as we do … I think we are well known for Bengalis are from rice and fish … This is a well-known phrase, everybody knows this! That’s our identity!“
– Participant
