A wonderful cooperative of single mums and superwomen came together to bring their family and heritage recipes to the wider world, and each has a guest spot in The Canvas, the Profit For Purpose Café, writes Michael Holland.
Leila, Woin, Sophia, Amiira, and Syeda united for Lady Lane Kitchen, a pop up where each week a member of the group takes over the kitchen to create authentic dishes from Ethiopia, Somalia, Bangladesh, the Caribbean and the Levant. Myself and Rene rocked up for a night of Syeda’s Bangladeshi delights.
Syeda is a mother of 6, and a grandmother with a bad leg and walking stick, which is not enough to stop this Wonder Woman from fulfilling her passion of ‘spreading love and joy through full bellies’! Syeda had recruited family and friends to do a lot of the fetching and carrying from the downstairs kitchen.
She did, however, bring the first course to introduce herself to us, and in that starter you could see and taste the 40 years of cooking experience that Syeda had brought to the table.
Immediately you knew these were no ordinary samosas by the softness of the pastry. In other places I usually find them quite hard, you can literally snap them in half, and when you do get inside they are full of air. These beauties were packed with goodness and flavour from the mincemeat, garlic, ginger, garam masala and fas furan.
And the batter that enveloped the bhaajis was exquisite. Just the right amount of crunch and thickness to not overwhelm the taste of the vegetables and spices inside.
We sipped on a beer and a glass of red and agreed how both of us were pleased with how this new experience of dining was going. We discussed the textures and flavours, and the good community work done here at The Canvas that includes a food bank and free home-cooked meals, with a scheme supported by local artists, Gilbert & George.
It wasn’t long before the main course arrived, this time served by, I would guess, two granddaughters. We had Chicken Jalfrezi and Chana Dahl and they were both delicious. Even the naan bread they came with seemed a bit more special than all naan bread that had gone before.
Yes, it is knowing how this cooperative came together that makes everything taste that much better, but these are women that have been cooking most of their lives, and they’ve been doing it with love for their families and not as an employee. That love comes through in the cooking. The passion they have for their dishes is in every mouthful.
And did I mention that everything is vegan? The mincemeat in the samosas is vegan and the chicken in the Vegan Jalfrezi too. In fact, I’d forgotten that this was a vegan establishment and it was only when Rene asked, ‘How is the fake chicken?’, that I remembered.
And it is not there to fool people – although I was fooled – but to add another texture.
I raise a glass to the Lady Lane women, and to all the women that create the real, unfussy meals in homes every day.
The Canvas, 42 Hanbury Street, E1 5JL
£15 for 2 courses; £20 for 3. Drinks extra.
Photos: M. Holland