The Youth Co-Lab

Rolling into Youth Week 2020 with Fairfield City Council

April 3, 2020April 3, 2020

“It wasn’t until I was 18 that I was on rolling duty,” Selena recalled.

Our secretary, Selena, shared a special dish from her Vietnamese culture—chả giò, deep fried spring rolls, a stuffed with prawn filling.

This delicious appetiser is a significant memory in many Vietnamese childhoods. Gathered around the dinner table with family members, the young ones are often left to peeling the wrappers while the adult creates neat little spring rolls. You must get initiated into the rolling responsibility by creating the perfect spring roll.

A Vietnamese mother will say there is an art to it. It shouldn’t be overstuffed with filling, otherwise it will be undercooked when fried. Wrapping it too tightly means it can burst. The edges of the spring roll need to be tucked securely, otherwise they’ll burn while cooking.

Despite this, spring rolls are fun to make because everyone can customise the filling to their taste and how it is rolled to their preference!

At our second workshop, there were returning participants but also some new faces. Everyone had a chance to share their personal tips and stories with the dish, with some returning participants had come out of their shell more to get to know others in the community.

Check out some of the fun that we got up to during this class!

Brian, Kitchen Co-Lab project coordinator, is all laughs during our workshop introduction.

Our new participants, Sarah and Mark, were eager to get to rolling!

Trinity got to cooking efficiently, but had lots of fun too!

Despite our hand blender issues, it was easy for our participants to chop up the mince by hand!

Sean sharing some tips on how to quickly mince the prawns

Selena sharing her personal technique for making the perfect spring roll

All our participants around the table and ready to roll!

Roling requires a lot of focus

Some of the best rolls of the day!

Linda frying up spring rolls, a dish from her childhood!

Given the current coronavirus situation, we have unfortunately had to cancel our face-to-face workshops. These circumstances have enabled us to get creative and think of new, fun and virtual ways to interact with our participants! Our next project will be announced soon.

You can download the recipe at this link. Let us know if you try it!

We have collaborated with Fairfield City Council for Youth Week to engage with young people and explore the theme of breaking stereotypes.

Kitchen Co-Lab

Cultural Shake-Up: Cooking Classes To Unite A Community

October 18, 2018October 18, 2018

Knives are sharpened, recipe cards are out, and aprons are tied around the waists of those eager to embrace a new cultural experience in Cabramatta.

The non-for-profit youth organisation, The Youth Co-Lab, has trialled their first multicultural cooking class on Thursday to unite the community under the universal love of food.

The community enterprise project, named ‘The Kitchen Co-Lab’, celebrates Cabramatta’s diverse culture by bringing in chefs and home cooks from across the community to share their recipes and retell their experiences of living in Australia.

“Our purpose is to celebrate cultural diversity and promote social inclusion,” said TYC co-ordinator Tu Le.

“We found that we live in a very multicultural society, but a lot of our community lives in silo … the whole ethos of ‘food bringing people together’ is core to The Kitchen Co-Lab so it’s not only a way to share cultures and cuisines, but also to share stories.”

The class was held in the Indochinese restaurant Papa Do’s Kitchen and was run by the owner and head chef, Kelvin Do, who taught the class how to make a traditional Vietnamese slaw.

Thomas Le, 28, participated in the class and said that it inspired him to learn more about his family history and sustain the cultural heritage that was passed down to him from his parents.

“The Kitchen Co-Lab serves as a reminder to all of the importance of sustaining our cultural heritage for one pure reason – I would love for my kids to eat the food I grew up eating, my mother’s cooking, which is filled with rich culture, histories and stories,” he said.

“I’ve realised that I should spend more time with my family to learn about their history.”

Another participant, Jenny Nguyen, 18, said that the class was a “fun and exciting experience” that allowed her to reconnect with her community.

“The journey of making and eating food is so important and valuable to the community,” she said.

“Even though we already have several cultural festivals which host a wide array of cultural dishes, The Kitchen Co-Lab provides a more intimate environment for people to come together and bond on a more personable level.”

Cabramatta is known for its diverse community profile, with more than half of its residents born overseas and over 70 per cent speaking a language other than English at home, according to the 2016 Census.

Tu Le say that the project will bridge the divide between the ethnic hubs of Cabramatta and make a lasting impact on the community.

“Food and diversity, when you bring those together, is a celebration of what we have in Australia, and to promote that in a fun way while having it run by young, passionate people in the community is a very powerful thing.”

The first class will be held in early January 2019 and will feature the cultures and cuisines from countries such as Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, Laos, Serbia and Italy.

The Youth Co-Lab was established in late 2017 by several youth leaders from the ‘Vietnamese Community In Australia’ (VCA) to empower youth in south-west Sydney and create positive social impacts in the community.

In April 2018, the non-for-profit group hosted a ‘Youth for Climate Action’ event with Sydney Alliance, Intrepid Landcare and ActionAid to inform youth of the steps they could take to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and protect the environment.

For more information about The Youth Co-Lab or The Kitchen Co-Lab email us at : enquiries@theyouthcolab.com.au.