Former MasterChef contestant plays part in creating Ukrainian dishes to bring communities together in Holbeach

A taste of Ukraine was served up to townsfolk – with a little help from a former MasterChef contestant.

Holbeach residents were offered the chance to try some Eastern European cuisine on Thursday as part of a project to boost relationships between local communities and help those struggling with the cost of living crisis.

A team of Ukrainian chefs created the dishes – which included zrazy, potato pockets stuffed with meat, cabbage or mushrooms – at High Street’s Boxes of Hope.

The meals were then passed on to people in the town, as well as visitors to the charity HQ, which was holding an open day to help locals learn more about coping with financial problems.

“The recipes are our dishes we normally cook, they’re in my heart and my brain,” explained Svitlana Nahorna, who arrived in Lincolnshire from Kyiv 18 months ago.

“We need to show our culture and how we live.”

Last week saw Boxes of Hope send their 24th lorry to the war-torn nation, delivering supplies to Ukrainian residents.

“They do a wonderful job, they helped me a lot when I came here,” added Svitlana, who has settled in Sutton Bridge after previously living in Holbeach.

“We all have to do what we can. Not everyone can fight with guns in their hand, but we can try to help Ukrainian people in other ways.”

As well as supporting Ukrainian communities, Boxes of Hope continue to offer advice and help to the people of South Holland.

Thursday’s event saw a member of the Barclays Bank community team on hand to offer financial support, while the charity was offering further advice.

“The referrals that are coming in are people who are working, who have never gone for help in their life and need assistance,” explained director Mandy Baxter.

“Their mortgage has gone up, their bills have gone up and they can’t afford to feed their kids.

“That’s the reality. So we are able to do, to refer them to food banks, get them eating, get them support from the council.”

Through her work, Mandy is seeing more and more locals struggling to cope with day-to-day life due to the cost of living crisis.

“It’s shocking what’s happening. People don’t see it, but we’re seeing it every day,” she said.

“We want to help people live a better life.

“There’s a big gap – you’ve got people who have everything or nothing and we’re trying to bridge that gap. It’s becoming more apparent every day.

“Today we can also take some food into the community and say ‘try this’. It’s about bringing the two communities together and food is always a good thing to do this.”

Facilitating the event was Lincoln-based not-for-profit community interest company GoGro, which operates a number of projects promoting healthy eating across the county.

Co-directors Rob Hewis and Eamonn Hunt – a 2012 MasterChef finalist who has also run a restaurant which featured in the Michelin Guide – pass on their knowledge of cooking and nutrition to encourage the public to bin junk food and take pleasure from creating their own delicious dishes.

“The food’s very nice. It’s different though,” explained Eamonn, whose first taste of the Eastern European specialties came when they started this project, which has also run in other Lincolnshire towns.

“It’s simple stuff, but I guess you can say our stuff’s simple – Lancashire hotpot’s just lamb, onion and potato. But it’s very nice.”

GoGro – which runs a number of courses catering for children as young as five to adults over 100 – have been promoting Ukrainian food around Yellowbelly county as part of their mission to help improve diets and health.

“We’ve been running the Ukrainian projects all round Lincolnshire, in Gainsborough, Spalding, Stamford, Grantham,” Eamonn continued.

“We want to get people eating tasty, healthy food, to change people’s eating habits, to get them off takeaway food an on to fresh, local food.”

Rob added: “This Ukrainian project is fantastic as when we first started we were talking about to help our Ukrainian friends learn more about the English ingredients they might not get at home.

“But really quickly we realised it’s about friendship, taking minds off stuff and seeing smiles on people’s faces.”