World flavours shared from A Pot of Courage

PREPARED at Barkly Square for you to enjoy in your home kitchen, migrant women of social enterprise, A Pot of Courage are cooking up dinner packs in time for stage three lockdown.

With international cuisines on offer for mains and dessert, including Indian, Malaysian and Egyptian, pickup or delivery of food can be coordinated online at apotofcourage.com.au/store.

A Pot of Courage founder and coordinator Shiree Pilkinton said the first lockdown allowed her team to assess viable options to continue, and after some brainstorming, the dinner packs launched last week, allowing people to feel as if they’ve gone to a restaurant, without leaving their house.

“There are two serves in each pack, then people add what they like. If you buy the Malaysian beef rendang, you might pair it with steamed veggies, flatbread, or rice, so it’s an easy dinner. Lilly Wright is a star baker, so we have some quite decadent desserts,” she said.

“We have a few volunteers supporting the paid staff, helping with deliveries. There are layers of complexity with COVID, so we’re extra careful and strict in the kitchen with practices, hand hygiene, and making sure the deliverers are wearing masks.

“We’re taking it step-by-step to minimise risk to keep marginalised women employed and keep going forward.”

Malaysian migrant, Lilly Wright joined A Pot of Courage last year when she moved to Ballarat from Melbourne.

“I love doing this. I do have my own business, so I’ve gone through all the steps to start that and I’m ready to teach other women how to run their business as well,” she said.

“If you’re a woman with a migrant and refugee background and want to do something for yourself, run a successful business and take it seriously, you need to share it with someone, so that’s why I got to know Shiree.

“It helps you spread your wings in the Ballarat community. I really appreciate people following this because it can’t happen without their support.”

Two years ago, Ms Pilkinton was teaching migrant women through Women’s Health Grampians and collaborated with them on a book project, It Takes Courage: sharing secret recipes and stories from our homelands.

“They all have amazing cooking skills, and many had worked in hospitality in their homeland.

“I suggested that instead of applying for job after job, they could create their own income, and do that by doing what they love to do, and do best,” she said.

“That’s how A Pot of Courage began, with catering and a few cooking classes. We had a pop-up café at Ballarat Community Health at Lucas, and then we had an opportunity to move into the space at Barkly Square.”

A range of spices are available at the online store, and a range of artisanal pieces and homewares are gradually appearing on the site.