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The Hubb Community Project was created last summer by women
seeking somewhere to cook fresh food for their families and
friends following the blaze which engulfed the 24-storey social
housing block in west London.
The new book, "Together: Our Community Cookbook", a collection
of 50 recipes from the diverse users of the communal kitchen at
the Al Manaar Muslim Cultural Heritage Centre, will be used to
allow the project to expand and open for up to seven days a
week.
"I immediately felt connected to this community kitchen; it is a
place for women to laugh, grieve, cry and cook together,"
Meghan, who first visited the kitchen in January and has made
other private visits since, wrote in a foreword.
"Melding cultural identities under a shared roof, it creates a
space to feel a sense of normalcy – in its simplest form, the
universal need to connect, nurture, and commune through food,
through crisis or joy – something we can all relate to."
Meghan's support for the project is her first solo venture since
becoming a member of Britain's royal family after marrying Queen
Elizabeth's grandson Prince Harry in May.
The Grenfell fire was Britain's deadliest fire on domestic
premises since World War Two and there was criticism that the
authorities were slow to provide new permanent accommodation for
many of the survivors.
One of the contributors to the book, Munira Mahmud, 34, said she
and her friends had approached Al-Manaar to ask if they could
use the kitchen there and the Hubb project - hubb means love in
Arabic - arose out of it.
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"Last summer, we were placed in a hotel and I had no kitchen to cook
for my family," Mahmud wrote. "It was very emotional for me to get
in the kitchen. The moment I started cooking I was in tears. I
didn’t know why though. I was just excited to be back in the kitchen
again.
"Word started to spread – the mums from my son’s school came along
and they told their friends, too. Soon there were women from
different cultures all cooking, swapping recipes, talking and
laughing together."
The duchess is photographed on the front of the of the book helping
out and Mahmud said the royal had been happy to join in.
"She wore an apron," she wrote. "I can’t believe I made her wash
rice! After we said that we could only use the kitchen twice a week
due to funding, she mentioned, ‘How about sharing your recipes with
other people?’. And that’s how it happened."
Meghan will host an event at Kensington Palace, where her home with
Harry is located, on Sept. 20 to launch the cookbook with the Royal
Foundation administering proceeds from sales to the Hubb project.
(Reporting by Michael Holden; editing by Guy Faulconbridge)
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