Shazmin Jagot is the lady behind Super Supper: a social meet up group for people who love cooking, sharing and trying food from different cultures and helping those less fortunate. At every Bristol-based event, there are just two aims: to bring people together with home-cooked food, and to share some of this food with those living on the streets.
So far, there have been two Super Supper events: the first at Castle Park in the summer, the second at Roll For The Soul this November. There will be a further event at RFTS on December 20th from 6pm to 8pm, with all of the details available on Shazmin’s Meetup page.
The premise is simple. Those who want to attend are asked to bring a homecooked dish (plus a plate and a serving spoon), with the dish ideally something that you would cook for your friends or family or that represents your heritage. Once you arrive, you’ll be sharing all of the dishes that have been brought along, and meeting likeminded people in the process.
There’s more to it than that, though. As diners and their dishes arrive, containers are filled with some of the homecooked food, and distributed to some of Bristol’s homeless later on in the evening, allowing them to enjoy a homecooked meal too.
Says Shazmin, “The idea of Super Supper was inspired by conversations with friends during the month of Ramadan (the Islamic month of fasting).I admire the values of the religion and love how a month of fasting reminds us to stay appreciative of what we have.
“I feel lucky. I come from a big, close family who are in the country and have great friends around but not everyone has that. In our professional fast paced lives we now live so efficiently, we seem to forget the simple things that used to be an important part of our everyday lives. So because food tastes SO much better when we eat together, I decided to set up a group to get people around a table to enjoy home-cooked food together. This group is open to anyone with a love of trying and sharing new food with others, learning about different cultures, chatting about different experiences, interested in meeting new people and helping others who may not be as fortunate.”
Not only have a number of attendees enjoyed trying a variety of dishes from around the globe, but many of Bristol’s homeless have reaped the benefits too. Shazmin explains, “I organized the very first supper as a picnic in Castle Park a few months ago. I arranged for an African drumming class to take place as an opening celebration to really get a buzz going.
“There was a man nearby who had been experiencing homelessness who stayed, joined our picnic and ate with us. He said he had lost his way in life and stopped playing music like he used to. The sounds of the drums and being a part of a group of positive people chatting, laughing and eating together inspired him to take up music again and to try and get himself out of the lifestyle he had fallen into. Inspiring people and reigniting their spark along the way is what Super Supper is all about.
“Then there was another couple experiencing homelessness. My sister and I approached them and asked if they would like some food. Their response was interesting.
“Why are you being nice?” they wondered in bewilderment.
“Because everyone deserves home food,” we replied.
“When they realised there was no ulterior motive, they were incredibly grateful, got chatting away and merrily ate their home-cooked lunch with us.
“The second supper just gone was a little different as it was the very first indoor supper. At this one, we filled containers on everyone’s arrival and then all ate around a table. At the end of the supper, we went out and walked until we found people on the streets. We asked them if they were hungry and if they would like some home-cooked food. Now, I’ve bought food for people on the streets before but the reaction we got when they realised it was home- made by us was totally different. Their eyes lit up and they smiled. For those few moments, they had a little bit of home again.
“The other thing that really struck me was that despite these people being hungry, they still weren’t greedy. We came across one man and his dog. My sister asked him if he would like 2 containers of food (he was obviously hungry as he ate it fast) but he continued to reply with a polite “no thank you, one is enough.” He then opened the container and put some of the food on the floor to share with his dog. These people may not have much, but they still have pride.
“It was an incredible evening. We walked the streets as a group and in total we managed to give 10 people on the streets a nutritious home-cooked meal!
“At the moment, the group is still small as it is all still very new, but I hope that it will continue to grow and will eventually become a regular monthly meet up. I’m passionate about bringing people together and getting home-cooked food to people on the streets.”
To find out more about Super Supper, join the group on Meetup, follow them on Twitter or head over to their Facebook page.