The common root of hospitality and hostility – hostis – carries this sense of welcome or exclusion.
Hosting the stranger is always a risk. It is an act of daring and trust, of bold compassion and justice.
Richard Kearney
Neep and Okra Kitchen founding Artist/Chef, Kawther Luay, is of Iraqi-Scottish origin, and her practice explores ways of integrating Levantine cuisine and its rich culinary heritage with environmentally sustainable, local produce. In Huntly, she was an integral part of developing a town centre regeneration response through the Neep and Okra sustainable fusion-food project.
Kawther was joined in the kitchen by local writer, poet, and cook, Dawn Finch. Dawn made Scotland her home almost a decade ago and uses the commonality of cooking and food to inspire her work and to express her creativity. She is currently exploring the nature and wider expression of hospitality, nourishment and nurturing through our many and varied food stories.
How do traditions of civility and customs of hospitality address a guest’s circumstances and needs? Which bedrocks of culture remain in a migrant’s newfound place? Which culinary traditions are already here and are waiting to be shared or rediscovered? How can traditional and ‘exotic’ food cultures be merged? Should hospitality be a sacred commitment in our new Covid-shaped global context? What are the flavours and traditions that define our homes and our families? What does "nourishment" really mean? What are the stories from your table?
Rounding off the Neep and Okra team were creative retail designer, Laura McNeill, and Aberdeenshire farmer, James Yoxall.
Laura brought her considerable retail design and stylist skills to the team, but is probably best known in the town as one of the key organisers of the hugely successful Huntly Hairst. James runs a small-scale Shetland cattle farm on the edge of Huntly and he and his partner, Nikki, take an agroecological approach to their land. James came on board with the Neep & Okra team to develop a food network plan for sourcing more produce locally and developing ongoing relationships with small scale growers and producers.
Working with food as the contextual meeting point of the environment, agriculture, ethical trade, migration and wellbeing, Neep and Okra Kitchen aimed to deliver a collaborative programme of events, menus, shared stories, talks and workshops in both a physical and digital form. Adopting a pantry that merges international flavours with local home-grown produce, Neep and Okra Kitchen focused on offering an expansive taste in food culture, inspiring new connections, friendships and valuable cultural exchange.
