Title: Culinary Trip
Context: Social restaurant in a parisian suburb.
Challenge: How might we enable the insertion of social workers through the communication of their work and culture?
Place: Saint-Denis, October to January 2018.
Context: Social restaurant in a parisian suburb.
Challenge: How might we enable the insertion of social workers through the communication of their work and culture?
Place: Saint-Denis, October to January 2018.
Story:
Culinary Trip is the result of my research in the context of the european program of research 4Cs : « From Conflict to Conviviality »
In October 2017, I started to explore the neighborhood of Saint-Denis in the suburb of Paris. I discovered the social restaurant “Taf et Maffé” where are I started to work in November. My work there conducted me to develop a project with Sofia Djenna who was working with me there. After have worked in the animation field she is in reconversion to work for associations with social purposes.
The project took place in Taf et Maffé restaurant in Saint-Denis. It is lead by the association « Resto Passerelle » which employs people to give them a formation and help them to be professionally insert. This restaurant is in a old building for migrants. Thus, the food proposed is West African because the majority of the residents come from this part of Africa. Employees have a contract for 6 months to 2 years. They are trained by Patrick and learn from each other.
Most of the people who come to eat at Taf et Maffé are worker in the city attracted by low prices (3€ the plate). Most of them are migrant men and come from many different countries (Poland, Middle East, India, North, South and West Africa, etc). They exchange or not together, share a table, talk about the weather… However there is no link between them and the cooks (mostly are women). Some of them do not speak french, thus they are not at ease and shy. They spend hours to cook a dish which will be eat in 5 minutes. How could we valorized their works and get them out of the kitchen ? Moreover I was interested in the transmission of the restaurant’s culinary know-how.
I felt a lack of relationship between the cooks and the consumers and even between the cooks themselves. In the kitchen, creating exchange takes time and it is difficult for new employees to be inserted. Moreover they cook dishes that they don’t know.Most of them shared with me their desire to learn french, being to better communicate. Indeed, they used to stay in their communities, because of the language. Thus, it is even more difficult for them to progress and dare to speak french.
I began to interview the members of the restaurant (responsibles, formers and cooks). Then I worked 3 days per week in the kitchen through November and December to learn from them. I wanted to enhance the food proposed by Taf et Maffé and the power of transmission which exist between the new and the old members of the restaurants. This link is really strength across languages, gestures and cultures.
My project is to do a culinary workshop with the youth service of the city (12/17 years old teenagers) and the cooks of Taf et Maffé. It was sofia that proposed this association. First of all, I wished that people exchange together, that is why I choose the workshop concept. I wanted that people make their own convivial tools that will be cooked. Indeed, participants will have to prepare together culinary supports as tarts, raviolis and rice plates. The aim is to make a buffet with individual portions that we can eat by hands in an open context. Producing those different preparations allows to crossbreed cultures in the image of the city which include people from 300 different origins. This event can be replicable to valorize different know-how in this type of restaurants and promote dialogue between people.
Objectives of the workshop:
- Valorizating culinary cultures present on the territory
- Promoting cultural and social exchange
- Sensitizing to culinary know-how
- Developping the transmission
- Developping autonomy
- Creating usability
The workshop is accompagned with a game designed for it.
Culinary Trip is the result of my research in the context of the european program of research 4Cs : « From Conflict to Conviviality »
In October 2017, I started to explore the neighborhood of Saint-Denis in the suburb of Paris. I discovered the social restaurant “Taf et Maffé” where are I started to work in November. My work there conducted me to develop a project with Sofia Djenna who was working with me there. After have worked in the animation field she is in reconversion to work for associations with social purposes.
The project took place in Taf et Maffé restaurant in Saint-Denis. It is lead by the association « Resto Passerelle » which employs people to give them a formation and help them to be professionally insert. This restaurant is in a old building for migrants. Thus, the food proposed is West African because the majority of the residents come from this part of Africa. Employees have a contract for 6 months to 2 years. They are trained by Patrick and learn from each other.
Most of the people who come to eat at Taf et Maffé are worker in the city attracted by low prices (3€ the plate). Most of them are migrant men and come from many different countries (Poland, Middle East, India, North, South and West Africa, etc). They exchange or not together, share a table, talk about the weather… However there is no link between them and the cooks (mostly are women). Some of them do not speak french, thus they are not at ease and shy. They spend hours to cook a dish which will be eat in 5 minutes. How could we valorized their works and get them out of the kitchen ? Moreover I was interested in the transmission of the restaurant’s culinary know-how.
I felt a lack of relationship between the cooks and the consumers and even between the cooks themselves. In the kitchen, creating exchange takes time and it is difficult for new employees to be inserted. Moreover they cook dishes that they don’t know.Most of them shared with me their desire to learn french, being to better communicate. Indeed, they used to stay in their communities, because of the language. Thus, it is even more difficult for them to progress and dare to speak french.
I began to interview the members of the restaurant (responsibles, formers and cooks). Then I worked 3 days per week in the kitchen through November and December to learn from them. I wanted to enhance the food proposed by Taf et Maffé and the power of transmission which exist between the new and the old members of the restaurants. This link is really strength across languages, gestures and cultures.
My project is to do a culinary workshop with the youth service of the city (12/17 years old teenagers) and the cooks of Taf et Maffé. It was sofia that proposed this association. First of all, I wished that people exchange together, that is why I choose the workshop concept. I wanted that people make their own convivial tools that will be cooked. Indeed, participants will have to prepare together culinary supports as tarts, raviolis and rice plates. The aim is to make a buffet with individual portions that we can eat by hands in an open context. Producing those different preparations allows to crossbreed cultures in the image of the city which include people from 300 different origins. This event can be replicable to valorize different know-how in this type of restaurants and promote dialogue between people.
Objectives of the workshop:
- Valorizating culinary cultures present on the territory
- Promoting cultural and social exchange
- Sensitizing to culinary know-how
- Developping the transmission
- Developping autonomy
- Creating usability
The workshop is accompagned with a game designed for it.
Scenario:
This workshop frame could be used by other associations or enterprises which aims to meet through cultural culinary exchange.
Unfortunately, the workshop didn’t happened because my partner Sofia had health issue and lost the partnership.
Unfortunately, the workshop didn’t happened because my partner Sofia had health issue and lost the partnership.
Product:
The workshop is accompanied by a game allowing the playful development of recipes with as variables: dishes and fingers food. The game will take place during the first workshop and lay the foundations for the following workshops.
The workshop is accompanied by a game allowing the playful development of recipes with as variables: dishes and fingers food. The game will take place during the first workshop and lay the foundations for the following workshops.
The game can be also used separately, for families which wants to challenge their meals and discover new culinary cultures.
