Leading chefs Ashley Palmer-Watts, Paul Hood and Claude Bosi prepared a spectacular menu for the 170 guests at the Farm Africa Gala, held on 27 September 2018 at the stunning One Marylebone.
The stunning Michelin-starred food was accompanied by wine pairings kindly provided by Aldi UK.
First up was Paul Hood’s starter of cured Hampshire Chalk Stream trout, pickled kohlrabi, togarashi mayonnaise, lime and vanilla cucumber and ponzu.
This was followed by Claude Bosi’s Beef jam with potatoes and smoked eel.
For dessert, diners enjoyed Ashley Palmer-Watts’ Sambocade; an elderflower and apple goat’s milk cheesecake, served with pickled blackberries and smoked candied walnuts.
Entertainment was provided by the London African Gospel Choir and Jessica Radcliffe’s Jazz Band.
The proceeds raised by the evening went towards Farm Africa’s work helping farmers across eastern Africa escape poverty by growing more, selling more and selling for higher prices, while protecting the environment for years to come.
Beatrice Mulihela, Farm Africa’s Programmes Manager in Tanzania, spoke at the dinner, explaining how guests’ support would help empower more farmers like mother of seven Lucia, who took part in Farm Africa’s beekeeping project and now runs a thriving honey business.
Beatrice told the dinner guests:
“It is thanks to your support that I am able to do one of the best jobs in the world: helping other women to fulfil their potential.
“Women like Lucia Chami from the village of Bermi in Tanzania’s Nou Forest. Just a few years ago, Lucia was unemployed and struggled to provide for her seven children. Today, she is an impressive businesswoman.
“She now runs a successful enterprise producing and selling honey, and is comfortably able to afford to send her children to school. Not only that, she has generated enough capital to be able to buy raw honey from other beekeepers in her village, which she processes, packages in attractive jars and sells in bulk to wholesalers.
“She’s earnt enough money from her three annual honey harvests to rebuild her family’s home. And she’s been able to buy a motorbike, so she can easily travel from house to house, collecting honey from the other beekeepers in her village.
“In Tanzania, there are a lot of development projects, but their success is far from guaranteed. Farm Africa stands out in how much value we place on community engagement: something which is crucial to the success of any project.
“When we introduced the project to the villages surrounding the Nou Forest, our goal was to conserve the forest by inspiring the community to engage in environmentally -friendly businesses. Lucia became a member of one of our beekeeping groups, and started off with 10 beehives. And as I am speaking to you now, Lucia has a total of 25 beehives.
“Without Farm Africa’s support, it’s unlikely that Lucia would have been able to buy those first 10 hives. But the other 15 we cannot take credit for: those were made possible by Lucia’s hard work and determination.
“The support that you have given is not small: it has changed lives and will continue to do so for generations to come. Lucia is among the women who was empowered and is now on a self-driven journey to ever bigger success.”
