A lot like family, you don’t get to pick your neighbours. Fortunately, Edinburgh Food Social has really lucked out in this area. At the entrance to our glamorous industrial estate is Edinburgh Headway Group – a fantastic organisation that’s dedicated to helping people of all ages who have acquired brain injuries.
We’ve had the privilege of working with Headway before, having prepared a meal for them last summer with help from students completing Action for Children’s hospitality course. Thanks to this experience, we jumped at the opportunity to cook for Headway again. Instead of students, this time we would be working with Headway members themselves to prepare a seasonal Burns lunch.

A Headway volunteer getting to grips with some carrots.
Day One: Prep
On Tuesday, 21 January, we welcomed multiple Headway members to the Edinburgh Food Social kitchen. Our goal for this day was to prepare as much food as possible. This meant that there was a lot of vegetable prep to be getting on with. Luckily, we had help from Headway members Phil and Lee, who had both worked in kitchens before. These two made short work of the vegetables; the potatoes, celeriac and swede were all peeled and prepped in the blink of an eye. Soon, pots containing these vegetables were bubbling away.
While producing delicious food was the main aim of the day, our team of chef-activists also wanted to teach the Headway members about sustainable cooking practices, including how to cut back on food waste. Cooking the gravy gave them an opportunity to do so. The delicious, rich gravy was made using vegetable stock that the team produced from onion skins, potato peel and carrot ends. Making the gravy also gave the EFS team members an opportunity to demonstrate the benefits of slowly cooking onions and how bashing open a bulb of garlic can be a great way to relieve stress.

One of our chef-activists listening to a Headway member.
By the end of the class, we had made all the sides a good Burns meal requires (plus a few extra). The session ended with one of our chef-activists demonstrating how to make pastry. This was important to know because the team would be serving a rhubarb cranachan cake at the Burns lunch the following day. The rhubarb (which is currently in season while cranachan’s traditional raspberries are not) had been mixed with apples and allowed to marinate in sugar before being baked. However, only time would tell if this technique resulted in a moreish dessert.
Day Two: Serving The Burns Lunch
Day two started brightly with one of the Headway members dropping off some homemade shortbread to the EFS kitchen; a very apt treat for the day ahead. After everyone had arrived, we carried the food across the industrial estate and into Headway’s facility. The space was buzzing with energy.
With the haggis cooking in the oven, the group set about warming up all the other parts of the meal. They also started preparing custard to go with the dessert. With a couple of our regular EFS volunteers helping, we set up a makeshift pass in Headway’s kitchen and were soon ready to serve a delicious meal to the group.

Volunteers plating up the Burns Lunch.
The atmosphere in the dining room was electric thanks to some excellent live music. This was followed by a rousing rendition of “Address to a Haggis.” As the crowd settled down, we began plating the food. It wasn’t long until we had a room full of happy people tucking into great Scottish fare. Many of the guests requested seconds and the mountain of mash that we’d brought over from the EFS kitchen was soon reduced to a molehill.
It was now time for the rhubarb cranachan cake and custard to take centre stage. We quickly cleaned the dishes and were soon plating this wonderful dessert up. The marination period had done the trick and it did not take long for people to once again ask for seconds (and thirds). Thanks to the demand, we left Headway with empty trays and full hearts, buzzing to have been part of such a successful Burns event.

A slice of the rhubarb cranachan cake.
Working with Headway was a fantastic way to spend a couple of days. The Headway staff and members were brilliant to be around, and it was great to hear they enjoyed themselves too. As Phil, one of the Headway members who helped out said, ‘Everyone came together like one big, happy family. It was magic, and believe me, after the week I’ve just had, I really needed that.’
Mairi, Headway’s deputy manager added, ‘Fergus and the team at Edinburgh Food Social have been wonderful to collaborate with. They invited a group of members into their kitchen with open arms to help prep for the big day and made us feel so welcomed. I know this meant a lot to those that took part. Fergus took time to talk us through the ingredients and take us through step by step with some helpful tips and tricks too!’