Top chefs and food lovers contribute to new cookbook launched in support of BAME community

Food writer, photographer and activist Riaz Phillips has compiled recipes from some of London’s top chefs and food writers for a new charity cookbook being released in support of the BAME community at large.

Chefs James Cochran, Ravneet Gill and Vivek Singh, as well as food writers including the Standard’s own Jimi Famurewa, are among the dozens who have contributed to Community Comfort, which is available to download now from tezetapress.com, with a minimum donation of £10.

Money raised by the book will go to supporting the Majonzi Covid-19 Bereavement Fund, which raises funds for families in black and ethnic minority communities who have been affected by the coronavirus pandemic.

Data released by the Office for National Statistics last week revealed that black men across England and Wales are three times more likely to die of Covid than white men, while black women are twice as likely to fatally succumb to it as white women. The ONS stats also showed Bangladeshi, Pakistani and Indian men and women are similarly at risk.

“In this time of disarray, and when we can’t break bread with our loved ones, I wanted to do something which brought joy to as many people as possible,” said Phillips, “Food and recipes are how we connect, heal and mourn but also celebrate when things get better too.

"For people in our communities and migrant backgrounds, food is our colour when our voices don’t always get heard, so I gathered all these recipes in hope that they might speak to you and bring you some comfort whilst contributing something back to a community that has so been affected, proportionately more so, in the UK.”

Phillips is perhaps best known for Belly Full: Caribbean Food in the UK, which documents Britain's Caribbean history through food.