Embracing an activity with humour whilst building interest in the topic was important last month in Indulkana, when our team explored how to prove to wattis (men) that they’re as good at cooking and helping out in the kitchen as kungkas (women). To encourage laughter and keep participants motivated, in a fairly safe environment our supervisors set up a cook off between the two groups, W (wattis) Team and K (kungkas) Team.
We turned one of our sheds into two separate kitchens and began the sizzling competition. The W Team started their cottage pie early as they knew it would take a little longer to cook. First the W Team took the time to read the recipe out aloud so they could wrap their heads around what they needed to do, then they could allocate tasks to each team member. They set off and had all their vegetables peeled and chopped before the K Team had even started.
The K Team tried to take a sneaky approach by using a local meat that they all enjoy regularly to make a malu (kangaroo) curry. They also read the recipe out loud, divied up the tasks and proceeded to cook.
The W Team all took turns stiring the pots to ensure that the food did not burn as well as all taking turns bantering with the K Team to try to put them off their game.
The K Team were not afraid of what the W Team were saying and fired off there rebuttals. As the amazing smells filled the shed we knew that it was going to be a tight race.
The W Team mashed the spuds and with fine form they scooped the mince and vegetables into a baking dish carefully placing the mashed potatoes on top then giving it a sprinkling of cheese. As they walked into the K Team area to place their cottage pie in the oven the W Team thought they could finally see the fear in the K Team’s eyes as they knew that defeat was imminent. The W Team took a quick glance at the amazing malu curry that the K Team were cooking and knew it was going to be a close race.
When both meals were ready each team member was served a portion of each meal on their plates whilst they all sat together to eat. You could tell it was going to be a very close battle as not a single word was heard from any competitor. Upon completion of the meal a vote was held.
The numbers came in and both teams had to admit that each dish was very tasty but there could be only one winner……….(drum roll)
And the winner of the very first
“Great Indulkana Cook Off”
…..the W TEAM
by only two votes.
As we reflected on this activity we thought about the skills involved
- team work
- kitchen safety
- following a recipe
- competitive spirit
The W Team got bragging rights as they took out the first ever GREAT INDULKANA COOK OFF!
