Home
Published: 2025-04-02 11:56:00
A large group of over 20 people sat and stood in two rows, all facing the camera. They are stood inside a large room, in front of a plain light coloured wall.
Community members and academics from the University of Southampton involved in the project
Researchers from the University of Southampton have teamed up with the African and African-Caribbean community in the city to produce a cookbook with a difference.
The Comfort Cookbook contains recipes that bring comfort, particularly during times of illness or at the end of life.
The book is the result of a project by four university researchers and documents the community’s experiences of inequalities and issues of trust in the healthcare system, and their end-of-life wishes.
Illustrated by Karla Buck, it features 10 cultural recipes including maize porridge, pilau Trinidadian style, Jamaican chicken curry, and Caribbean fish soup.
Anne Cato, community leader at the Priory Road Community Group, New Testament Church of God in St Denys, Southampton, took part in the project.
She said: “We don’t talk about death and dying enough. Talking to people close to us about death is important. This cookery book is the result of proper co-production, and it has been such a pleasure working with the university and feeling like somebody is listening to us.”
Four women wearing disposable aprons stood behind a table with large metal containers of food
Community members Josephine Ayoka, Jenny Gordon, Anne Cato and Millie Bent
Anne, who grew up in Kenya and came to the UK in 1972, shared a recipe for maize porridge which her mother used to feed her when she was sick.
Dr Jane Lavery , Associate Professor in Latin American Studies and co-lead of the project, said: “Food was at the heart of moving conversations we had with members of the community and a crucial part of their trust in end-of-life care.”
The project involved workshops and art, supported by community lead and professional dancer Gabriel Galvez-Prado and artists Marion Tasker and Karla Buck.
Lucy Green , Professor of Public Engagement and Developmental Physiology at the University of Southampton, said: “We’ve made this special book together and will use it to start conversations with people who deliver or plan for care at the end of life. These issues affect everybody, but some communities are better cared for in terms of food in hospitals and other healthcare settings.”
Jenny Gordon, from Shirley in Southampton, shared a recipe from her native Trinidad. She said: “If I know I am dying, pilau Trinidadian style will be my last wish. I have been in hospital several times, and each time I have starved. It is important for me to be catered for while in hospital with meals I am familiar with.”
A number of books entitled The Comfort Cookbook sitting on a table with a bright orange cloth on it
Copies of The Comfort Cookbook
Annette Howell, also originally from Trinidad but now lives in Millbrook, Southampton, said: “I was in hospital for seven weeks and I lost two-and-a-half stone because all I was eating was jelly and ice cream. More Caribbean food is needed in hospitals.”
The cookbook was launched with a celebratory lunch event at the New Testament Church of God, where the community cooked and ate a meal of plantain, yam, cassava, pilau rice and beans, spicy rice, jerk chicken and African chapati.
At the event, the 18 community members who took part in the project were presented with certificates from the university’s Public Contributor Recognition Scheme .
The other researchers involved in the project were Dr Jenny Baverstock (Principal Enterprise Fellow in Biological Sciences) and Jessica Teeling (Professor of Experimental Neuroimmunology).
The project team is also planning to share the cookbook at an event at the University Hospital Southampton as part of Dying Matters Awareness Week in May .