27th October 2025
As part of the Roe Valley Arts and Cultural Centre’s programme and Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council’s celebrations for Good Relations Week 2025, participants joined Erin from The Edible Flower for a hands-on Vietnamese cooking workshop. Over one evening, the group explored the creativity and cultural heritage behind Vietnamese cuisine, learning to make summer rolls, noodle salad, simple pickles and banh mi sandwiches.
The event reflected this year’s Good Relations Week theme, Connect, by bringing people together through shared experience. Food became a bridge between cultures and communities, highlighting how creativity, whether through art or cooking can foster understanding and connection.
Throughout the evening, participants were reminded that cooking, much like fine art, draws on imagination, balance and a sense of beauty. In Erin’s approach, where seasonal and foraged ingredients, including edible flowers, often find their way onto the plate, the act of creating a meal became a quiet form of artistry. It was a celebration of colour, texture and transience, where the meal itself became a fleeting, shared work of art.
Held from 13–19 October, Good Relations Week celebrates the ways we build stronger, more inclusive communities. This workshop perfectly captured that spirit, as men and women of all ages came together to learn, create and enjoy the fruits of their collective effort, linking people, place and culture through the simple, universal joy of making and sharing food.
