Neep & Okra is spicing up Huntly

Neep & Okra blends local produce with global flavours to dazzling effect.

Like its neighbouring business Honesty Bakehouse, which featured in Society a few weeks ago, Neep & Okra began as a funded project in Huntly by arts organisation, Deveron Projects.

Now, the business hones in on its range of signature spice blends to offer recipe boxes and takeaway lunches.

But Neep & Okra is more than just a food business; it’s ingrained within the community.

Workshops, summer cooking schools and feeding the locals with free hot meals during a town gas outage has made the business a heroic hub in Huntly.

Its owner, Dawn Finch, puts nourishment and sustainability at Neep & Okra’s forefront, using the commonality of cooking to inspire her work.

We talked to Dawn to find out more about Neep & Okra.

Hi, Dawn. Tell us about yourself.

I grew up in a London council estate. We were hard up for a very long time. My mum could make a chicken last all week, so food and cooking from scratch was second nature to us. I’ve been in Huntly for ten years and I’m not moving back down south. I absolutely love it up here. I was a bestselling children’s writer before I started cooking. When Covid-19 came along and the publishers stopped working, all of my commissions just ended. I went from just getting by to not getting by at all. So, the Neep & Okra opportunity allowed me to do something in the community and keep the wolf from the door. I never expected to be taking on the whole business, but I’m not a quitter!

Can you describe the journey that Neep & Okra has been on so far?

Neep & Okra was founded in 2019 and was intended to be a café project. The founder cook was Kawther Luay, but a few weeks after opening, Covid-19 closed the café down. I was hired in late August to September 2020 and the idea was that we would think about whether there was a business that could stand alone at the end of the funding, and whether there was a wider reach for it. Kawther left at the end of November last year and I effectively took it on by myself.

We were doing things like vegan, vegetarian and gluten free takeaway meals within the community; we filled that gap so to speak and people here were really enjoying it. But when it came to the end of the funding from Deveron Projects in January, it just seemed like stopping would leave another gap in the community that’s already had so many things close. The thought of that seemed abominable.

I couldn’t let it stop. So, I just kept it going!

Now, Neep & Okra is just me. I run it as an independent company and I do the recipe boxes, food kits and lunches, and any extra money I make from it is used to do food collaborations within the community.

What’s the ethos of the business?

One of the things that’s really important to me is the concept of nourishment. I think it’s more than a full belly; being nourished has a satisfaction to what you’ve made and what you put in front of your family. Knowing you can feed your family is one of the things that makes us feel strong.

If I can help people to take cheap ingredients and put something delicious and nourishing on the table, that’s more than a full belly – it’s a full heart as well.

What’s some of your most popular food offerings?

I want people to be able to walk around their local shops, pick up local produce [and combine them] with global flavours from our recipe boxes. We also do lunch takeaway boxes and I’m very lucky because a lot of the ingredients I’ve grown myself on my allotment or have been handed to me from friends and family. I have some signature blends like Dukkah which is an Egyptian seasoning made with pumpkin, roasted walnuts, coriander, cumin and all sorts of different spices. The recipe I have comes from an Egyptian friend (which I’m not supposed to say because she wasn’t allowed to give it to me!). We also have Root 66 – ‘the vegan game changer’ – which sells out as quickly as I make it.

I heard that you provided over 1,000 portions of food to the local community during lockdown?

Over the whole of lockdown, we worked out that about 1,000 portions of food left our old Castle Street premises. We were doing takeaways, food bags, pizza workshops and Christmas hampers – there was no means testing, anyone could have one. With the pandemic as well, a lot of families were doing okay until they weren’t, you know? A lot of them were getting by until the moment when things just fell apart. It was a very humbling experience being able to do all that and reminded me how important that would’ve been at stages in my own life.

We also had a gas crisis here in February. The whole town’s gas was cut off for three days and we had minus 15 degrees Celsius temperatures. But working with our local food bank, we just cooked for three days straight to give people hot meals. It made me realise there’s something very powerful about a small community. It can be the most grumbly place (which I love), but when something happens and everybody rallies, it’s just the best pace in the world to live.

What’s it like working alongside Honesty Bakehouse?

I love working with the Bakehouse. Although, it is extremely difficult because it’s like working with constant temptation! During lockdown, I couldn’t see any of my family. But the Honesty Bakehouse girls have become like a family to me. I was walking up to The Square last week on a grey, rainy day. The lights were on, the building was glowing and Kate from the Bakehouse was waving at me from the window and I just felt so happy.

It is the happiest place to work. I absolutely love it.

Future plans?

I want to do more work with the local foodbank, local schools and local families to just share that joy of cooking. When I wake up daily, I’m excited for what each day holds. It feels like all the dreams and plans from when Neep & Okra first started are now here. I feel very honoured to be part of it.

https://www.neepokra.co.uk/