Cooking With Heroes: The Royal British Legion Centenary Cookbook

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This astonishing project was undertaken during the pandemic, with weekly meetings via Zoom to ‘share progress, issues and perhaps a small glass of something’. Q) Inspirational stories are a great way of holding the attention of the reader what is your experience and how did you go about selecting them? Q) Food discussions are common ways of coming together to discuss other issues too. So how was this possible to get so many people to tell their stories? How did you reach out to them? L to R: Introduction by author Squadron Leader Jon Pullen, RAF (retired); Nutritious knowledge, feeding the country during WWII.

Cooking With Heroes: The Royal British Legion Centenary Cookbook Cooking With Heroes: The Royal British Legion Centenary Cookbook

This Special Book is full of military history and regional dishes with recipes and stories from over 140 serving and ex-serving personnel, accompanied by Celebrity Chefs.A) We sent members of today’s Military Family to engage with the RBL Membership. When I started the Project, these were supposed to be sit-down meetings in an RBL club, sharing stories of our service face to face with the Membership and as we say in the Armed Forces, ‘pull up a sandbag and swing a lantern’. The reality was sadly less engaging and fun with the majority of the engagements being over Zoom or old-fashioned telephones. Our team then took the chosen candidate and researched the individual before presenting the article to the editorial team. Local Heroes. L to R: Somerset, Odette Hallowes, Special Operations Executive, and the highest decorated woman in the Second World War; Aberdeen, Marion Patterson, the first Senior Fire Guard to receive the George Medal for civilian gallantry. The painting commissioned by the King and by Scots artist, Robert Sivell, now hangs in the Imperial War Museum. Cooking with Heroes focuses on 100 regions in which the British Legion has been active over the past century, presenting 100 delicious recipes as well as profiles of 100 military heroes specific to each region including that of Odette Halllowes. You are here: Home / Food / Events / Royal British Legion Centenary Cookbook – Cooking with Heroes Royal British Legion Centenary Cookbook – Cooking with Heroes Cooking with Heroes Cookbook’s official launch was hosted over an afternoon tea at Claridge’s in London in October. The event was well attended by military officials as well as members of the media. I was honoured to be invited to this launch event and enjoyed a wonderful afternoon tea at the beautiful Claridge’s in Mayfair, London. Image Credit to my lovely pal Niru

Cooking with Heroes | A Passion To Inspire Cooking with Heroes | A Passion To Inspire

The Royal British Legion is the nation’s largest armed forces charity and worked since 1921 to support the armed forces and their families. A portion of the sale from every copy of Cooking with Heroes will help raise funds to ensure that the legion continues doing the amazing work they have been doing successfully for the past century. Official Book Launch Party The Royal British Legion is excited to be working in partnership with St James’s House on this new project, which is a wonderful way to celebrate our community in this Centenary year. The donations raised from Cooking With Heroes will be used to provide life-long support to serving and ex-serving members of the British Armed Forces, their families and dependents through hardships, injuries and bereavements in the years to come.” To celebrate the centenary of The Royal British Legion, some of the world’s bestselling celebrity chefs – including Jamie Oliver, Ainsley Harriott, Cyrus Todiwala, Melissa Helmsley and the Hairy Bikers – have teamed up with acting or former members of the military to create this unique cookbook. I had the pleasure of meeting and interacting with the Author Squadron Leader Jon Pullen (retired). Get to know the Author via some interesting answers he has for my interview questions to him. We're always happy to answer any questions or queries you might have, please get in touch using one of the methods below.I’m particularly proud of one region and that was ‘Tyne & Wear’ where we set up a competition with the County Air Training Corps Squadrons to tell a panel, chaired by me but representing the RBL, the Publisher, and the County, who should be in the Book representing their County. I spent the most wonderful evening watching and listening to presentations from young Cadets passionate about their chosen candidate before having the unenviable task of choosing one: Kate Adie. A superlative choice of a Journalist who spent her career supporting and representing the Armed Forces, always reporting the stories as they really were and never refusing to go anywhere where British Troops were deployed. A truly inspirational choice. The combination of incredible dishes and amazing military stories will keep you reading before and after dinner, while contributions from high-profile supporters of the Legion will add a dash of celebrity spice.

Cooking with Heroes: the Royal British Legion centenary Cooking with Heroes: the Royal British Legion centenary

Not just fantastic recipes from old to new but each recipe is paired alongside astonishing tales of bravery, determination and sacrifice as we celebrate 100 astonishing Military Heroes and Heroines in The Royal British Legion’s 100th year A) I pulled together a team from the Military Family to engage with the RBL across the UK & Commonwealth… this was a Tri-Service Team of serving, veterans, reserves, friends, families and youth services. These became known as our RBL Ambassadors, a role that saw them engage with the RBL Membership in their region and to work with them to select a local hero or heroine who had ‘made a great contribution to UK Defence’ and that the RBL local Membership wanted to celebrate and represent them. The list is astonishing and whilst there are many well-known VC and MC winners in the Book, there are others much less well known like Captain John Perkins RN who was born a slave in Jamaica in the 18 th Century and rose to Captain a 32 Gun Naval Frigate; Sergeant Alfred Holmes from Gibraltar who looked after the Barbary Apes for 38 years; Sybil Kathagasu from Malaysia who gave her life standing up to the Japanese invaders during WW2 by supporting British SOE Agents and so many more amazing and courageous individuals who have been chosen as outstanding by the members of the UK’s largest Military Charity, so many of whom are veterans themselves… a wonderful mark of respect that I hope does their memory justice. When the cumin seeds change colour it is time to add the chopped garlic, ginger, sliced chillies and the butter. Saute until the garlic takes on a little colour and then add the onions. Stir well. Saute over a medium heat. To celebrate the centenary of The Royal British Legion, some of the world's bestselling celebrity chefs - including Jamie Oliver, Ainsley Harriott, Cyrus Todiwala, Melissa Helmsley and the Hairy Bikers - have teamed up with acting or former members of the military to create this unique cookbook. This is the third cookbook that Royal Air Force Squadron Leader Jon Pullen has put together, all of which have raised around GBP200,000 in total for military charities. In 2009 he teamed up with Help For Heroes to produce a charity cookbook that sold 25,000 copies nationwide. In 2017 he was behind the RAF100 Cookbook, celebrating the 100th anniversary of the Royal Air Force. Continuing his history of encouraging the military to raise funds for the military, Jon has assembled a team of writers and chefs from across the services, including serving personnel, veterans, reserves, families and friends, along with Royal British Legion members, working together to raise funds for the Legion.Why not add this amazing cookbook to your Christmas shopping list? This is bound to make for a fabulous gift for your friends and family alike. A high-quality hardcover book filled with fabulous easy-to-follow recipes and interesting stories of military heroes and heroines with a sprinkling of celebrity spice, what’s not to love?! Having spent 36 years in the Armed Forces, I’ve seen first-hand the amazing work the Royal British Legion does for members of the military community and their families. Cooking With Heroes is much more than a cookbook. With help from more than 150 serving and veteran military personnel, we have created a book which tells the story of courage and heroism from across the UK and the Commonwealth. It feels fitting that so many individuals from the military family have come together to mark the centenary of the RBL, a charity that, in its 100th year, continues to support, commemorate and celebrate our Armed Forces community.”

Cooking with Heroes Launch - THE JOEY Royal British Legion Cooking with Heroes Launch - THE JOEY

Guild members Lyndon Gee, Janette Marshall, and Elisabeth Luard spent a fabulous afternoon at Claridge’s with the Royal British Legion. ‘With endless Champagne, finger sandwiches and delightful cakes, we met amazing service men and women as well as veterans, along with the generous event sponsors,’ Lyndon writes. L to R: bespoke sweet treats for the launch by Biscuit Boutique; Pork and Stilton pie (Corporal Lee Coxon, RAF); Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth, Patron of The Royal British Legion; West Yorkshire Local Hero: the late Captain Sir Tom Moore. Established in 1921, The Royal British Legion is the UK's largest Armed Forces charity, sitting at the heart of a national network of partner organisations and more than 200,000 members. Best known for organising the annual Poppy Appeal and Remembrance Day services, the Legion works to ensure that current and ex-service personnel and their families can always access the support they need. The book, Cooking With Heroes, represents 100 regions around the world in which the RBL has had a presence. With recipes from Antrim to Australia and Glasgow to the Gambia, each regional recipe is accompanied by the story of a local hero – a service man or woman or a civilian volunteer – whose contribution to others will be remembered forever. Q) Breaking bread together is a great way of bonding; can you share any traditions that you have experienced while you served in the armed forces, that you will always hold close to your heart?The idea for the book was really a play on the RBL’s Centenary and what this charity that has supported the Military Family for 100 years means to me. So it started with a plan to write 100 entries, one for every year of the Centenary, with a focus surrounding the charity’s qualities… ideas like remembrance, tradition, integrity, strength, valour, courage, and support. If you turned these ideas into the food they would be home-cooked honest, authentic, traditional food but brought into the 21st Century. In terms of valour and courage, we worked with the RBL around the UK and Commonwealth to nominate someone who has made a great contribution to Defence to represent them, a ‘Local Hero’. And that’s what we have, 100 Regions across the UK & Commonwealth with a story of valour, endeavour, and often sacrifice alongside traditional, old and forgotten foods from that region. A unique idea that I believe properly captures the spirit of the RBL