Bettylicious Cooks

05/02/2024

It was an honour to be featured in the 2021 award winning book, 'Black Food' curated by Chef, Food activist and writer, Bryant Terry. I created my own plant based version of a Sierra Leone classic dish know as 'Potato leaves'. Black Food features a host of amazing creatives; writers, food historians, chefs, visual artists and crafters. Available in all good independent bookstores including News From Nowhere Radical & Community Bookshop.

I always see beauty in eating the traditional staples of my homeland, Sierra Leone. I know that every part of the meal is created to produce the most robust of flavors while limiting waste.

06/12/2023

That gorgeous dog is called Bingo. He won't be there on Saturday but I will be! See you this Saturday, December 9th at the Unity Theatre! For lots of delicious food! Come hungry! 💚🌱

24/10/2023

It's Black History Month here in the UK and the theme is 'Salute the sisters'. Every day in October I'm sharing content on my IG stories celebrating amazing Black women.

In the meantime here's one of the many events I'm doing this month Saturday 28 October that you can attend!

08/09/2023

Great talking to Ngunan Adamu alongside Louise of Liverpool Food Network about us both winning the prize from Vista Print UK in conjunction with Liverpool Football Club. Link is on the comments for the complete interview.

18/08/2023

I am excited to announce that has been selected as a VistaPrint x Liverpool FC
Small Business of the Match for the 23/24 season!
Small Business of the Match (SBOTM) initiative in partnership with Liverpool Football Club.

As a result of the scheme, small businesses like me will get the opportunity to reach millions of viewers through pitch-side advertising during Liverpool FC home games throughout the season. In total, 15 small businesses across the UK have been chosen after a rigorous selection process that saw 830 entries submitted.

In addition to pitch-side advertising, as part of SBOTM, during the 2023-2024 Premier League season; I receive

💚🌱Hospitality tickets to a home match including access to the Legends Lounge.
💚🌱Private transfers to and from the match.
💚🌱A tour of Anfield stadium.
💚🌱A personalised LFC shirt with their business name on the back.
💚🌱The opportunity to be a part of future LFC and VistaPrint initiatives.

Grateful + Honoured!

11/08/2023

Join me on Saturday morning from 11.30am - 2.00pm at Tower Hill Community & Youth Centre for a Bettylicious Cooks Community Cooking Class for all children and families! All are welcome as we make a delicious Saturday Soup! Aprons and ingredients provided! 💚🌱

11/08/2023

T O M O R R O W !!! SATURDAY

Legendary space jazz ensemble The Sun Ra Arkestra play at the Invisible Wind Factory in association with Melodic Distraction + Africa Oyé (Official)

Doors at 3pm with live jazz and DJs - Bop Kaballa, Nick Branton & Johnny Hunter, Nina Kehagia, Soulfultiz, + mouth watering food from ME! Bettylicious Cooks in the Factory Garden, before the Sun Ra mothership lands in our main hall.

Tickets still available!

M E N U

💚🌱 Groundnut, chickpea and carrot stew with jollof couscous+ side salad
💚🌱 Senegalese chick-un Yassa with jollof couscous + side salad
💚🌱Suya Spice grilled oyster mushroom shawarma wrap + pomegranate sauce, tahini cream dressing + red parprika fries

25/06/2023

We look forward to serving up our West African, Plant based, Soul food goodness to you all at this year's Fika festival. Follow us now on Insta to see our exciting menu in the coming weeks! 💚🌱

19/05/2023

Join Feeding Liverpool & Merseyside Polonia at The Black-E, This Saturday 20th May from 12pm - 3pm, for Good Food; Our Food, the launch of a travelling exhibition of photographs and stories from communities across Liverpool, celebrating the relationship between food, culture, identity, and how important this is for our wellbeing.

Bettylicious Cooks will be there sharing the culinary legacy of a few classic West African dishes. Come along and taste the food of Sierra Leone, Ghana and Nigeria.

Good Food; Our Food is a free event for the whole family and you can drop-in anytime, visit the exhibition, hear food stories, meet your neighbours, eat delicious traditional food showcased by community groups, watch a Ukrainian cooking demonstration, take part in arts and crafts..

10/05/2023

Had a great Bank Holiday weekend teaching the The Eco Therapy Garden volunteers and community to prepare and cook Jamaican Saturday Soup. We used a delicious lemon thyme grown in the community garden to add flavour to the soup. A fab time was had by all! 💚🌱

04/05/2023

Looking forward to this fab event tomorrow. Serving up delicious food in my community. Its free for all the family. Come cook and celebrate local ingredients as you learn to cook and prepare West African plant based dishes! 💚🌱🇬🇲🇸🇱

23/10/2022

Generations of Vision is this Friday as part of Black History Month.

Gather at the Table curated by myself is free but you MUST book for the cooking classes. The first class us booked. Spaces only available for the 2nd session.

Our Banner Our Lives the Art workshop curated by Fashion designer & Educator is free from 12pm - 4pm. No booking is required.

Details all listed. See you there!

17/10/2022

As part of Black History Month, Bettylicious Cooks and Mavazi Designs are proud to present 'Generations of Vision'.
Two creative workshops Arts: Our Banners Our Lives Culinary legacies: Gather at the Table

Exploring the intersections of African & Caribbean identities across the diaspora through generations both past and present.

For more details see the flyers below. We look forward to welcoming you. Booking is required for the free cooking class sessions.

ALL children must be accompanied by a supervising adult/carer to be able attend.

15/09/2022

Grab a ticket for the UP NEXT Festival at the Unity Theatre this Saturday. I'll be serving up my Plant Based West African goodness between 5pm - 8pm. If you'd simply like food come along and grab your Saturday night dinner of delicious jollof rice and more to take away or eat in. Look forward to seeing you! 💚🌱

21/08/2022

21/08/2022

Summer cooking camps:
I'm running classes in two Liverpool locations this summer. Kensington and Garston. Both classes are free. This coming week is stir frys and sauces. All plant based and prepared from fresh. So come along and enjoy. Garston is Monday. Kensington is Thursday. Looking forward to seeing you.

20/06/2022

Toffee my baby girl dog back home in Freetown, SL has given birth to four of the most beautiful puppies; 3 boys and a girl. Two are almost identical and have been named Roxie and Rocky. I remember raising Toffee from when she was a puppy literally dumped on our doorstep. 2am feeds with a syringe, cleaning up her p*e, giving her daily baths and massages. Walking her around the compound for her daily excercise. It was so exhausting yet life changing, Toffee was the first living animal I had taken responsibility for and I learned so much about my understanding of my relationship with animals and the cultural/historical belief/perception that black people and dogs in the same house don't mix. I learned to hold a puppy correctly for the first time and when she accidently fell off the coffee table and landed on the rug, howling I realised at that point I love Toffee and wanted to protect her, like i really love her. I miss and love, Toffee, Spartacus and Jack. We started out with 3 family dogs and now we have 7. To know she's now become a mother is kind of mindblowing. She's taking her new role seriously and is fiercely protective of her litter. I can't wait to go out soon and see her and my grandpuppies. Missing them all but for now WhatsApp video calls allow me to see their progress. Shout out to all the dog mums and dads.

05/03/2022

To mark International Women's Day, National Museums Liverpool will be hosting an event celebrating Black Women Creatives at District. ALL are welcome to attend and support. I will be sharing my culinary creativity and serving up my plant based food for all those that attend. Its all free so come hungry but you must book online via the Eventbrite link as tickets are limited and on a first come first served basis. Look forward to seeing you there.

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/celebrating-black-creatives-in-liverpool-for-iwd-tickets-264282926347?aff=ebdssbdestsearch

23/01/2022

Food growers, feeders and food activists. Let's come together and build new partnerships!

How to establish and develop partnerships between community food growing spaces and other community food spaces in Liverpool

30/12/2021

There is a mass surplus of fruits and vegetables likely to go to landfill. So why not pop down with some bags and get yourself some food to freeze, ferment and share with with those in your area.

💚🌱

27/11/2021

Hope you're all well and staying safe during these wintery times. I rarely post here but you can catch me on Instagram. Bettylicious Cooks This was me on a Friday evening making a small limited batch of my delicious Raspeberry Chilli sauce. It'll be available only in December. So if you'd like to buy some then send me over a dm and let's chat. I'll be doing a few Liverpool events during December so look out for those posts and come pick up a jar for your seasonal festivities.

27/08/2021

It’s the bank holiday weekend and the weather is going to be gloriously sun filled. I will be cooking lots of fresh, organic salads and hot lunches down at this amazing event!

The Healing Fields is happening on Sunday at and has been curated by Eve of and Catherine of A mini festival and the first of its kind in this city.

There’s so much going to be an abundance of activities for children and adults happening inc

I’ll be serving up an affordable plant based feast for you. Using some of the delicious vegetables from the farm. As well as cooking up my much loved Jollof rice, a parsnip and carrot rawslaw with a lime and mint dressing. I can’t wait to serve you all. Liverpool folk it’s been a long time coming! Come on down and join me! 💚🌱👋🏾

22/08/2021

Join me in celebration of the forthcoming in collaboration with Made in Hackney

Learn how to cook West African soul food...

This live interactive class will include:

Learn to make a hearty Groundnut, Chick pea, Carrot & Spinach Stew - a classic West African dish
How to make ‘Bettylicious’ Jollof Rice, a popular West African rice dish, commonly served on special occasions and for celebrations
How to create wholesome and nutritious plant based African dishes
A chance to ask me, Betty questions plus a complete recipe handout. Link@is in my bio. 💚🌱

📸

We're SO excited about this one.....introducing our 'Vegan Groundnut Stew & Jollof Rice' online cooking class 😁

On Saturday 18th September join Bettylicious Cooks to learn how to cook wholesome and nutritious West African vegan soul food!

Prices are tiered and all proceeds go towards funding our community meal service.

For more info & to book your ticket: https://madeinhackney.org/whats-on/event/vegan-groundnut-stew-jollof-rice

20/05/2021

The intended fisheries would be an environmental disaster for Sierra Leone and its people. Corruption is too rife in Sierra Leone but this has to be stopped before it's given any opportunity to become a reality. The leadership time and time again have shown themselves incompetent at serving the people, instead opting for their self serving
interests. Black Johnson is a vast lush eco rain forest tourist haven
stretching across 250 acres, building a harbour there would destroy everything, including the surrounding communities who were recently forcibly threatened with eviction until it was thrust onto the world stage. The petition and crowdfunder is in the comments section please sign, share, donate and give what you can. Let the world know what the Sierra Leone government sees as acceptable destruction of our planet. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/may/17/sierra-leone-sells-rainforest-for-chinese-fishmeal-plant?fbclid=IwAR1QEYi6mpsUf9Dx7HNeKfMumlc7-YCn90mKXZTGyxvt6rLudAWbFYNm

Controversial deal with China would be disastrous for fishing and protected rainforest, say opponents