Today as part of my work with EIFA, i visited the new ‘Punjabn’ De Rasoi’ café in Leith – a social enterprise café run by women from the Sikh Sanjog in Leith. The visit was particularly special as it was also the day His Emminence Cardinal Keith Patrick O’Brien, the Archbishop of St Andrews and Edinburgh and leader of the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland chose to have punjabi food for his lunch.
It was a great morning. I was particularly in awe of the women’s hard work to get the café open. It now offers women who have never worked before the opportunity to volunteer in a public café, cooking and socialising with the public. Also, the café is working to break down barriers and misconceptions that the Sikh community isolates itself from the rest of the Edinburgh community.
The Cardinal was greeted with Indian Masala Tea and something like phori (for those of you down with the Bangla lingo) and then learnt how to make his first chappati!! Which apparently was better than John Swinney, the Finance Minister’s attempt a few months ago.
It was a really good event and hopefully the Cardinal’s presence will draw some attention to what is an incredible social enterprise venture, encouraging the empowerment of women and of course, feeding the masses with really good haggis pakora!!!
The day was especially memorable for me, as the Cardinal was kind enough to give us a lift back to the office in his car 
Over and out xxx
