Dreadz Kitchen: Footballer turned chef offering Caribbean meals to community

A former footballer turned Caribbean chef is helping to feed his community by offering batch cooked traditional meals from his own kitchen.

Aswad Thomas, 33, a dad-of-one, was inspired by the cost of living crisis to start helping out.

He told LondonWorld: “Everybody eats, you need food to survive. It shouldn’t be just the elite who have access to good food.”

“Some of the food that they are being forced to eat, they don’t have a choice. I don’t think the food that is on offer is of the right standard.”

Mr Thomas has decided to turn his Kilburn flat into a cooking hub for his community by offering cheap meals via batch cooking good quality, traditional Caribbean food.

“It’s something that I’m trying to get my time right, keep the costs down so that people in the community can afford it,” he said.

“The cost of things from the local businesses are going up but if you bulk buy, the cost comes down.”

Aswad credits his mother for teaching him how to cook with his frugality and kitchen skills.

He said: “I grew up in west London, I was a single child from my mum. We weren’t blessed with finances, so we had to make do.”

For more information, visit Aswad’s Caribbean cooking page, Dreadz Kitchen.