During the coronavirus pandemic, baking became a hobby for many of us. The Dialogue in the Dark (HK) Foundation is attempting to renew this passion with its Bake in the Dark Challenge, to bring a new perspective to baking while promoting social inclusion.
In collaboration with CulinArt 1862 restaurant in Causeway Bay, Hong Kong, the event features a blindfolded baking class led by pastry chef Leo Sum Pak-cheong and a private lunch experience prepared by chef Stanley Wong.
Participants will wear eye masks as Sum guides them to make Italian focaccia from scratch, relying on touch, smell and sound.
Sum says the event aims to shine a light on how we view things, creating awareness and breaking down barriers through an immersive, meaningful and inclusive experience.
Aside from learning basic baking techniques, participants will also share the space with visually impaired trainers – also known as “people of differences” (PoDs) – from Dialogue in the Dark.
Joey Lee Hon-ming, the chief facilitator of Dialogue in the Dark (HK), tells Post Magazine” “Making a meal or baking bread is pretty easy. However, if we take away our sense of sight, these tasks become much more difficult.
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“In the Bake in the Dark Challenge, our pastry chef, Leo Sum, and our PoD trainers will guide participants through the process of making bread using their other senses.”
Lee hopes that by the end of the challenge, participants will have learned how, without sight, even simple tasks can become relatively complex and challenging, and how deep the effect of losing one’s vision can be.
The workshop may be challenging, but there is a delicious rainbow at the end of it. Participants will visit CulinArt 1862’s private dining room for a four-course lunch prepared by Wong, including caviar, squid, Scottish halibut and Wagyu rump steak, finished off with Japanese cheesecake.
The cross-sector collaboration fulfils CulinArt 1862’s mission of corporate social responsibility and meaningful contribution to a worthy cause, while Dialogue in the Dark Foundation gets to provide “impactainment” (entertainment with social impact) to raise awareness for differently abled people and foster deeper understanding of PoD capabilities.
After the lunch, Dialogue in the Dark will host a sharing session led by PoD trainers from the foundation to celebrate diversity and create space for social inclusion in the city.