Deliciously Fresh / Salad inspiration from the Two Raw Sisters

We are so lucky in Canterbury to have oodles of great food talent and without exception the young and creative duo of Rosa and Margo Flanagan, commonly known as the Two Raw Sisters, is amongst them. Both stalwarts of the raw food movement, they use food ingredients that require minimal cooking and are minimally processed.

Rosa and Margo Flanagan were intrigued with healthy food and how to create it, and in 2017 decided to take the leap and live in the USA for four months, to study at a raw plant-based culinary school. On return to New Zealand they have been frantically creating their own brand, through workshops up and down the country, private catering, a cookbook and more recently moved to a permanent kitchen premises in Christchurch.

‘We had just got back from a Sydney trip where we’d been visiting the Grounds in Alexandria, when we were contacted by the Welder developers. They had a vision for a health and wellbeing complex, not dissimilar to the concept at the Grounds, so naturally it felt so right to say yes,’ explains Rosa.

‘The space is huge with a hands-on home-style kitchen; we want it to be a destination where people can have a truly inspirational experience.’

‘Having people cooking alongside us in the cooking school will open up a whole other side to our cooking, it’s a dream come true for us,’ adds Margo. ‘Watching people actually create dishes for themselves gives us and our clients a huge sense of achievement. People realise how easy it is to incorporate plants into their diet, and they are always beaming with inspiration when they leave our kitchen.’

The Raw Sisters are focused on educating people on how they can make cooking a lifestyle and a sustainable way of living by being cost effective, time efficient and easy to create. They use the term plant-based, not vegan, because plant-based doesn’t mean you have to cut out meat, dairy, fish, poultry, gluten or carbs; rather the focus is on consuming minimally processed foods as much as possible.

‘In 2020 we will be rolling out lots more exciting and different workshops including a Foundation Series – a sixweek course equipping clients with all the ins and outs on how to make plant-based eating a lifestyle. It will be both educational and inspirational and show clients how to make food easy, quick and cost effective from breakfast to dinner and everything in between.’