Kettering cooking groups are worldwide hit on Facebook

Two Facebook groups set up in Kettering to help people get cooking during lockdown have been a worldwide hit.

The Rona Cookbook, set up by Ricky Rae and his fiancée Rebecca Adams in March has more than 4,000 members from all over the world, including America, Australia, Germany, Sweden and more.

Another group has also attracted a global audience. Liam Allcoat started The Covid Cookbook on Monday, April 13 and is almost at 4,000 members.

Both pages encourage members to share what they are whipping up in the kitchen now so many people are staying at home in the UK and other countries also following lockdown measures.

Ricky said: "I am quite a passionate cook myself, I love cooking. I'm part of an Italian family so it's the centre of our home.

"I have seen so many posts on Facebook of people feeling down and bored and I thought everybody loves cooking and food, even more so now we are all stuck at home so I got the idea to start a group bringing the community together by sharing recipes."

The page has grown and attracted worldwide attention.

Local contributions include an Irn Bru cheesecake while dishes posted from further afield include sticky wings, hot wings and mozzarella sticks from an American member.

Liam Allcoat started The Covid Cookbook earlier this week and said: "The idea behind the page is to inspire people in this time to cook, to do something different and share recipes."

Liam is also a passionate cook and said he grew up helping his uncle Bruno in his restaurants, including trips to France to buy ingredients.

Local businesses Jamie's Quality Butchers, LiBella's Kitchen, Bella Sicilia and Keep on Moving have joined The Covid Cookbook to share how they are cooking at the moment.

In The Rona Cookbook, Ricky said Kettering business Billionaires, run by Drew Wilcox, are offering competition prizes.

Both pages are offering community spirit over a shared love of food while everyone is isolating at home and following lockdown advice.

Liam said: "It's all about the community coming together. I want this to run after this all ends, I want it to be somewhere people can share their ideas forever."

Ricky said he loved the community spirit that has been created in The Rona Cookbook and said: "Everyone is sharing recipes, it's brining a community together and trying to put a smile on people's faces."

You can find both The Rona Cookbook and The Covid Cookbook on Facebook.

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