After much deliberation, the judging panel named Marc Chambers, catering manager for Beechwood and Arbor Vale Schools in Slough, as the overall winner.

Marc’s creative initiative impressed the judges, who included our managing director, divisional director and quality assurance manager, as well as one of Unilever’s top development chefs and Highams Park School catering manager, Shaun Lavender, the winner of last year’s competition.

Fifteen cooks took part on the day. Their menus were selected by Lucas, our executive chef from a number of entries which were submitted prior to the event. All successful entrants had provided menus for a main course and dessert which met a specific set of criteria, centred on the principle that all dishes should be suitable for use in a school dining environment.

The group competed across two heats where they were scored on factors such as flavour, presentation and culinary skill. Marc soared through the first round where he prepared a main course of chicken stuffed with mushroom mousse, served with spinach ballotine and sticky rice and a dessert of pear tart tartin with a Chantilly cream. The overall points scored in these heats determined which five entrants proceeded to take place in the final cook off.

In the final, the remaining cooks were asked to devise a dish from a range of mystery ingredients. The selection consisted of various types of fish including scallops, salmon and haddock (chosen to represent ISS FS Education’s on-going work with the Marine Stewardship Council), as well as a selection of fresh fruits and vegetables.

After an hour of careful planning, preparation and execution, Marc’s trio of fish on a parmesan risotto, won him the top title. He scored an impressive 14 out of 15 for the dish, bagging him to top trophy, as well as a selection of prizes including an iPhone 5 and £175 worth of vouchers. His winning recipe will also feature on the Marine Stewardship Council’s website.

Area manager, Mark Price, was extremely proud of Marc’s performance and was thrilled to see him receive the accolade. Mark and his management team attended the event to show their support and were delighted when Marc was announced as the winner.

“Marc has been a great asset to ISS Education since he began working at Beechwood and Arbor Vale in October 2012. We’ve had a lot of really positive feedback about the food and service from the staff and pupils at the schools and it has been great to see him achieve this further success in the Chef of the Year competition. Marc is a talented and hardworking guy and being recognised by the company like this is really fantastic.”

- Mark Price, area manager

Well done Marc, a worthy winner! We look forward to seeing you enter more competitions in the future and helping us judge next year’s competition!

From today (18th March) the ISS Education team are inviting pupils, parents and teachers to join us for a week of gardening education with Blue Peter gardener, Chris Collins!

If you’ve got the secret code then you’re ready to pay us a visit! Go to www.howthegardengrows.co.uk, put in the secret code (found on your child’s fridge magnet) and click the entry button. If you are a teacher or from another organisation and would like access to the secret garden, e-mail us at hello@feedinghungryminds.co.uk.

Each day, Chris will be growing a different vegetable – the same vegetable which pupils will be able to enjoy in the salad of the day during lunchtime service! When a new vegetable begins to appear its name tag will become clickable. Clicking on this will take you to growing hints and tips as well as a recipe to try with your sous chef(s) at home!

Watch those green fingers in the kitchen! The recipes will require the use of utensils which may be sharp. We have designed these for parents and guardians to create together with children so that everyone can get in on the fun.

Chris Collins is happy to answer any gardening related questions which you might have. If you’d like to get in touch with him e-mail hello@feedinghungryminds.co.uk and put Chris’s name in the title of the e-mail.

Due to the nature of the artwork which we’ve used, the website can take a while to load certain pages. If you are accessing the website via a school computer or other private network, please be aware that firewalls may mean that the website could take some time to load. We have done our best to reduce file sizes, but if you have any issues accessing or downloading anything, please get in touch and we can provide anything which you need.

The secret garden website will continue to be available after the Green Fingers week has ended and will evolve over time to house further activities. Watch this space for more info!

Click here!

Read about the Food for Life awards, get up to date on our recent Food Education activity and meet some of our staff too!

There’s lots to see – we hope you enjoy reading.

The ISS Education Team.

Follow the link or see below for our top tips on health and safety in the kitchen this Christmas!

Click Me!

We recently sent out something very similar to the staff in our kitchens and thought that it might be useful to share this information with you too.

Have a wonderful (and accident free) Christmas!

Best wishes, the ISS Education team

I was pleasantly surprised when I received an invitation to attend a special event at Carshalton Boys Sports College, a secondary school in Sutton, where HRH Prince Charles and Jamie Oliver were also on the guest list.

The event had been organised to celebrate the great work the school had been doing; particularly for the way it had transformed itself through good food. Carshalton Boys Sports College have introduced several great initiatives over recent years which have really engaged pupils and resulted in rocketing performance results.

The day arrived and I was in the great company of leaders of the Food for Life Partnership, Sustain Schools, University Research, Garden Organic, Children’s Food Trust, and campaigners such as School Food Matters. We were inspired by the appearance of Raymond Blanc and the government task force reviewing school meals, Henry Dimbleby and John Vincent.

A tour of the school’s Food Education and catering facilities took us to their main restaurant; a clean, bistro style dining space, not dissimilar to thousands of others across the country. The difference was that you could sense the care and the attention to detail that had been taken in getting the operation to look good and work for the students. Very impressive.

The gardens included a pollydome – a most impressive Eden Project-esque structure, containing all types of herbs, plants, fruits and specimens. A series of microscopes, iPads and a teacher in a white coat made the area feel more like a lab than a greenhouse!

The dozen or so Carshalton chickens had more room that most of the classrooms fit for 30 – needless to say, they were very happy chickens!

Our tour included a visit to the art club, gallery of design and a classroom cookery theatre. In this area, excited students were having their food tasted by Raymond Blanc; who I was delighted to see spending a lot of time with the budding chefs throughout the day. Students had researched and executed their own dishes and everything was very impressive – I tasted food varying from Sushi to Green Thai Curry – all delicious.

After all this excitement, myself and the other guests congregated for our round table discussion. The whole session was uplifting and demonstrated numerous examples of schools achieving high standards of Food Education and the commitment of organisations to developing Food Education initiatives. ‘Food Education’ essentially means educating children on the importance of food; that is, teaching them how ingredients are grown, where they come from and the importance of eating well. So much amazing work has already been accomplished, but a lot more is still in progress and needs to be achieved.

It feels like a pivotal time for Food Education. The Food for Life Partnership Big Lottery Fund is coming to an end in March 2013 and the School Food Plan will be launched soon after. Funding to schools has changed and is stretched, and universal credits risk the future of Free School Meal provision.

The optimist in me says that Free School Meals will be protected and that the School Food Plan will give direction to the industry on best practice that can be applied on an “all inclusive” basis, embraced and adopted by the many. I envisage the Food for Life Partnership working for Health & Well Being boards across England and Wales, delivering focussed Food Education, working in partnership with schools, caterers and communities to continue its excellent work and delivering high levels of outcomes on education, health and sustainability.

All these solutions will be economically viable through growth in meal numbers (short term), local employment (short to medium) and reductions in health problems such as diabetes and obesity (medium to long term).

These outcomes are realistic aims and are achievable if there is some short term investment to enable the solutions to be implemented – many were raised in the meeting, but include minor investments in infrastructure, environment, equipment and knowledge. There are organisations out there that are happy to invest, but need the backing and support of those in power to believe it can happen with a small amount of assistance. Most of all, it needs strong leadership.

I was even more inspired when I met leaders that hold some of that power – HRH Prince Charles, Jamie Oliver and Henry Dimbleby – at the royal reception. Their passion for Food Education and great school food is clear and unbaiting. HRH and Jamie were both inspiring, uplifting and motivational (watch here to see for yourselves). If all the attendees came away with the same level of determination to make positive things happen that I did, then the optimistic view I shared above may just be realised.

I would like to say a BIG thank you to Garden Organic for inviting me to the Carshalton event. It acted as a further stimulus for me, evidencing that the role of a caterer is not just about serving food, but feeding the mind as well.

Carshalton Boys School is a fantastic place and the day was very memorable. It is a great comfort that, in times of uncertainty for school meals, there are so many passionate, committed and spirited leaders that are engaged in Food Education.

We arrived at Yeo Valley HQ and were welcomed by a delicious breakfast, which of course included lots of Yeo Valley organic yoghurts!
We then heard from the Yeo team, including Tim Mead, whose parents Roger and Mary started the farm back in the 1960’s. This means that Yeo Valley has been around for over 50 years and is still growing!

Jim Twine of The Soil Association also provided us with information on organic farming and produce, something ISS Education is very interested in. Not only does organic produce guarantee higher standards of welfare for animals, but it’s GM free too. Perhaps most importantly for school children, organic milk has higher levels of Omega 3, which is proven to improve concentration levels. We think that’s great news for children, parents and teachers!

We were then treated to lunch which was all organic and very tasty! Many of the products used in the restaurant come from Yeo Valley’s own farm.

Next up we headed to Yeo Valley’s Blagdon Dairy, which produces 1,400 tonnes of yoghurt a week! We all got suited and booted in white coats and hair nets (Some of us needed a net for beards too!). We were then able to see the whole process, from the milk arriving to the adding of fruit to the packaging. Only yoghurt is made at Blagdon, but for ice-cream lovers the Newton Abbot Dairy produces 120,000 litres of ice-cream a week. Yeo Valley even has their very own ice-cream van, which means they can bring the ice-cream to you. ISS Education thinks this is great for schools!

ISS Education was lucky enough to visit a Yeo Valley Farm too. We met some of the mooovellous residents and witnessed the milking process. British Friesian cows are milked twice a day at 4.30am and 4pm. In between, the cows have plenty of time to roam and graze as they please!

ISS Education would like to thank Yeo Valley and the Soil Association for a great day. We value the importance of organic food and look forward to further involvement in the future!

Reading for Hungry Minds!

Read about Garth Hill College ’s visit from Marco Pierre White, Food for Life success for ISS and our District Manager of the Year, Jackie Cooper!

We hope you enjoy – please let us know what you think!

Recipe! Chocolate Beetroot Brownies

If you have any of your own hidden goodness recipes that you’d like to share with us, please get in touch! We would love to hear how others have encorporated healthy fruits and vegetables into their favourite treats.

These salad recipes are two of the salads we highlighted during the Green Fingers promotion held in our Primary Schools during March.  Fresh fruit and vegetables are an important part of our diet and everyone will be aware of the ‘5 a day’ rule.  The idea behind Green Fingers is to promote fresh vegetables and the many diverse, different and tasty ways that you can use them to help you reach your ‘5 a day’.  Recipe cards were handed out by the kitchen managers for children to take home and try the salads at home for themselves with their parent’s assistance.  In addition, every single child eating in every single dining room in every single one of our primary schools stood the chance to win a packet of seeds and a growing guide, as well as putting his or her school in line to win some extraordinary prizes.

Recently, our Executive Chef spent a couple of weeks in our Development Kitchen creating a range of new dishes which will be available on our menus in the near future.  London is a culturally diverse city and we have embraced this by creating a range of Caribbean and Curry Dishes to add to our recipe bank.  This is only the first step and we will be exploring many more cultures over the next few months.  Curries are a wonderful blend of spice and flavour with the added bang of heat and are loved the world over, especially in England where it is consumed with relish by many thousands of people every night of the week.  Curries are not only Indian either as many cultures have their own curries.  Think of Thai Green Curry or Goat Curry from the Caribbean.  In South Africa, curry is a huge favourite too with ‘Bunny Chow’ (curry in a scooped out half loaf of bread!) being a firm favourite.  The curry recipe we are highlighting here is a traditional Kenyan Ismaili curry and is just wonderful with its powerful blend of ginger, garlic and coriander.  It is also a very quick curry to cook, about 30 minutes, excluding the marinating time. 

Enjoy!

Green Coriander Chicken

Serves 4

Ingredients

50g piece of fresh ginger, peeled and coarsely chopped

30g garlic cloves, peeled, and coarsely chopped

salt

2 tsp lemon juice

500g chicken thigh or chicken breast (roughly cubed)

1 medium tomato, chopped

1 bunch of coriander leaves and the stems

2-3 green chillies, coarsely chopped

1 tsp tomato puree

3 tablespoons olive or corn oil

250ml natural yoghurt

Method

1. Put the ginger, garlic, 1/4 teaspoon of salt, 2 tablespoons of water and the lemon juice into a blender. Blend until smooth. Place the chicken in a stainless steel bowl. Pour the ginger mixture over the top and rub in. Cover the bowl with cling film and allow to marinate for at least 30 min but up to 24 hours is fine.
2. Put the tomato, coriander, chillies, tomato puree, 3/4 tsp salt and 2 tablespoons of water in the blender. Blend until smooth.
3. Pour oil in a non stick fry pan and when hot add the chicken together with the marinade and fry, stirring until the chicken is lightly browned (about 10 minutes).
4. Add the tomato mixture and continue to cook and stir (about 10 minutes) until the sauce thickens and clings to the chicken. The oil will appear to separate.  
5. Add the yoghurt, stir and cook until the yogurt disappears and leaves a thick sauce edged with oil (approx 4-5 minutes).
6. Cover with the lid and reduce the heat to as low as possible, and cook for 5-10 minutes until the chicken is tender.
7. Serve hot with rice and Naan Bread.

Jason was up first in the morning heat and utilised his full two hour time limit to produce 12 scintillating plates of food. Jason recently returned from a trip to Thailand and the Far East and this was readily evident in his three course meal. First up was a Fresh Summer Roll with Plum Chicken, then Chilli and Coconut Chicken with Jasmine Rice and Thai Green Chilli Flatbread and finished off with Green Tea Tiramisu for dessert. Jason commented that he was very happy with his performance and enjoyed introducing new and interesting ingredients to the judges. He compared the adrenilin rush of the high pressured competition to his days as a competition sprinter, just without the muscle ache afterwards!

Robert took part in the afternoon heat and served up two courses for his entry. Although living in England all his life, Robert’s passion is Caribbean cooking. This came across strongly in his two dishes of Roast Jerk Chicken with Peppercorn Sauce and Sweet Potato Chips, followed up with a delectable Rice Pudding. This was Robert’s first foray into competition cooking and whilst he showed some nerves before his heat started, he quickly settled into his rhythm and cooked beautifully. 

Both cooks performed admirably and were not expected to place as the competition, especially from the RAF chef’s, was of a very high standard. Robert, however, received a prize for his rice pudding as he was judged to have cooked the best dish of his heat. The judges commented that although his dessert was simple, it packed loads of flavour and the little tropical fruit salad hidden underneath the rice pudding was the surprise wow factor that won him the award.  Robert says watch out next year as he plans to win the whole thing!

Well, done Robert! Have a go at cooking his dish…

Rice Pudding Recipe (10 portions)

500g rice pudding rice
425ml coconut milk
350ml evaporated milk
85g brown sugar
1.5lt semi skimmed milk
1 mango
1 papaya
2 passion fruits
90 ml mango coulis

Method
1. Put the rice into cold water to soak as per the instructions on the packet.
2. In a pan, pour in the evaporated milk and brown sugar and boil it to caramelise the sugar.
3. When the colour of the caramel is brownish, drain the rice and add it to the pan, with the coconut milk, and a litre and half of milk.
4. Mix it well and cook it slowly on the stove until the rice is cooked. You can add some milk if the rice has absorbed all the liquid and is still hard.
5. Meanwhile, peel the fruit and cut it in to small cubes. Cut the passion fruit in half and extract the seeds. Mix all the fruits with the mango coulis.
6. In a dessert bowl, place a spoonful of the fruit salad in the bottom and cover it with the rice pudding. Splash a bit of coulis on the top of the rice pudding before serving.

Enjoy!