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Pub food on school menus
PUB grub will soon be on the menu for pupils at a Barnsbury primary school.But youngsters at Thornhill school, in Thornhill Road, won’t get near chicken in a basket or greasy egg and chips with fag ash on the side.
No, this is gourmet grub – Islington-style – with school dinner ladies getting trained up by Angel’s famed Duke of Cambridge organic pub in St Peter’s Street.
The dinnerladies, apparently cooks of some repute, have had their job titles changed to ‘chefs’.
Head chef Caroline Moore has spent shifts at the pub’s very own Hell’s Kitchen and will be there next week when parents and children can sample the food.
Come next term, much of what is available at the award-winning Duke will be on the menu at Thornhill.
Pub owner Geetie Singh has been advising the school not only on menus but how to source the freshest, organic, eco-friendly ingredients and, most importantly, how to hammer out a good deal with suppliers.
She said: “The idea is there’s no difference for kids between what they eat at school and what we are serving in the pub.”
And Ms Singh rejected the suggestion that the food might be too rich for young palettes.
She said: “One of our problems is the idea that children need plain, bland food. That is wrong.
“Kids need hearty, balanced meals that have protein and they can eat strong cheeses.
“But obviously, if we are making shepherd’s pie we won’t be putting in red wine and curries will be milder.”
Posh nosh available for the children will include butternut squash risotto, roast chicken and bubble and squeak with a poached egg on top.
There will also be themed days, focussing on, for example, pulses or meats and the chefs will also help out in the classroom.
A vegetarian option will be available and youngsters can also expect a proper pudding at the end of every meal.
Thornhill has turned its back on catering giant Scolarest, which has now lost the Islington contract.
Almost every school in the borough will accept Cater Link as its new provider this September but Thornhill is going it alone.
They will spend 80 pence per child instead of around 60 pence at the moment.
Parents will pay £2 per meal instead of the present £1.70.
There are 125 children at the school, of which 33 per cent receive free school meals.
Matthew Chappel, headteacher of Thornhill, said: “We decided to do our own catering so we can use better quality, fresher ingredients and seasonal produce.
“There will be a high level of nutrition for the children but I think it will also motivate the kitchen staff.
“We never had turkey twizzlers with Scolarest but there were certain things (we didn’t like) about Scolarest such as not making stock from fresh.”
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