Each year, Castlebrae Community Campus holds its annual Christmas Concert. This event sees over 100 staff, students and family members visiting the school. Aside from great performances, these people have come to expect an array of exceptional food when they visit the concert. This is thanks to a number of students who, in partnership with Edinburgh Food Social, have catered the event for some years. Would this year’s crop of six student-volunteers be able to produce food that lived up to these high expectations?
A young person separating eggs.
Preparations were split over two weeks. During the first week, the students discussed possible ideas for the menu. As several of the students had been a part of other EFS projects in the past, including cooking for the school’s annual prizegiving, they instantly had a grasp of what type of food would be well received by the guests. The students used this knowledge to invent new dishes that were inspired by the ingredients, flavours and textures of those served the year before. After some deliberation, the students settled on a well-balanced menu:
Menu
Turkey sausage rolls with cranberry and beetroot chutney
Soy honey ginger glazed pork belly skewers with crispy pork skin
Yorkshire puddings with steak and homemade garlic herb mayonnaise
Vegetarian samosas served alongside cucumber raita
Beetroot stained devilled eggs with a smoked paprika garnish
Profiteroles filled with Christmas-spiced whipped cream, strawberry yoghurt and a jam topping
Mincemeat brownies with powdered sugar
Given the varied nature of the menu, and the vast amount of food that needed to be prepared, the students quickly split themselves into smaller groups. Each took responsibility for a different dish. An unforeseen upshot of this approach was the inventive nicknames – and subsequent motivational chants – that were soon flying around the kitchen. Hearing the students chant ‘Steak Boy, Steak Boy’ as one of the students sliced the meat was great fun. Team Egg, Bowl Boy and Team Choux were a few other standout names. Perhaps because of all the motivational chanting, the food was cooked, garnished and ready to serve well ahead of schedule.
One of the young people prepping herbs.
We arrived at the venue early. The student-volunteers then had to use every ounce of their self-restraint to not eat the food themselves, This was no easy task given that the table was packed with an impressive amount of exceptional food. The school’s other students were soon requesting to try the food, but the student-volunteers made it clear that while their colleagues were more than welcome to try the food, they had to wait until the other concert guests had arrived. This was a good opportunity for the student-volunteers to experience two concepts which are fundamental to the hospitality industry: the customer always comes first and chefs cook to please others, not just themselves.
The young people and their wonderful food.
Once the guests had arrived, and an initial bout of shyness had passed, the student-volunteers were soon patrolling the hall with platters. They also chatted with guests who asked about the food. The responses were overwhelmingly positive. A parent of one of the student-volunteers said, ‘My son forced me to try some of the food he’d made as he was dead proud. I’m a very fussy eater, but honestly, it’s all delicious.’ Another guest added, ‘I’m not usually speechless, but this food really has got me speechless.’ Soon, guests were rushing back for second and third helpings.
Every chef knows the pleasure that comes from people enjoying your food, and it was a treat to see our six student-volunteers basking in the positive feedback. As head teacher Norma Prentice said, ‘These kids love doing this, and you can see that in the food they make.’
