It was a pleasure to once again welcome students completing Action For Children’s hospitality program to the Edinburgh Food Social kitchen. The last cohort of students, who visited the EFS kitchen in December, had proved to be an engaged and capable group. Given that the new crop of students had expressed a desire to cook and serve a meal for residents of Castlegreen Care Home, we had high hopes that they too would prove to be a motivated bunch.
Day One
The students cutting up cabbage.
Our first day began with the students familiarizing themselves with, not only the kitchen, but Edinburgh Food Social’s activities and ethos too. As is so often the case, our team of chef-activists illustrated these ethos in a practical, engaging way. For example, to demonstrate EFS’ dedication to reducing food waste, the students were taught how to create a delicious, green pesto using vegetable offcuts. Students spent the rest of the morning chopping and roasting vegetables that would form the basis of a soup that would be served at Castlegreen Care Home.
After a family lunch of green pesto pasta and various cordial mocktails, each mixed by the students (with various results), everyone hurried back into the kitchen. The afternoon’s main task was to prepare the all important shortcrust pastry which would be used to make the care home meal’s main: haggis pie. Making pastry from scratch is no easy thing, but the students were motivated by the Clubland classics that were blaring over the radio. Before we knew it, the pastry was done and it was time to tidy up. Day one was finished.
Day Two
Morning saw the students preparing the filling for the haggis pie. As part of this process, they practiced various culinary techniques, including hard roasting and braising. The students also learnt about the importance of keeping knives sharp in order to promote safety and increase work efficiency.
After the students shared their hopes for their futures over lunch, we set about making the dessert for the upcoming meal: pineapple upside down cake. This recipe was a real hit with the students as it saw them producing familiar products, such as caramel, from scratch. Despite the complexity of these tasks, the students did exceptionally well and the picture-perfect cake was baked in record time.
The pineapple upside down cake.
With all their tasks done for the day, the students took the opportunity to learn more about Edinburgh Food Social’s community work. Eager to help, the students even boxed up some of the approximately 170 community meals that Edinburgh Food Social distributes to pantries, food banks and after school clubs every week.
The students boxing up community meals.
Day Three
The day dawned bright and clear which was a small consolation for the early start. Once the students had arrived, we completed a little bit of vegetable prep, portioned the now cool upside down cake and transported everything to Castlegreen Care Home.
After navigating through the care home, the students set up shop in the dining room and promptly ran a service that would put most professional restaurants to shame. The food went out to the care home residents quickly with the students themselves courteously distributing some of it. Unsurprisingly, the pineapple upside down cake proved to be the most popular dish, although the haggis pie and roast vegetable soup were also big hits. Both residents and staff members of Castlegreen Care Home commented on the high quality of the food.
Once the meal was over and the dishes packed away, there was time for a short debrief. One of the Action For Children staff members opened proceedings by stating that it had been ‘a fantastic week. I know we all learned so much!’ Importantly, this sentiment was echoed by the students themselves with one saying, ‘I’ve never trusted myself to cook before, but this has been class.’
If you would like to enable Edinburgh Food Social to help more young people develop the self-belief they need to cook for themselves then please consider donating to our organisation. You can also follow us on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn and Bluesky to keep up to date with our programs, activities and events.
Care home residents enjoying the food.
