Abingdon News No.53

www.abingdon.org.uk 11 What changes have you introduced since you arrived? We have increased the vegetarian/vegan menu as demand has gone up from around 100 to 130-150 portions daily at lunch. We are also expanding the popular ‘grab and go’ selection. We recognise that not everyone has time to sit in the dining room for lunch every day but there still needs to be healthy options, our new powering performance range will have grab and go choices. I’d like to introduce more street food, perhaps with pop-up stalls in the summer. I’d also like to see the boys learning to cook, especially the Sixth Form who will be moving on. And for boarders … Food is especially important for boarders, this is their home. We’ve introduced specials for breakfast including eggs benedict, smoked salmon and avocado, French toast and smoothies, which are very popular. There’s also an excellent choice to tempt boys in the evenings with food from around the world: salmon tacos, lemon orzo, vegetarian chow mein. I have spent a lot of time travelling and Asian food is my favourite, so I’m always keen to try new dishes and they seem to be very popular with the boys. Abingdon News Favourite celebrity chef – Rick Stein Favourite food – chicken nasi goreng Dish to impress – triple-layered chocolate tart TV dinner of choice – chicken lentil dhansak and a garlic naan while watching Wolverhampton Wanderers! • All food is prepared and cooked on site • All food is UK sourced • Marine Stewardship Council Seafood, MSC • Red Tractor meat • Bread baked fresh every morning • Daily vegetarian and vegan options What’s new in the Kitchen? We talk to the School’s Executive Head Chef, Sam White, who joined us in September and has already made exciting changes to the food we offer. Sam has worked in international hotels and restaurants and more locally in Oxford including at The Old Parsonage, Gees and the Old Bank. Sam worked at Oxford University and as Head Chef at Magdalen College School for three years. I want to put Abingdon’s catering on the map and to make the boys proud of the food here. “ ” Feeding over 1000 boys and staff at Abingdon and Abingdon Prep is quite a task – what do you set out to achieve? I want to give the boys meals they enjoy but also to make sure that what they eat is good for them. I’d like them to explore new foods and flavours. Boys should know what to look for in a meal; which foods maintain energy, aid recovery from sport, build strength and feed your brain. We have a development chef from Sodexo who is responsible for innovation. He is helping us to promote our new ‘powering performance’ menu which has 21 dishes with four themes: strength, focus, sustain and recover. It’s a good way of learning about foods, for example, recovery recipes are high in protein and carbohydrate whereas ‘focus’ recipes have a higher concentration of omega 3 fats, iron and zinc. How can the boys influence the food on offer? The catering team encourages feedback and listens and acts on the comments and ideas from the boys through the food committees. A recent request has been for meatball sub rolls, so we made them but with healthy ingredients. We use only British Red Tractor meat and we make the meatballs here at Abingdon. We don’t buy in meals such as bolognaise, casseroles or pies, everything is made on the premises. We do have chips on a Friday but cooked in a freema, we don’t have deep fat fryers. Quality is key to producing good food, as is sustainability. Besides the Red Tractor meat, all our fish is Marine Stewardship Council. I am also very conscious of our role in the environment and reducing waste, including packaging and plate waste. It is really important to me. Lunchtime Six selections: two meat options, vegetarian/vegan, jacket potato, salad, soup plus pudding and fruit