Celebrating British Food Fortnight

On Wednesday 30th September, Wicor played host to a variety of guests all of whom had a common goal: to educate our children about food.

In Year 6 we were lucky enough to have Paul Watts, Executive Chef from the Meon Marriott Hotel, work alongside our children.

The dish to be prepared and cooked was rainbow trout with salsa and sauteed potatoes.  He brought along the rainbow trout and we supplied the rest from our allotments: garlic, potatoes, onions and tomatoes.

Each session started with Paul explaining that the fish had been caught locally and that they came from chalk streams.  He then showed them how to fillet the fish by cutting along the spine of each side,  remove the ribs with tweezers and square it up by trimming the edges.  This process fascinated everyone and even the slightly squeamish got caught up in the precision of the filleting.

After this we were on slightly more familiar territory and children were grouped dependent upon the job to be completed.  We had some cleaning, peeling and chopping potatoes; others chopping tomatoes or onions and some learning how to crush garlic with salt.  We then watched while Paul quickly pulled together the dish, and listened while he explained some of the intricacies of producing good quality food, such as holding the fillet down in the frying pan to stop it curling due to the contraction of the fish's flesh when it touched the hot pan.

The smell of the ingredients cooking was amazing and we couldn't wait for the tasting session.

Paul then arranged the food on three plates and everyone tucked in.  Even the non-fish eaters amongst us were tempted and the verdict was that it was wonderful.

 

Yum, yum, yum!