Cardiff Catering’s Live N Cooking initiative is taking the healthy eating message on the road this week with a visit to Whitchurch High School.
Over 400 pupils at the Lower School will be treated to a cookery demonstration with a difference on Tuesday January 18 as Executive Chef Martyn Payne, armed with his saucepans, knife and wooden spoon, will be showing how easy it is to prepare tasty, nutritious and affordable meals.
The initiative is aimed at promoting cooking to children, young people and their families and to show the importance of eating a healthy, well-balanced diet as part of a healthy lifestyle.
Martyn has developed a range of dishes aimed at igniting the culinary imaginations of young people in Cardiff schools to teach them about the benefits of healthy eating.
While talking the audience through each step of the process, Martyn will be cooking up a chicken jambalaya in little more than 10 minutes to prove that it doesn’t take all day slaving over a hot stove to make good food. Five sessions will be held throughout the day with around 90 pupils attending each session.
Martyn will also be taking on the ‘pot noodle challenge’, a race against the clock when he will make a fresh, mouth-watering noodle-based soup in the same time as it takes to make the well-known noodle snack. The two dishes will then be put to the taste test and a winner announced.
The action will be filmed and projected live on a big screen in the hall. There’ll also be the opportunity to ask Martyn questions, taste the delicious finished product and take away recipe cards that will be available at the event for pupils and their families to try cooking the dishes at home.
The Live N Cooking scheme kicked off last year with a school and community event at Llanedeyrn High School. The roadshow will be visiting a number of high schools throughout the city with the healthy eating message.
Executive Member for Education and Lifelong Learning, Cllr Freda Salway, said: “The first Live N Cooking event was a great success and I’m very pleased that Cardiff Catering are now taking this initiative into schools in the city to get young people interested in healthy eating.
“Martyn is very charismatic and watching him demonstrate his cooking skills is fascinating. He uses a wide range of ingredients and exciting techniques to teach young people about the health benefits of foods and the importance of knowing how to cook and feed themselves properly.
“People seem to have so little time these days to prepare good nutritious food so it’s great that Martyn has developed meals that are simple, quick and fun to prepare for all the family to enjoy.”
