GARY GOES BACK TO SCHOOL!
25.02.2011

When Gary Clarke, head chef at Jamie's Italian in Cardiff was approached by one of his children's teachers at Pontyclun Primary School and asked if he would be interested in coming to talk to year 6 pupils and help them with their 'Smoothies and Salads' project he jumped at the chance!  Part of the ethos of Jamie's Italian is about sharing knowledge and this was a perfect opportunity to do just that!
Gary took along a selection of fantastic fresh fruit and veg which he uses regulary in the restaurant, much of which the children had never seen or heard of before - Celeriac, black potatoes, curly kale, tamarillo, cavello nero, mouli, black carrots, dragon fruit and no less than 6 different types of lettuce!
The kids all had a chance to touch and taste all these ingredients before Gary demonstrated how to make a simple mixed salad dressed with balsamic vinegar, olive oil and lemon juice followed by a root vegetable salad.
Everyone was asked to come up with a salad and a smoothie recipe using the ingredients Gary took into the class.  "They all soaked up the information like sponges" said Gary.  "When I returned to judge their food the following week the finished dishes were amazing considering their age and they'd made a real effort to present their food and develop their knowledge.  Being able to work with them was amazing; their response to being able to see, touch and taste all these new ingredients blew me away!"
Gary said he thoroughly enjoyed being able to support the school and the pupils in this way.  "Funding for things like this can be pretty non-existant so it's fantastic to be able to help out where I can, enagage with the kids and hopefully really make a difference in how they think about what they eat!"