The return of Cater Care’s Secrets From the Kitchen.
As we age, maintaining a sense of connection and a feeling of belonging to a community is incredibly important to mental wellbeing. Social mealtimes and shared experiences through food is one of the best ways to do this. Here at Cater Care, we aim to support this through our specially developed positive ageing program designed to bring residents together for an interactive cooking and dining demonstration: Secrets from the Kitchen.
For the 2023 relaunch of Secrets from the Kitchen, Sean Anderson joined our Chef Manager Michelle Scanlan at Durham Green in Tulich, NSW, to deliver a masterclass to our residents. The morning began with the two chefs demonstrating their preparation of the timeless Tender Beef Topside Pot Roast, with the sights, sounds and smells carefully walked through by Sean and Michelle from preparation to plating. After a brief interlude to enjoy their meals – and everyone did, with an overwhelming number of plates coming back polished clean – they moved onto the second course of the morning.
The dessert chosen for preparation was a Sticky Banana Pudding served in a Traditional Butterscotch Sauce! Sean and Michelle stepped through the ingredient choices for the dessert, and our residents were beside themselves enjoying their sweet and sticky treat.
Residents were absolutely taking the opportunity to immerse themselves in the moment. For residents unable to join us for the main event, additional portions of the chef’s handiwork were set aside and served for lunch to ensure that everybody got to enjoy a taste from our Supporting Positive Ageing kitchen. After the event itself wrapped up, the attending residents were gifted with recipe cards to provide a lasting memento of the event and to help share the experience with their family and friends.
The morning was a truly wonderful event, and it’s always an exciting reminder of why we do what we do to see how something as simple as sharing the mutual pleasure of good food can bring so much joy to our residents.
We’d like to give a special thanks to everyone who attended; the residents for breaking their usual routines to attend, along with their families. Sean Anderson and Michelle Scanlan for demonstrating and cooking the dishes at Durham Green. Not to mention, a big thanks to members of the Operations team Sandy Stansfield and Pieter Vanden Hogan for putting in the behind-the-scenes legwork. Overall, there were many team members who helped Secrets from the Kitchen finally make its triumphant return!
