SCHOOL dinners might have been the butt of jokes over the years but not those served up by Tanya Malone.
The cook at Southam Primary School recently won the LACA (Lead Association for Catering in Education) ‘School Chef of the Year’ West Midlands final.
And she is now preparing to compete for the national title at a grand final to be held at Stratford-upon-Avon College in March.
The Educaterers’ cook won over judges with her chilli chicken fritta main and dessert of vanilla panna cotta with an orange tuile wave and fruit coulis caramel.
Tanya served the fritta with crushed new potatoes, creamy spinach, coconut sauce, green beans and carrot ribbons.
Educaterers, who took over the provision of school meals to 195 schools from Warwickshire County Council in September, and its catering teams feed 125,000 pupils across the county every week
Terry Tredget, Educaterers catering director, said: “We were so excited that Tanya won the West Midlands final.
“LACA School Chef of the Year is the award that all dedicated school caterers want to win and we are so proud of Tanya for impressing the regional judges with her menu.
“Our staff are our most important asset and we will all be keeping our fingers crossed for the national final. It would be amazing to see an Educaterers cook win that title.”
