He opened the session by introducing himself as an NHS medical doctor and keen home cook. Around 12 years ago Dr Rupy was diagnosed with an irregular heart rhythm which then got him interested in the power of food and over the last six years he has been involved with media, podcasts and creating cookbooks to share his knowledge.
He is also the founding director of Culinary Medicine, a non-profit organisation which aims to teach doctors and medical students the foundations of nutrition, as well as teaching them how to cook.
The demonstrations included:
- Rob Chambers- LACA School Chef of the Year 2021
- Varun Shivdasani- Loughborough University
- Kevin Carron HMP YOI Feltham + Helen Mc Donough- HMP Hindley
- Sanish Thomas & Sinto Mulavarickal- NHS Chefs of the Year
- Aaron Watson- NACC Care Chef of the Year
- Hosted by Dr Rupy- who showcased one of his quick and healthy dishes.
The chefs were interviewed as they cooked their dishes by Dr Rupy and audience members also had the opportunity to ask questions. Public Sector Catering invited hospitality and catering students to the expo so they could find out more about the career options open to them.
One of the most popular questions was why should aspiring chefs consider a career in the public sector in comparison to the private sector. Rob, Aaron, Sanish & Sinto had all previously worked in the private sector but they had been doing a lot of overtime before switching to the more family friendly public sector hours.
Unlike most of the others Varun was not constraint by budgets as he works with elite athletes to help them get prepared for international tournaments or boxing fights. In contrast Kevin has £2.57 per person a day to feed the nation’s prisoners and Helen has £2.15 per person a day.
Working in Public Sector Catering poses many challenges to delivering fantastically creative menu’s and dishes, but it is also an amazingly rewarding and satisfying career with loads of career options to suit everyone.
Dr Rupy finished the day with a quick demonstration of his own, a plant-based 3-2-1 dish. During his demonstration he told the audience that the ‘five-a-day’ we are supposed to be consuming is an arbitrary amount and that some scientific research has suggested that people should be eating as many as ten portions of fruit and vegetables a day. He concluded that it was important to teach children how to cook in schools as this can make a big impact in terms of people’s health.