Great Recipes and Great Food

In this article I write about the quality, or lack of it, in the food that is served in some of the UK hospitals. My nan has recently died in hospital which has been very upsetting for my family. She was hit by one of the famous hospital bugs and became very weak. As the majority of people know we need quality food to enable us to regain our health and strength and my nan was certainly in urgent need of something decent to eat. What she received was basically so poor and tasteless that she found it hard to eat.

Despite many attempts by various members of the family to nag her to eat more, she could not stomach it and kept saying that it the food had no taste and that it was disgusting. I have to admit that it was not exactly tempting when I saw what was being dished out.

I do not work within a hospital and I never have done. I personally help people that have “stuttering” problems and I also work within the training for foster carers and DVD replication sectors.

In the UK we are very lucky in the standard of our hospitals when you compare it to many other countries in the world. Our country is very rich but a lot of this cash is being wasted on certain projects. Surely people in our hospitals deserve a much higher standard of food, food which they can look forward to eat.

I have recently watched a program about how Jamie Oliver is trying to improve the standard of food in schools throughout the UK. This is a very worthwhile project and as a father of two children myself, I am more than aware that the canteen food served in most schools is not up to scratch.

At the schools where my own children attend, the parents have the option of paying for these meals or they can make their child a packed lunch. We choose the packed lunch option.

In hospitals there is no such option. I would have loved to have been able to cook some food for my nan, which I could then have taken to her when I visited. I would have also liked to have taken some cleaning products as the place could have done with some tender loving care as well as a lick of paint.

A message to Jamie Oliver, you are doing a sterling job but please could you turn your attention to the hospitals next!

I am not trying to say that my nan would have survived if the standard of food had been better in the hospital where she spent her final days. What I am trying to say is that I hope it improves in a big way before I have to spend any time there.

The untimely death of TV chef Keith Floyd and the ensuing televised career highlights last week brought home to many people just how different and original he was as a TV Chef. He frankly makes many of todays TVchefs look rather meek and dull.

Floyd's overly dramatic and seemingly amateur approach to TV presenting is what truly endeared him to many. His on screen drinking and passionate defence about the finer things in life as well as his critical stance on modern day eating habits and culinary indifference for many made cooking cool and accessible.

Part of his success was speaking in plain English and conveying the simple enjoyment of food and drink.

Modern day celebrity chefs have been paying homage to the original TV chef. Marco Pierre White said: “He had this great ability at the stove, great confidence. He was a natural cook.” Jamie Oliver went as far as to say: “Keith was not just one of the best, he was the best television chef. An incredible man who lived life to the full and and was an inspiration to me.”

In perhaps true Floyd style he is refuted to of died peacfully after a champagne and fish supper.

Keith Floyds TV programmes were truly ground-breaking in their day. The format saw an often tipsy Floyd in odd locations, often performing amazing feats of outside catering. Often with no assisting mobile caterers it went wrong and with an instant quip and a glug of wine the food would often go in the bin.

Aside from his cookery programmes Floyd also wrote over 20 books and they are what brought wealth to the presenter. By coincidence his biography is due to be published next year and subsequently his passing will help ensure his book sales mean his estate grows even richer.

Despite success as an author and presenter Floy’d personal life was as chaotic as his presenting style. A lack of business panache was a fundamental weakness and after the popular BBC shows he featured in finished he reputedly went bankrupt after accepting a cheque for nearly £40,000 bounced. He had 3 failed marriages and has a 4th wife.