A year 3 cohort had been studying the Chang Dynasty in Ancient China as part of their History curriculum.

To celebrate their learning and bring the topic to life, Flavours hosted a series of Ancient Chinese Cookery workshops over three days. Catering for 120 children and parent volunteers, a menu of three different ‘Ancient Chinese’ recipes were prepared and evaluated in our purpose-built venue.

All recipes were modified to be plant-based at the request of the school, to be inclusive for the vegan pupils and families in the year group. Traditional Chinese ingredients such as tofu, noodles, soy sauce, spring onions and pak choi were prepared using kitchen knives, woks and reed steamers, under the careful supervision of our Head Chef and resident teacher. ‘

Ants climbing trees’ (an unctuous combination of soya mince and noodles), sticky tofu fried rice and sweet bao buns were enjoyed by smiling excited children, some of whom were cooking and eating their own food for the first time, and were well outside their sensory comfort zones. Feedback from children, parents and teachers was 100% positive for the second year running.