Cooking in the kitchen

How long have you been the cook at the school Anne?

I started part-time first as a blue coat.

What is a blue coat?

That's the girl who does the washing up and all.

What age were you when you started that?

I was an adult woman, and I was looking for a job, and I got in to the school meals. So I started off part-time and I was called a blue coat and I started that in 1979.

What age were you?

Gosh, I can't mind...I must be here over 30 years...

You see, your sister complained to me that the only job she had not done in the school, apart from headmaster, was the cook's. She said you wouldn't let her!

No, that's right. She does the cooking on a Sunday and I go up and get my dinner on a Sunday.

Well, that means the two of you have been in the school in a supportive or administrative role really for 50 years.

Aye, it's a long number of years. I remember when I started cooking and I went to The Tech, and it was City and Guilds then, but now you have BTec or NVQs.

Is there a demand on you when producing food for children, to stay on the education trail yourself? Do you have to go on courses for nutrition and cooking, and such like?

Yes.

How many courses have you done?

I have done City and Guilds 7061, 7062 and 7063, it was a three-year course, and I did others...

So all the time you were a blue coat you were also studying?

Yes. I was going to The Tech at nighttime, yeah, that was the only time you could do it.

That must have been demanding. Did you have family too?

Yes, I had two young children. I didn't want to be on benefits, I wanted to be working so I had to study, and that's what I did - once my family circumstances changed I had to become a breadwinner.

That must have been really difficult being a working mother and studying.

At the time it was but you got through it. You always got that extra bit of strength from somewhere. You didn't really think anything of it, really, you just battled on. You just had to get on with the work you had to do.

Has the system for running the school meals changed over the years?

Well, when I first started the cook was very strict. Very strict. She didn't say much, but you knew not to touch anything that you weren't told to touch. Whenever she retired I got the job temporarily for a number of years, and I went for interview to get the white coat and got the job. So I was delighted.

It's like Butlins in that kitchen!

(Laughs) Yeah...

So, in what way have school meals kitchens changed?

Then it was just one set menu in the day and that was all you got. Now you have a choice of two dinners and they have a salad bar and they get their bread all put in wee bowls and scones and fruit and that.

Is there a big drive in the school for healthy eating?

Yes. It's on the Curriculum.

Was it difficult to get the kids changed over from say a 'chips and beans' diet to healthy food?

At the start it was. They were 'I don't want that.' So I had to coax them saying 'Well just take a wee tiny bit on your plate, just try it'. So I started off like that and I just built them up, and it is surprising now how many of them will eat fruit and vegetables for me.

So at the start it was a real uphill struggle, was it?

It was. Probably at home they were only used to burger and beans, or chips, whereas now they only get chips once a week. They get beans one week and maybe the next week it will be spaghetti, and they get fresh vegetables including cabbage, cauliflower and broccoli.

I remember when I was wee you had to have your first course and you then had to form a queue if you wanted seconds. We had a metal knife and fork and ate off white cheap crockery plates...do you still get that in the school meals hall?

No. Now the children have a plastic dinner plate and bowls and it is sectioned out and the knife and fork goes down the middle.

Do you still cook on site or is it all pre-packed?

No I still cook. In other schools it is transported in.

What time do you start in the morning?

Officially I'm not supposed to start until 8.15am, but I come in sometimes at 7.30am because I like to give myself a head start. I make a breakfast for them too.

I suppose with working parents, and a lot of houses having two parents out working, you need that too.

Yes. I served the breakfast from 8.30am to 9am.

So what does Anne make the kids for breakfast then?

It's tea, toast and Rice Crispies, and sometimes we have porridge.

Is there a good uptake of porridge?

No...oh no! (Laughs) They were asking me about it the other day and I says 'I have to stop making it because I was throwing it out every day'. They're saying 'Oh make it, make it', but whenever I make it the ones that wanted it don't come in. You can never win!

Rice Crispies are popular I'll bet.

Aye, they are! Oh they love their Rice Crispies! They love toast too, but they want jam on it - not marmalade! So many want the crusts on and so many want the crusts off...

You are a bit of a mummy to them aren't you?

Och they are lovely so they are. They are always happy to see me. There's one wee boy about that size (indicates with her hand) and he loves grapes, so he has to get his grapes, and we have two wee twins who also come in and they love their grapes too!

You seem to be very attached to the children here...

Oh! They are lovely. I'm dying about them! I live near here and sometimes the ones that live near me come up and knock on my door and ask 'What's for dinner tomorrow?'