Hospital staff get a taste of award-winning food

Richard Kirton and Ian Cannon have already done the North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust proud.

Richard and Ian helped the trust take silver best in class at the Salon Culinaire Hotelympia HCA Hot Cookery Competition earlier this year.

They cooked up a main meal of pot roasted beef cheeks served with vegetable and creamed horseradish mash and rhubarb and custard with Italian meringue tart for dessert.

Now, they have prepared and served their meal in the Tees restaurant at the University Hospital of North Tees for Trust staff.

Richard said: “We were so pleased and surprised to win, especially looking at the high standard around us.

“It was our fifth time entering but the standard has got so much higher.

“When it was suggested to us that we cook the menu in the hospital restaurant we thought it was a great idea.

“Staff, patients and hospital visitors have been really complimentary about the food which was really nice to hear.

“We felt under pressure to deliver a really good quality meal, so thankfully we have.”

Ian added: “It’s very hard to produce slow cooked beef in just one hour for a lot of people at the same time.

“But we really enjoyed the challenge of it and I think everyone appreciated it and enjoyed the food.”