Gary makes a s'tart

The progress of our Transition Cafe has been slower that we had hoped but it is now open, if not for business, for getting some practice in the kitchen and trying out the new equipment. (Ever used an induction hob? It's weird - no heat!)

Today I was working with Gary, one of the volunteer chefs bringing their professional expertise to the enterprise, our task being to come up with dishes made from the surplus food items collected today or left over from yesterday. In no time he had concocted a red pepper and ginger soup, mixed together celeriac slaw and put the finishing touches to a cauliflower curry but his pièce de résistance was undoubtedly the tarte Tatin (see here) he whipped out of the oven to the delight of Sue and Chris, the other members of today's team. My job was simply the peeling, chopping and grating of all the ingredients, stocking the freezer and washing up. However we all enjoyed hearty tasters of every dish and the tart was instantly divided up and pronounced delicious.

At present the food is for staff consumption only until the cafe is is ready to open. Already there has been a spot-check by an Environmental Health Officer, tipped-off by an anonymous complaint that we were 'preparing food in a building site and selling it to the public'. Well, we are still knee-deep in tools and materials but the kitchen is up and running and the food is tasting good. There's no doubt it's an excellent s'tart!