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Ruby Tandoh writes

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Ruby Tandoh writes

Postby Pepper Pig » Wed May 13, 2020 12:44 pm

She really is very good. This made me cry a bit. Cooking in care homes.

https://vittles.substack.com/p/vittles- ... care-homes

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Re: Ruby Tandoh writes

Postby Renee » Wed May 13, 2020 2:24 pm

It made me cry a bit too and what a wonderful writer she is. I remember when my mum was in hospital, her dentures went missing, although I knew that she was wearing them when I took her to hospital. I remember that one meal looked like a chicken leg, but it was actually made from ground up chicken. Such a lot is going on that we don't know about.

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Re: Ruby Tandoh writes

Postby mistakened » Wed May 13, 2020 3:51 pm

A friends husband worked as cook at a local care home, he said that he was a cook not a chef as he was working in what was now peoples own home. He had battles with the home owners as they, the owners insisted on doing the marketing, buying what L considered unsuitable food, eg large beef joints which some residents could not chew or swallow. I remember him making savoury custards and soft strawberry desserts when they were in season.

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Re: Ruby Tandoh writes

Postby Pampy » Wed May 13, 2020 4:06 pm

My aunt is in a nursing home and the food is dire. There doesn't seem to be much consideration given to what the residents can and cannot eat and what they do produce often looks immensely unappetising. The home that she was in previously was far superior and each resident's eating likes and capabilities were addressed. I want to complain about the food she gets now but my brother is my Aunt's guardian (she has Alzheimer's) and he just says that the home is understaffed and that they do their best - my view is that for over £4K a month, they should do better.

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Re: Ruby Tandoh writes

Postby Earthmaiden » Wed May 13, 2020 6:40 pm

Appetising food to suit individual needs is so important for well-being. Something I didn't see really mentioned in the piece was the wonders that some of the chefs manage on a meagre budget. I take my hat off to them.

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Re: Ruby Tandoh writes

Postby Amyw » Wed May 13, 2020 9:02 pm

I was the deputy manager at a care home for the elderly a few years ago and used to do the cooking occasionally as the chef was very unreliable . They used to love my cooking and rant and rave about it . It was nothing fancy , but I did used to season everything , add some garlic to certain things and just provide a bit more variety even if it was ordering in some different veg than the standard peas and carrots

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Re: Ruby Tandoh writes

Postby herbidacious » Thu May 14, 2020 10:49 am

My mother has always come out of hospital/respite care home stays much stronger and much more mentally alert, which I put down to the food. It was particuarly noticeable in the days before she had carers, when she was eating so little left to her own devices. She doesn't eat much now, but at leas the carers makes sure she has three (very small) meals a day.
This is not to say that the food was particuarly good, but it was clearly not inadequate. At the Northern General in Sheffield most of it comes from outside, I think.
It must vary immensely, though.

Ruby did the same first degree in the same place as me... but many years later, needless to say. We will have, even so, shared some of the same tutors.

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Re: Ruby Tandoh writes

Postby Pampy » Thu May 14, 2020 1:43 pm

When my aunt was in her first nursing home, she was much more alert after a few weeks which we put down to her eating regular, balanced meals (which she didn't do when she lived on her own) but now she's in the new home, she seems to have regressed because the food is so unappetising and so she rarely eats it. The staff don't seem to do anything to encourage her to eat either. Because she's so old (100 this year) I sometimes think that they've just written her off.

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Re: Ruby Tandoh writes

Postby herbidacious » Thu May 14, 2020 11:15 pm

I sometimes think that about my mother's doctors and her. If she has a new perstistent pain, they don't seem to bother to investigate it. Just prescribe pain killers, if she is lucky. Recently they told her they are withdrawing her morphine! No explanation, and no tapering off, but she managed to persuade them to let her taper.

(Mind you my GPs don't investigate stuff I have wrong with me either. No budget, I suppose. And not much time during the 2 minutes it takes them to read through their check list of questions.)

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