Top of the class

Nov 14 2008 by Jane Hall, The Journal

Before Jamie Oliver revealed the shameful state of school dinners, chef Nick Copson was working his own quiet revolution at a County Durham school. Now he’s up for an award. Jane Hall reports.

IT’S a cold, damp and misty November Thursday. Just the sort of day Nick Copson likes. Indeed, the 35-year-old is preternaturally happy given the unwelcome turn the weather has taken. As he looks out at the drizzle falling from the sheets of low, shallow cloud, he rubs his hands together and gleefully says: “They won’t want to be out in this.”

“They” are the 800 or so 11-18-year-olds who attend Teesdale School in Barnard Castle, County Durham, where Nick takes care of the nutritional, rather than the educational, needs of both pupils and staff.

Inclement weather usually means a full lunch-time sitting for the school canteen. Not that Nick normally has any problem encouraging patrons through the door. Teesdale School boasts an impressive 70% pupil take-up level for lunches. Compare this to current Government figures which reveal just 37% of secondary and 43.6% of primary pupils currently choose school meals.

Diners on this dreary Thursday won’t be spoilt for choice: beef stew and dumplings; parmesan penne; Thai curry; prawn and egg salad and mushroom and basil soup are all on the menu alongside lighter snacks and hearty desserts like date sponge and apple crumble.

It’s an impressive choice for a school canteen, and certainly better than the normal round of fried and convenience foods that still – despite celebrity chef Jamie Oliver’s best efforts – constitute the bulk of the lunch-time offerings pushed at the nation’s pupils.

But anyone can chalk a name on a board. Thai curry may sound exotically appetising, but not if it’s of the reconstituted, re-heated variety.

The proof, as the saying goes, is in the pudding. And this is what sets Teesdale School apart from its contemporaries. For not only is each dish prepared and cooked from scratch every day by Nick and his team, but as far as possible the ingredients are the freshest the kitchen can lay its hands on.

For fresh read local. A staggering 70% of the food consumed every week comes from within 50 miles of the school, with the majority making a round trip from farm to plate of only 20 miles.

Nick’s regular suppliers reads like a Who’s Who of the region’s top artisan producers: Abbey Well bottled water from Morpeth; milk and cream from Acorn Dairy of Archdeacon Newton near Darlington; eggs from Kingfisher Farm at Barningham near Barnard Castle; sheeps’ cheese from Cotherstone of Quarry House Farm, Middleton-in-Teesdale; bread from Mattison’s Bakery at Ferryhill; yoghurts from Alston Dairy; lamb from Pikestone Farm and beef from Souter Farm, both Woodland; pork from Stephen Greaves of Eggleston and sustainable fish from Inshore Fisheries of Redcar.

Vegetables and herbs come from local markets and store cupboard essentials such as pasta, rice and everyday cheeses are supplied by Northern Select Foods of Richmond, North Yorkshire.

Many of the ingredients come from so close to home that it is the parents of the pupils supplying them.

It is this attention to detail that has earned Nick a place in the finals of this year’s Radio 4 Food and Farming Awards. Now in its ninth year, the competition was set-up to champion those people, businesses and organisations making a difference to what we eat in Britain.

Nick has been nominated in the best dinner lady or man category, with winners due to be announced on November 26 at a glittering ceremony at Birmingham’s NEC, and on Radio 4’s The Food Programme.

While honoured to be in the final, Nick winces at being tagged a “dinner man.” “I’m a chef in charge of a kitchen run along the lines of what you would find in a top hotel or restaurant,” he explains. “We are producing quality, traditional food using local ingredients, some of which we get direct from the farmers.

“I believe what we are producing every day can, and does, stand up against what you would expect to find in a top restaurant or hotel.

“A lot of school cooks are unfortunately people who have no enthusiasm and don’t want to be doing the job. They either re-heat food or have a very small, set repertoire of dishes they do that don’t really require much effort or thought.

“But cooking is all I have ever done. It has been my life. Before joining Teesdale School I was head chef at some of the region’s top hotels and restaurants, and that is how I run the kitchen here. Just because it is a school kitchen doesn’t mean the children and staff don’t deserve the best.”