Cranstons’ Area Manager, Mark Mallinson, visited our Year 10 GCSE Food Preparation and Nutrition classes to talk about poultry production in the UK and give our students tuition on how to professionally portion a chicken. This is one of the many skills our students can use in their Year 11 coursework where they will work to a brief to create three dishes, showing their knowledge of nutrition and practical skills.
Mark made a second visit to the classes at the end of term. This time the focus was on the beef section of the protein unit. The students learned about the production of Cranstons beef, before shaping and cooking burgers. They discovered the science behind the browning of proteins known as the Maillard reaction. The Maillard reaction is a chemical reaction between amino acids and reducing sugars to create melanoidins, which give browned food its distinctive flavours – burgers taste charred, bread tastes toasty, and coffees taste dark and robust.
We are very grateful to Mark for coming in and sharing his knowledge and professional skills with our students.
If you would like to learn more about the Food Preparation GCSE visit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eBpUD99KFuc
