news
Cyrus Todiwala to give
students ‘Cooking Ideas’
School Food Matters has
teamed up with Cyrus Todiwala
to deliver a Cooking Ideas session at Café Spice Namasté, the celebrated
pan-Indian restaurant near Tower Hill that
he runs with his wife, Pervin. Designed to
promote cooking in schools and to encourage families to have a go at preparing simple and nutritious meals, Cooking Ideas
connects acclaimed chefs with London
schools to run hands-on practical cooking
session with students.
Cyrus Todiwala said: "Cooking is the most
essential skill in life. When you touch, handle and smell an ingredient you are immediately connected to it. It makes you think
about where that ingredient is from, how it
came to be here, why it is like this. It cultivates the mind to be open to the world.
Learning to appreciate the ingredients and
know how to cook them is the most important thing you can do."
Canonbury Primary School in Islington is
the latest school selected by School Food
Matters to cook with Cyrus. Fifteen students will learn to prepare two tasty vege-
300,000
new jobs will
potentially
be created by
2020 within the
UK hospitality
and tourism
sector's
workforce
4
tarian dishes, and recipes from the session
will be available on the School Food Matters website for families to download and
try at home.
Headteacher Matt Britt said: "This is a
fantastic opportunity for our Year 4 and
5 students, who are thrilled to be visiting Cyrus Todiwala. Learning to cook
easy, tasty dishes in Cooking Club and
understanding how to grow, harvest and
sometimes even sell produce through our
Gardening and Growers Projects are key
activities for many children at our school.
We can't wait to see what new ideas they
come back with."
Stephanie Wood, founder and director of
School Food Matters, said: "The Cooking Ideas project started in 2009 as there
is simply no better way to excite children
about healthy and delicious food than to
get them to cook it themselves. We are very
grateful to Cyrus and Pervin for hosting this
session at their very special restaurant."
In 2010, Cyrus Todiwala received an OBE
for his services to the hospitality and catering industry.
FoBC calls for large VAT cut
The Federation of Bangladeshi Caterers (FoBC)
and the Asian Caterers Federation (ACF) are
backing call for the VAT rate to be cut from 20%
to five per cent on restaurant bills.
Yawar Khan, the FoBC chairman first raised the
VAT issue with Chancellor George Osborne at a
meeting in February 2012, highlighting how the
Bangladeshi community, many of whom run small
business, were being damaged by the recession
and rise in VAT.
“Restaurant customers don’t always realise that
the Chancellor is taking a huge slice every time
they settle their bill,” said Khan adding, “Apart
from the £10 VAT on every £50, restaurateurs
are paying National Insurance, corporation and
income tax on any profit that’s left - not to mention
local council rates and excise duty.”
To support its campaign the FoBC has posted
a petition on www.Change.org in the hope that
restaurant owners, their staff, suppliers and
customers will
help
achieve
the
target
of
100,000
signatories
required
to
spark a debate
on the floor of
the House of
Commons.
In
order
to
promote
the
campaign, the FoBC and ACF will supply over
100,000 ‘Polling Cards’ to the county’s Indian,
Bangladeshi and Asian restaurants to encourage
customers to vote online in this year’s Asian Curry
awards.
To sign the petition visit www.change.org/
petitions/cut-vat-from-20-to-5-in-the-hospitalitysector-and-create-270-000-new-jobs#share
T A N D O O R I June / July 2013
Tandoori_JUNE JULY PART 1 - C.indd 4
10/07/2013 17:22