Oct 2020
International Chef's Day - meet Graham Head Chef at OSJCT Larkrise, Banbury
“I love my job here, it’s creative and challenging. I use a lot of different cooking techniques and individualise much of the food."
OSJCT is marking International Chef’s day (20 October) by highlighting its hard-working chefs. Meet Graham Reed, Head Chef at Larkrise care home in Banbury.
Graham, who joined the Trust in 2018, has recently been awarded the Hospitality Award, Oxfordshire, in the OSJCT Shining Stars Awards.
The father-of-one has been in catering for over fifteen years. He was inspired by his nan who introduced him to cooking at the age of ten. Graham said: “She taught met the basics such as cakes and Sunday roasts. When I left school, I went straight to Catering College for two years. I’ve always loved cooking, experimenting and improving my skills.”
Graham worked in catering for Sodexo for over ten years where he competed in many internal competitions. He won two gold, as well as bronze and silver medals for his efforts. Whilst at Sodexo he met the famous chef Paul Rankin and cooked alongside him for celebrity Emma Watson.
Since achieving his NVQ Level 3 in catering, Graham has worked locally as a Head Chef firstly for a Golf Club. Larkrise is the second care home he has worked for.
Graham said: “I love my job here, it’s creative and challenging. I use a lot of different cooking techniques and individualise much of the food. Many of our residents need to eat puréed food, but it needs to be attractive.
“I’ve created realistic looking fish and chips from puréed and textured foods. I look for ways to take it to the next level.
“We’ve created themed days, like picnics, where I work with the teams here to create a sensory experience around the food with baskets and picnic blankets.
“When it come to birthday cakes, I can get really creative. Firstly, I speak to the resident for inspiration. One lady loved Lego as a child, so I produced a Lego shaped cake. Another enjoyed sweets so I created a chocolate sweet box.
“There are six of us in the kitchen team and we work together to create attractive enjoyable food for the residents. We generally get positive feedback, but when a resident doesn’t like something, I take on the challenge to redo the meal and find a way to change it so that they like it.”
The cooking doesn’t stop when Graham gets home. He said: “I have lots of gadgets at home, I continue experimenting there. I recently made some eclairs with a special marbled topping. “Sometimes I cook with my son, he loves biscuits, even at the age of three he can tell when a biscuit is baked. He’s very clever and I would love for him to go into catering too.”