There are a lot of places that my love of food comes from, not least my grandparents’ incredible cooking, but school was also a big influence and forever cemented my dogged love of canteens. Lunch in the canteen was compulsory (no packed lunches allowed), and it being a French school was always three courses. Salads or pate or cold veg for starters, a variety of mains and fruit or the French favourite, yoghurt for dessert. Rumour has it the food is so good that even the staff from the French Consulate used to eat in there, and we always used to flock to the menu posted up on the wall each week.
Coucous was a big fave, served a delicous lamb stew, as well as perfectly done white rice, green tortellini with tomato sauce and apparently even rabbit! The big news for us geeky French kids was when we got ‘Assiette Anglaise’, a plate of cold meats and cheese which you could use to make yourself sandwiches for lunch, OMG sandwiches guys! Endives wrapped in ham was a favourite of the teachers but I can’t remember me or my friends ever eating it. We all used to complain about the ‘cantine’ but really I loved it, and it was the highlight of my day.
Later on, when I left to go to an English sixth form college I nearly shed a tear when I saw young children being served chips and beans for school lunch. It still freaks me out when people don’t eat vegetables or fruit.
On a recent ten-year school reunion we were given a program consisting of a tour of the school, slideshow drinks and buffet. I was most excited about seeing the canteen again but fantastically the buffet was no English wedding ‘quiche and a stick of celery’ rubbish. It was Lebanese as a lot of the students are from the Lebanon but also because it’s great for veggies. When we arrived into the playground tables were set round the trees and lamb kebabs were cooking on a charcoal grill. There was hoummous, a charred aubergine dish which I think must have been moutabal, flatbreads, salads, tahini, garlic sauce, felafel, chicken and the lamb skewers. Heaven! I obviously befriended the waiters and got seconds before we were served strawberries and cream with baklawa. It’s nice to know that the ‘cantine’s’ food values didn’t just rub off on me. My school may not have been the best place for an obstinate daydreamer, but the food definitely left an impression.
