How two chefs from an Australian aged care home beat the world’s best cooks
When you think of food served in an aged care home, a show-stopping meal of seafood paella and rice pudding with creme brulee probably doesn’t spring to mind.
But that’s precisely what Australian aged care chefs David Martin and Harry Shen pulled off when they recently competed in the International Salon Culinaire in London, which is considered one of the world’s most prestigious competitions for chefs.
Aged care chefs Harry Shen (left) and David Martin put the final touches on meals at St Vincent’s Care Services Kew.Credit: Joe Armao
The two chefs, who work at St Vincent’s Care Services Kew in Melbourne’s east, brought home two silver awards after beating competitors from the Hilton hotel, Harrods, the UK House of Commons, the Royal Air Force and French hotel Auberge du Lac.
Previous winners of the 122-year-old competition include celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay and Michael Deane, a Northern Irish Michelin Star-winning chef.
“The [judges] were surprised and shocked that this was the quality of food being served in aged care in Australia,” Martin said.
He and Shen received their awards in the mystery grand prix basket and national team chef of the year categories, where they were instructed to make a dish comprising 50 per cent rice and 25 per cent of a food byproduct that would have ended up in the bin.
The duo made a coconut rice pudding with a creme brulee topping, popped rice and compressed pineapple core. They carved the husk into a spoon and bowl, which they served the dessert in.
“We took the brief to the extreme,” Martin said.
They also whipped up a seafood paella using fish cheeks, clams and prawns, and seasoned the dish with a powder of finely ground prawn heads.
It’s a far cry from the images of plates of puree, baked beans on white bread and meat swimming in gravy that horrified the public and became a focus of the royal commission into aged care.
The chefs are acutely aware of the bad reputation that surrounds food in aged care. It’s something they want to change.
“I give the best that I can to our residents,” Martin said. “We are part of a special time in their lives. We are able to show love and care through our food, and to leave a lasting impression.”
Preparing food for aged care residents is a complex task, said Shen, who previously worked at Crown seafood restaurant The Atlantic for a decade.
While many residents can tuck into a standard meal, those with swallowing difficulties need their food modified.
Some of the meals created by chefs David Martin and Harry Shen at St Vincent’s Care Services Kew.Credit: Joe Armao
“We have to transform the meal into different textures, but we still need to make sure it is [filling] and appetising. It can’t be just a lumpy splat on a plate,” Shen said.
Puree can be made more appealing by piping it into moulds that represent the shape of formed foods, he said. For example, lamb puree might be shaped into cutlets.
Last Thursday, when this masthead visited the kitchen of the Kew aged care home, dulce de leche ice cream was churning in a machine as Martin and Shen assembled a dish of seared steak, charred broccoli and a butternut pumpkin puree. They garnished the plate with basil oil, then stood back to admire their work.
The weekly menu, which is assessed by a dietician and speech pathologist, was taped to the wall behind them. Residents could look forward to confit duck with roasted garlic and thyme potatoes, white chocolate and lemon thyme pana cotta, and baked fish with chimichurri.
While the aged care sector spends an average of $13 a day on food for each resident, St Vincent’s Care Service spends twice this amount on each of its 156 residents, according to the federal government’s myagedcare website. The centre, which has views of the city and Yarra River, is booked out.
Its well-heeled residents pay $171 a day for a standard room and $365 for a garden suite, and all rooms have access to a cinema, library, onsite cafe and hairdressing and beauty salon. This compares with an $80 daily charge for a single room at a Sunshine nursing home.
Celebrity chef Maggie Beer, who has been working for a decade to improve the food served in aged care homes, applauded Martin and Shen on their achievements.
“There are so many chefs and cooks in aged care that are ground down and not respected,” she said. “We should be celebrating the people who are doing well and using them as a template of what’s possible.”
She said many aged care homes still served poor-quality food. She attributes this to time-poor staff and a lack of specialised training.
Last year, her foundation received $5 million from the Albanese government to roll out a free training program for aged care cooks.
Dieticians Australia president Tara Diversi welcomed new federal laws that require aged care facilities to have a dietician onsite to assess the menu and mealtime experience at least once a year.
“Every Australian in residential aged care deserves to be served food that is delicious and nutritionally adequate,” Diversi said.
Start the day with a summary of the day’s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up for our Morning Edition newsletter.