Food and Nutrition at Cherry Trees
Our catering team at Cherry Trees consists of experienced chefs who offer only the best in nutritional and delicious food, which reflects the individual tastes and dietary needs of people living at the home. They also love creating cakes for birthdays and other treats for special occasions to make those events that little bit sweeter. Sometimes we’ll even throw on the barbecue and cook up a storm in the summer heat. To get a flavour of the menu we serve here, please see the examples below.
Dietary requirements
For residents that have difficulties in swallowing we modify the menu of the day so that it is a soft, palatable dish. To support our chefs in producing these dishes, our hospitality and Chef Academy organises theory and practical workshops. Working in partnership with Nutricia, our practical workshops involve all chefs and deputy managers learning about dysphagia and producing these modified menus. The chefs work with the chef trainer to prepare fork mashable and thick puree meals to the correct consistency, taste and presentation. The deputy managers can then ensure all modified menus served are presented correctly for our residents.
Attracting top chefs
Our chefs are recruited on the basis of an interview with the regional hospitality support team and the manager for the home. Selection also involves a practical element where potential cooks are asked to cook for and meet a panel of people living in the home. Chefs take their job extremely seriously and our annual Chef competition sees our chefs battle it out in regional heats and then at a national final for the accolade of 'Barchester's Chef of the Year'.
