Cyrus Todiwala Teaches Students A Kitchen Trick (Or Two)

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. One of the most awarded chefs in the UK, Todiwala is a regular on 'Saturday Kitchen' and the BBC Food Programme. 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 lucky school selected by School Food Matters to cook with Cyrus. Fifteen students will be learning to prepare two tasty vegetarian 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. In July 2012, he cooked the very first luncheon for HM The Queen's Diamond Jubilee tour featuring his now famous 'Country Captain', a twist on Britain's favourite shepherd's pie.

Cyrus Todiwala OBE is chef proprietor of Café Spice Namasté with his wife Pervin Todiwala; Cafe Spice Namaste is a landmark Indian restaurant in London established 17 years ago. Cyrus is a celebrity television chef and author of 3 books; "Café Spice Namaste: New-Wave Indian Cooking" (1999), "International Cuisine: India" (2005) and "Indian Summer" (2008). He has recently launched a range of condiments and sauces called Mr Todiwala's, and a second restaurant, Mr Todiwala's Kitchen, at Heathrow Airport. He was awarded an MBE in 2000, an OBE in 2009 and the Craft Guild of Chefs Special Award in 2012. He is a keen environmentalist and cooks with local, organic and sustainable products wherever possible.

School Food Matters is a registered charity based in London that campaigns for fresh sustainable food in schools and for children to understand where their food comes from. To achieve this SFM listens to schools, parents and children. Together they urge local authorities to improve school meals and to support food education through cooking, growing and links with local farms.