Ex Ottolenghi chef teams up with Borough Market for a 'soup-er' cause

As part of the ongoing success of Borough Market’s Young Marketeers programme, the market is collaborating with education charity School Food Matters for the fifth consecutive year, but this time it’s inviting secondary school pupils from Southwark to take part in a very special day of trading, with charity at its heart.

On Tuesday 9th February, aspiring traders from four schools in the area will join seasoned stall-holders in the Jubilee Market to sell a variety of artisan breads and soups made from surplus vegetables. All proceeds will go to FareShare, a charity which seeks to relieve food poverty by rescuing good food that would otherwise go to waste.

Celebrated chef and author of Magic Soup Nicole Pisani will teach the budding sous-chefs how to make four soup recipes, including spiced cauliflower and winter roots soup, using seasonal vegetables at a series of workshops ahead of the sale. Each school will then be given one of the recipes to develop and create back at their school.

Nicole made a name for herself at Yotam Ottolenghi’s Nopi restaurant and The Modern Pantry before trading her high-profile job for a more philanthropic role educating young people about food.

Master baker, Manuel Monade from Borough’s esteemed onsite bakers, Bread Ahead, will also offer a bread baking masterclass, where the pupils will learn to make ciabatta as a tasty accompaniment to their super soups. Bread Ahead has its own green food credentials after winning Best Baker at The Slow Food Awards 2015 last year.

But it’s not that simple for the school children. In order to meet Borough Market’s exacting food quality standards, pupils will then be subject to the scrutiny of Borough’s Food Quality Panel. Each school will receive a visit from the panel, and their soups will be assessed based on flavour, texture and smell.

The winter soup sale is the culmination of a five year relationship with Borough Market and School Food Matters, a charity whose mission is to ensure that every child enjoys fresh, sustainable food at school and understands where their food comes from.

Keith Davis, Managing Director of Borough Market said: “This is a fantastic project to help young people learn about the importance of food provenance and educating them about food waste. It’s great to see the next generation trying their hands at being market traders, selling soup they’ve produced themselves from surplus vegetables with all profits going to an incredibly worthwhile cause”.

Stephanie Wood, Founder and Director of School Food Matters said: “We are hugely grateful to Borough Market for inviting us back and opening up our Young Marketeers programme to secondary schools. The students will be making the most of all the tips received from Nicole Pisani and Manuel Monade of Bread Ahead, and using their enterprise skills to turn their surplus veg into valuable funds for FareShare. This is food education at its best - and for a ‘souper’ cause!”