Cooking up a storm: Carpenters pupils make tortillas

Stratford schoochildren took part in a Jamie Oliver cooking masterclass with an Olympic flavour.

Pupils from Carpenters Primary School in Friendship Way made their way to Jamie’s Kitchen at East Ham Leisure Centre to learn how to cook international cuisines.

The Stratford Shopping Centre teamed up with TV chef Jamie Oliver for a community cooking project, which has a training kitchen in Barking Road.

Jamie’s Ministry of Food is a social business which uses its own profits to teach people in certain areas around the UK the key skills of cooking.

Jamie’s Ministry in Stratford hosted culinary workshops to five local schools – including Carpenters Primary – to allow them to cook simple, inexpensive and delicious food at home.

But, with the upcoming Olympic Games, the Stratford workshops took on this summer’s celebrations to apply them to cooking.

The children were taught how to cook healthy, tasty dishes originating from countries competing in the upcoming Games in a class.

They will now take their newfound cookery skills to the next level to go head-to-head in the “Stratford Live Cook Off” to be held in the Stratford Centre on July 7.

Rosie Boycott, chairman of London Food, said: “The Jamie’s Ministry of Food Stratford is a fantastic initiative from Jamie Oliver, which should help a whole new generation be inspired by cooking and develop a healthy love of food.

“This area of east London has high levels of obesity and illness linked to poor diets and I hope that this scheme, along with the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, will inspire local people to adopt a healthier lifestyle.”

Jamie’s Ministry of Food have their own training kitchen in East Ham, as well as running outreach classes in Stratford and Canning Town.

Aiming to nurture the skills of the Newham community, the Ministry brings cooking demonstrations to businesses, schools, and community centres while the project are seeking support to open another training kitchen elsewhere in the borough.