News

Ash Mair, UK MasterChef Professional 2011, has joined Cucina Restaurants to lead its development team in creating new food styles and menu ranges for 60,000 school customers nationally.

Cucina's chefs will be working with Ash to develop and roll out a range of new menu ideas, including a special travelling street food range, which is being planned for the start of the new school year in September.

Ash said: "I absolutely love doing this, it is such a creative challenge to produce food this good within the constraints of school catering.

“It is completely different from anything I have done before and Cucina is like no other school food company I have ever come across.

“They are really pushing things to find out just how good school food can get. We will be getting kids involved in trying out new food ideas, seeing what they like and what they are interested in.

"When I first mention to people that I am working with a school catering company they are surprised until I explain it a bit more.

“The food this company produces is actually better than at a lot of places I have eaten at in the high street. They just refuse to take shortcuts."

Cucina's director of food, Sam Davies, said: "This is very exciting for us. The work we are doing with Ash isn't just about the food, it is about teaching about food, too.

“This is why we are put so much into research - taking note of food trends and developing new dishes in popular and trending formats. Ash really gets what we are about as a company, he has contributed some fantastic ideas."