Hospital food? Not bad (considering), reckons Blanc (From thisisoxfordshire)

Hospital food? Not bad (considering), reckons Blanc

7:00am Saturday 20th March 2010 in

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CATERING staff at the John Radcliffe Hospital could be forgiven a sense of trepidation when they were asked to cook for injured celebrated restaurateur Raymond Blanc.

As viewers of his many television series will testify, the Michelin-starred chef can be a harsh critic when it comes to dishes which fail to excite his palate.

However, the Oxford Mail is pleased to reveal Mr Blanc has praised the cooks who prepared his meals during a recent two-week stay at the hospital.

Mr Blanc broke his right leg in six places in early March when he fell down the stairs of his Oxford home.

The 60-year-old was discharged from hospital on Wednesday, and has been advised to stay off his feet for the next 12 weeks.

He is now recovering at his hotel and restaurant, Le Manoir aux Quat’ Saisons in Great Milton.

Last night Mr Blanc said: “I sampled the hospital food during my stay and I’m pleased to say that it was edible.

“It was a pretty good try considering it is cooked for the masses. It was certainly good enough for an institution.

“I tried the steamed haddock with potatoes and although the haddock was overcooked and quite dry I gave the dish six-and-a-half out of 10.

“Their best dish was a spicy chicken tikka, which was fun, and I gave that seven out of 10.

“The chilli con carne was not so good. It was rather watery. I was only able to give it five out of 10.”

Mr Blanc said he got staff from Maison Blanc in Woodstock Road to bring cakes to his hospital room to cater for his sweet tooth.

“My pear crumble really cheered me up and I was very popular with the nurses when the staff brought the cakes in,” he added.

At one point during his stay, he was ticked off by the nurses for attempting to open a half-bottle of Gevrey-Chambertin, from Burgundy, and was ordered to put the wine away.

Mr Blanc, himself a former nurse, also praised nursing and surgical staff at the hospital in Headington.

He said: “I was in the hands of about 30 staff who were extremely professional and kind and full of empathy and care for the patient.

“Richard Keys, the surgeon in charge of my case, talked about my treatment with the care of an artist, like a chef would talk about his favourite dish.”

Describing his accident, Mr Blanc said: “I fell awkwardly and it was amazing how much damage I did to my leg in just a couple of seconds. It was incredibly painful and I only started to feel better after I had been given morphine.”

Geoff Dix, facilities manager for Carillion, which provides the catering services at the hospital, said: “We are very pleased with this feedback from Mr Blanc.

“We have about 700 patients at each sitting and we always try to provide patients with a good choice.”

Laura Carpenter, a spokesperson from Oxford Radcliffe Hospitals NHS Trust, added: “We provide tasty and nutritious meals for our patients three times a day every day, averaging over 15,000 meals a week.

“We value all patient feedback and to have our food praised by an expert such as Raymond is fantastic.”