Led by Sanjoo Malhotra, founder of Swedish travel agency Out of the Box Travel, 50 students aged 13-15 were taught to cook a meat-free meal for their entire school, Fribergaskolan, in the Swedish capital.
A world away from the stodgy, flavourless stereotype of a school dinner, the menu consisted of Asparagus Dhal Soup with Mint Chutney, Indian Wholewheat Flatbread with a Green Pea and Feta Filling, Apple Salsa, Rhubarb Chutney and Strawberry Rhubarb Crumble.
Malhotra has been running Meat Free Monday cookery workshops for the past year, his goal to create food that has a positive impact on the environment as well as to showcase the diversity of meat-free cuisine from India, where he was raised.
Jonas Paulsson of Sweden’s Meat Free Monday campaign also ran workshops at the day-long MFM event, explaining to pupils the importance of eating less meat and more vegetables, for the sake of people and planet.
“The 50 students, the home economic teachers and the head chef were the real heroes of the day,” said Malhotra. “They helped produce the food for the whole school, were fantastic to work with and very open to test new fusion tastes, ideas and cooking styles. The students and the teachers loved the food as we saw many of them coming back for seconds and thirds.”
Get the recipe for Asparagus Dhal Soup with Mint Chutney on the MFM website.
Read Sanjoo Malhotra’s blog.