CELEBRITY chef Ainsley Harriott joined care home chefs in the kitchen so their residents could enjoy a taste of high-end restaurant cooking.

Alderwood care home's chefs Paul Rush and Nathan Sutton prepared dishes from a new cookbook, featuring recipes from Michelin-starred chefs and catering experts.

The 136 recipes have been specially created to meet the needs of older people, blending traditional recipes known and loved with innovative meals that encourage residents to try something new.

Ainsley said: “I'm very impressed with this new cookery book. "Of course, health and nutrition are absolutely essential when it comes to menus offered in care homes and all the recipes in this excellent book have been developed with that in mind.

"But it’s also so important to offer varied and exciting food and to present it well - after all we eat with our eyes too.

Gazette:

One of the delightful dishes cooked at the launch

"It was great to see Paul and Nathan so committed to taking on the recipes and the guidance given in this new cookery book, and I wish them great joy in cooking for their residents in the future."

The Great British Chefs organisation contributed to the recipes but so did the residents and their relatives.

The dishes focus on health and nutrition, and provide chefs with the tools to be able to consider the health needs of individual residents - whether they wish to lose or gain weight, or have a pureed diet.

Cooking with Ainsley at the launch event in Colchester, Paul said was a "fantastic experience".