Hospital chefs discover taste for healthy cooking
Hospital chef Sylvie Lefebvre, who works for the Centre hospitalier de l’université de Montréal, said she was wary when she first went to healthy cooking classes at the Institut de tourisme et d’hôtellerie du Québec.
“I was afraid the food would be terrible if I had to cut the fat, salt and sugar,” Lefebvre said.
“Instead, they showed us other options — other avenues to use like fine herbs — and I was happy with the outcome.”
Lefebvre was one of three institutional chefs affiliated with the hospital network who took a one-year course at the ITHQ, one day a week, and then brought the new ideas back to her colleagues.
As part of an ongoing effort to make the hospital experience healthier for patients and staff, the CHUM signed an agreement with the hotel school Wednesday to train chefs from the network’s various hospitals.
For the past four years, CHUM’s hospitals — the Hôtel Dieu, St. Luc and Notre Dame — have already banned fried foods and replaced soft drinks with fruit beverage.
The chef collaboration has also produced a cookbook, published by the CHUM, called A votre santé! featuring some of the recipes that will be found on the dinner trays and cafeterias of the CHUM hospitals.
Pork forestière on egg noodles, spaghetti squash and lentils, tabbouleh with cauliflower and quinoa with red beans are some of the featured dishes.
“It’s all about adding taste, colour and freshness to the menu,” said Christian Paire, president and CEO of the CHUM. “A change away from brown sauce.”
The trend to healthier meals puts an emphasis on fresh produce as opposed to frozen, Lefebvre said.
“We serve 1,000 meals a day at the CHUM,” said Myriam Giguère, director of hospital services. “Our team does more than just make meals, we are invested in the health of our patients.”
Giguère said that 50 per cent of the recipes in the cookbook will see their way onto trays in the hospital, though not those featuring costlier ingredients like the brie stuffed with pecans and dried cranberries, the smoked salmon, or the salade de confit du canard.
Some of the recipes in the book are for 20 to 24 portions, which makes it ideal for those who cook for a crowd at seniors’ residences or schools. A votre santé is available, in French, at Archambault, Renaud Bray and Indigo stores or online at www.adl. qc.ca