Masterclass Champion - Priscilla Bourne, from Brightwater's Ellison House

Chefs and cooks working in aged and disability care need to know more specifics about food than their peers working in restaurants, according to Maggie Beer Foundation chef, Eliza Taylor. Eliza visited Brightwater’s Ellison House during August to meet with chef Priscilla Bourne, who cooks on site for residents with Huntington’s Disease. The visit was a follow-up to Priscilla’s participation in the Maggie Beer Foundation Masterclass in South Australia last year. The Maggie Beer Foundation has a particular interest in training aged care cooks and chefs to create familiar, nutritious, meaningful meals for residents and to providing kudos to those who are making a difference in the industry. “Aged care and disability cooking is a complex environment and there needs to be a thorough understanding of nutritional needs and texture,” said Eliza. “Because aged and disability care clients eat less, every mouthful counts,” she said. “When people are eating less, smell and taste become more important, so it’s great to see Priscilla making a lot of effort with herbs and spices to create flavoursome dishes. “We at the Maggie Beer Foundation had heard of the great things Priscilla is doing at Brightwater, so I wanted to see the areas in which she has grown since her time in the Barossa.” Priscilla said there had been less food wastage since she started cooking at Ellison House, and residents enjoyed the smells and activity in the kitchen. Some residents also got pleasure from helping with food preparation. “Food helps keep our residents happy,” said Priscilla.