What’s cooking?

02 May 2022

Just like the kitchen is the heart of the home, it’s also the heart of hospice. It’s where bread is baked, legs of lamb are roasted, fresh fish is fried and every description of cake whipped up – all with care and attention to detail by our dedicated kitchen team, who join with volunteers to provide meals every day for patients and their whānau/families. Here, we talk to Household Manager Cathie Jack about the very special role our cooks hold at Harbour Hospice.

Cathie, what’s different about working in the kitchen at Harbour Hospice?
It’s the way we approach cooking for patients. At Hospice, enjoying a meal can be more about reliving a special memory than about finishing what’s on your plate, so it's all about the senses - the smells, the tastes, the visual impact. An aroma might take a patient back to happy afternoons spent in their grandmother’s kitchen. The look of a meal, to the place where they met their husband or wife. Sometimes it’s about simply holding the food to their lips so they can relish that taste again. Imagine a good old-fashioned apple pie with custard, or the sweetness of pavlova with cream.

Does that mean portion sizes are smaller too?
Yes. You give a little, but you always offer more. We don’t want to make our patients feel obligated to finish what’s on their plate.

Cathie Jack, Harbour Hospice Household Manager

Do you follow set menus?
We do have a basic set menu, but patients don’t have to choose from it. Our cooks pride themselves on making bespoke meals for patients. They will make them whatever they feel like eating, and over the years the requests have varied from tripe to whitebait fritters to oxtail stew to a Sunday roast. One patient recently asked for a simple vegetable soup, and when I produced it with a warmed bread roll to dip in, he was absolutely over the moon.

Does that mean there are often extra trips to the supermarket for ingredients?
Yes. But sometimes we will literally be preparing someone’s last supper. It’s a very unique experience and an absolute privilege to be able to do this.

What qualities make a good hospice cook?
Flexibility and a compassionate and caring nature. You need to take the time to talk to patients and find out what their favourite foods are and any dietary requirements they might have.