Helping the Butcher’s Block to teach pupils about butchery and food safety

We were pleased to donate whole chickens to The Butcher’s Block in York for a lesson in preparing chicken and food safety with year nine GCSE Food Technology students at Manor Church of England Academy in York.

Pupils watched butcher and business owner Matthew Cross joint and prepare a whole chicken as his business partner and wife Jessica answered questions the pupils had about poultry. They were then given a talk on the fundamentals of food safety and jointed their own chickens, under the careful supervision of Matthew and Jessica.

As part of their GCSE Food Technology course, students need to show they can joint a whole chicken into pieces.

It’s the second time that we’ve worked with we’ve worked with the Butcher’s Block on a school project and our Sales Manager, Tom Kingston said:

“Today it’s important that young kitchen professionals and chefs are able to handle and work with fresh poultry because it is crucial for their skill set and those they are feeding.

“We were pleased to provide our Yorkshire-reared grain-fed chicken for them to experience jointing a bird and appreciate tasting it afterwards when they made it into a casserole,” he added.

The Butcher’s Block is marking a decade of providing a range of locally sourced and high quality meat. Jessica said it was a pleasure to pass on their knowledge and skills through the demonstration.

“Students at the school are lucky to benefit from amazing catering facilities in the food technology department with a huge restaurant style kitchen, and I know that for the pupils, it was a real treat to work with an entire chicken.

“It was nice to be able to answer any questions the pupils had and see their enthusiasm for butchery and poultry.”