Top Chefs Bring Caribbean Flair to West Hartford Elementary Schools

West Hartford’s elementary school students had a tropical treat on Tuesday, without even having to leave the school building thanks to the collaborative efforts of the food service department’s “Chef to School” program, the grassroots organization Growing Great Schools, and the West Hartford Cultural Council.

Top chefs from area restaurants like Max Downtown, Bricco, Trumbull Kitchen, and Rizzutos assisted the food service departments in serving a Caribbean-inspired meal at lunchtime Tuesday. Menu choices included a reggae chicken wrap with pineapple mango salsa or panko baked tilapia, with Caribbean rice and beans and a pineapple mandarin fruit cup.

The Caribbean theme was inspired by the Cultural Council-sponsored performance of the Carnival Trio steel drum band this April, and the Wolcott representative suggested it would be a great tie-in for the Chef to School event, said Debra Morton who was working as a parent volunteer at Bugbee. She is the wife of Max Downtown chef Hunter Morton who was also at Bugbee helping prepare and serve lunch.

“I’ve never done seafood before [for the Chefs to School event],” said Hunter Morton, who worked on the recipes for the Caribbean menu with Tony Camilleri from Rizzotos.

Hunter Morton said the tilapia was a little bit more expensive than some other entrees, but all of the recipes met the guidelines specified under the new federal school meal nutritional requirements.

“It’s all from-scratch cooking, as opposed to the preservatives you get 99 percent of the time,” Hunter Morton said. For the Caribbean menu, only the pineapples came from a can, he said.

He tried to make the menu simple and easy to prepare for the food services staff. The crust of the tilapia was a mixture of panko, paprika, and ginger, and then baked, Hunter Morton said.

School Nutrition Association of Connecticut (SNACT) President-Elect and West Hartford Food Service Director Trish Molloy had a nutritional analysis performed of all the menu items. The tilapia, she said, had only 243 calories, 5 grams of fat (1.5 saturated) and 240 mg of sodium.

Growing Great Schools, which sponsored West Hartford's third Chef to School event, is about “culture, health, and the environment, and is represented at all 11 elementary schools,” said Debra Morton. The organization, which is pending approval of its non-profit status, works to expand the healthy options at each school through salad bars, farmers markets, and fitness programs such as the new “run at recess” program at Bugbee.

All of the schools served up the same menu Wednesday, and samples of the reggae chicken were available even to those who chose the tilapia or had brought lunch from home. Parent volunteers asked the kids for a thumbs-up or a thumbs-down.

“They are very enthusiastic, and give their honest opinion,” Debra Morton said as she walked through the Bugbee cafeteria with a clipboard. According to her survey, the chicken got a resounding thumbs-up while the fish had mixed reviews.

“If there is a positive response from the kids the items will very likely be placed on the regular lunch menu,” said Susan Kamin of Growing Great Schools.

“I like it,” commented Alex Searls who chose the tilapia. “It’s really good,” was Erin Conway’s assessment of the chicken. Both are students in Mr. Brouse’s fifth grade class. Classmate Gabe Sullivan proclaimed the chicken “way better” than the pasta usually served on Tuesdays.

“It’s all about education,” said Hunter Morton. “If they have it here, they take it home. It’s about getting kids to try something new,” he said.

Walking through the cafeteria, he invoked “positive peer pressure” to get some of the more reluctant kids to sample the chicken. “Kids are tough, but we’ve turned a lot of corners,” he said. “Maybe they’ll try it next time.”

The recipes will be available on the West Hartford Nutrition Services website.