Olivia Potts

The enduring power of school dinners

  • From Spectator Life
(John Broadley)

Cornflake tart. Spam fritters. Green custard. Turkey twizzlers. Chocolate concrete. These are some of the dishes that instantly transport you to the school lunch hall – and inspire either pure nostalgia or horror.

Over the past five years co-hosting Table Talk, The Spectator’s food and drink podcast, I have spoken to people from all walks of life – politicians, chefs, writers, campaigners, entrepreneurs and artists – and they all have unique relationships with food.

But school food defies all reason. It presents a binary, true love or hate. Some look back with delight, seeking out spotted dicks and instant mash for ever more, though none tastes as good as the dishes they had at school in Kettering in 1989.

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Olivia Potts
Written by
Olivia Potts
Olivia Potts is a former criminal barrister who retrained as a pastry chef. She co-hosts The Spectator’s Table Talk podcast and writes Spectator Life's The Vintage Chef column. A chef and food writer, she was winner of the Fortnum and Mason's debut food book award in 2020 for her memoir A Half Baked Idea.

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