What is institutional food?” we hear you ask.
If you have ever had an overnight stay in the hospital, eaten lunch in a school/university/office cafeteria or spent time in prison, you have experienced institutional cuisine.
Depending on how (and by whom) these foodservice areas are managed, you may have had a delicious meal or one which left you feeling less than satisfied.
Joyce Timmons is on a mission to change the way we approach institutionalised food in Ireland. \ Claire Nash
Nutritious foods possess the power to help us heal and live healthily, but eating well also brings greater enjoyment of life. If you’re living each day eating the same thing; your overall enjoyment of life will likely decrease. With this in mind, there is a growing movement calling for a shift in our institutionalised foods and how they’re served.
When Dublin chef Joyce Timmins took her first job in institutional catering, she believed she could lower food spend and reorganise kitchens; removing dependence on packaged or frozen foods and empowering staff to cook more fresh meat, grains and vegetables – and she was right.
Now, she’s on a mission to help change institutionalised foods across the country.
Accidental chef
“I’ve been cooking since I was 18 and I’m 48 now, so for 30 years? That can’t be right,” an astonished Joyce tells me over our Zoom meeting.
“I have to say, I wasn’t a kid who ever wanted to be a chef,” she says. “One summer some friends went to work in Butlins (Mosney leisure park) so I joined them and went into the kitchens. It wasn’t a great kitchen, but the craic was great.”
Joyce went on to study catering at Crumlin College, but it wasn’t until she was accepted into the culinary programme at Cathal Brugha – under the tutelage of Kevin Thornton – that she developed a real passion for food and, specifically, pastry.
All things sweet
During her early years, Joyce worked in pastry sections in some top kitchens, including the Conrad Hotel, The Merrion (where she was sous chef to the acclaimed chef Paul Kelly) and the Killarney Park Hotel. When she became pregnant with her daughter, Lily, in the early 2000s, she knew it was time to go home to her family.
“I’m a real homebird; I like to be home,” she says.
Joyce is currently head of catering at Marymount Care Centre in Dublin. \ Claire Nash
After taking some time to raise her daughter, Joyce got back into professional kitchens; eventually working into the role of head chef. Feeling she needed a job better suited to her daughter’s needs, she went into contract catering for the next several years. When a HSE job was posted for the Rotunda, Joyce jumped at the opportunity.
“I wanted to see if I could change the food concept in hospitals,” she says.
When Joyce first entered the catering section of the Rotunda, it was clear the catering team needed someone to take the reins and represent their interests at a management level.
“Every kitchen works so hard and they have to be recognised for that,” she explains. “The guys were ready to embrace the changes to come.
Joyce believes food in our hospitals and care homes can, and should, be much better. \ Claire Nash
“The food was good, but I felt organisation wasn’t there in the kitchen,” she continues. “They were nearly trying to do too much and it was complicating things. There were menus everywhere – diabetics, private wards, post-natal, pre-natal, day patients, restaurant menus - they were killing themselves with kindness.”
Too many menus
With so many menus, came further complications. For example, Joyce remembers a menu full of different egg options for when a patient didn’t want anything on the main menu.
“I said, ‘OK – if we had two nice main courses, one meat or fish and one vegetarian, you won’t need the extra items and you won’t have any egg orders.’ We started doing two mains for lunch and then two for tea.
“There were no orders for salads or eggs because the right options were there. We used ingredients which weren’t expensive but gave good flavour.”
Being a successful chef is as much about being an effective manager and teacher as it is being an exceptional cook. Joyce brought this experience to the Rotunda; inputting valuable management systems which saved time and used fewer packaged, processed ingredients.
“The flavours were good and the cooks were proud of what they were doing when it came together,” says Joyce. “It was great to see their pride and hear the compliments coming back to the kitchen. I was thrilled for them.”
By streamlining the menus at the Rotunda, Joyce ensured everybody got the same food, whether they were private patients, diabetic, public or staff. She spent two years there, which she says was probably too long.
These are just a few examples of Joyce’s special pureed meals for those suffering from dysphagia. \ Claire Nash
“I’d say they were happy to see the back of me,” she laughs. “But they’ve stuck with many of the changes and what they’re posting online looks brilliant.
“We did push boundaries, but they were very easy boundaries to push. The staff became more confident; seeing how well the food looked and tasted. It was more of a restaurant approach.”
Marymount
Care Centre
After the Rotunda, Joyce went back to college to study hospitality management. Then, the opportunity arose for her current kitchen management position at Marymount Care Centre.
“When I came in here, I walked through the doors and said, ‘This place is amazing’,” she recalls. “One of the residents said, ‘Well, howya gorgeous?’ The interview, then, was just so relaxed.
Joyce take a chef-driven approach to creating delicious and appealing meals for those suffering from dysphagia. \ Claire Nash
“The manager said, ‘I want you to give me two years’,” she continues. “I didn’t know much about care homes and elder food, but I was happy to commit to that.”
Dysphagia
Once she found her stride, Joyce began to focus on the residents who suffered from dysphagia. Dysphagia is a condition where the ability to swallow has been impacted, so those who have it often require pureed meals. When she arrived at Marymount, the meals for their 20 dysphagia residents consisted of a scoop each of potato, pureed vegetables, meat and gravy. She felt the ingredients were good, but the presentation had to change.
Joyce also creates desserts, like this chocolate mousse or her special pureed eclairs, for residents suffering from dysphagia. \ Claire Nash
“When you have dementia and you’re looking at plates of scoops, the first thing you’re going to assume is it’s ice cream; you’re expecting something cold,” Joyce explains.
“I started researching; I knew I could do better,” she continues. “The first dish I did was fish and chips. I had the fish and made a turmeric sauce with a bit of vinegar and lemon. I had malt vinegar through the mash, I pureed tartar sauce and mushy peas and had a lemon gel on the side. It looked terrible, but smelled great and got the juices going. Then, I did a puréed corn beef which I piped into slices. The staff actually thought it was a normal sliced corned beef!”
Joyce feels her dysphagia residents should have the same meal options as the other residents. This includes Christmas dinner, which she provided pureed; complete with stuffing and all the trimmings. She has also created puréed desserts like profiteroles and coffee eclairs. It may sound like a lot of effort, but she says it’s a very simple process and can be done in any care home, hospital and even private homes.
“Imagine getting a bowl of food that’s just mashed up,” she shudders. “I think eating well is important for any person’s dignity. If you’re at home, sitting with your family at meals and getting a baby bowl while the family’s having a nice lasagne – you can have that lasagne, too. It shouldn’t be any different.”
This is Joyce's sundried tomato, chicken and pesto pasta. It is completely pureed and piped to look appealing for those suffering from dysphagia. \ Claire Nash
Joyce has future aspirations for her work in intuitional food, but for now she is happy to be working in Marymount with her great team of cooks and her “legends”, as she calls the residents.
“This care home is a fun, loving place – I don’t know if that’s the case for all nursing homes, but here it is. I call the residents my legends, because I don’t want to call them old or elders or even residents, to me they are – legends.”
She is currently designing a website, which will contain tips, recipes and videos for the many people in Ireland living with dysphagia. Follow her on Instagram @jammyj for images of her many purées.
The future of institutionalised food
Joyce says it all begins with actually wanting to change.
She has spoken with Dr Philip Crowley, national director of quality improvement for the HSE, and has said it wouldn’t take a lot to make some meaningful changes to the current hospital food system.
In her current role at Marymount Care Centre, Joyce creates nutritious meals that are equally appealing and delicious. \ Claire Nash
“I think you can go into a place for two weeks – because chefs don’t want you there longer than that – to set up menus, get to know them and just let them know you’re there to help them,” she says. “Make sure everyone has the same menu cycle, costings, dietary requirements, and dining room menu cycle.
“There’s a food management system called Nutritics – if we did our menus through that system everything would be streamlined. If every hospital is on the same menu plan and cycle and a team is created to check in with different hospitals and have that connection - being open and transparent is the key to success.”
What is institutional food?” we hear you ask.
If you have ever had an overnight stay in the hospital, eaten lunch in a school/university/office cafeteria or spent time in prison, you have experienced institutional cuisine.
Depending on how (and by whom) these foodservice areas are managed, you may have had a delicious meal or one which left you feeling less than satisfied.
Joyce Timmons is on a mission to change the way we approach institutionalised food in Ireland. \ Claire Nash
Nutritious foods possess the power to help us heal and live healthily, but eating well also brings greater enjoyment of life. If you’re living each day eating the same thing; your overall enjoyment of life will likely decrease. With this in mind, there is a growing movement calling for a shift in our institutionalised foods and how they’re served.
When Dublin chef Joyce Timmins took her first job in institutional catering, she believed she could lower food spend and reorganise kitchens; removing dependence on packaged or frozen foods and empowering staff to cook more fresh meat, grains and vegetables – and she was right.
Now, she’s on a mission to help change institutionalised foods across the country.
Accidental chef
“I’ve been cooking since I was 18 and I’m 48 now, so for 30 years? That can’t be right,” an astonished Joyce tells me over our Zoom meeting.
“I have to say, I wasn’t a kid who ever wanted to be a chef,” she says. “One summer some friends went to work in Butlins (Mosney leisure park) so I joined them and went into the kitchens. It wasn’t a great kitchen, but the craic was great.”
Joyce went on to study catering at Crumlin College, but it wasn’t until she was accepted into the culinary programme at Cathal Brugha – under the tutelage of Kevin Thornton – that she developed a real passion for food and, specifically, pastry.
All things sweet
During her early years, Joyce worked in pastry sections in some top kitchens, including the Conrad Hotel, The Merrion (where she was sous chef to the acclaimed chef Paul Kelly) and the Killarney Park Hotel. When she became pregnant with her daughter, Lily, in the early 2000s, she knew it was time to go home to her family.
“I’m a real homebird; I like to be home,” she says.
Joyce is currently head of catering at Marymount Care Centre in Dublin. \ Claire Nash
After taking some time to raise her daughter, Joyce got back into professional kitchens; eventually working into the role of head chef. Feeling she needed a job better suited to her daughter’s needs, she went into contract catering for the next several years. When a HSE job was posted for the Rotunda, Joyce jumped at the opportunity.
“I wanted to see if I could change the food concept in hospitals,” she says.
When Joyce first entered the catering section of the Rotunda, it was clear the catering team needed someone to take the reins and represent their interests at a management level.
“Every kitchen works so hard and they have to be recognised for that,” she explains. “The guys were ready to embrace the changes to come.
Joyce believes food in our hospitals and care homes can, and should, be much better. \ Claire Nash
“The food was good, but I felt organisation wasn’t there in the kitchen,” she continues. “They were nearly trying to do too much and it was complicating things. There were menus everywhere – diabetics, private wards, post-natal, pre-natal, day patients, restaurant menus - they were killing themselves with kindness.”
Too many menus
With so many menus, came further complications. For example, Joyce remembers a menu full of different egg options for when a patient didn’t want anything on the main menu.
“I said, ‘OK – if we had two nice main courses, one meat or fish and one vegetarian, you won’t need the extra items and you won’t have any egg orders.’ We started doing two mains for lunch and then two for tea.
“There were no orders for salads or eggs because the right options were there. We used ingredients which weren’t expensive but gave good flavour.”
Being a successful chef is as much about being an effective manager and teacher as it is being an exceptional cook. Joyce brought this experience to the Rotunda; inputting valuable management systems which saved time and used fewer packaged, processed ingredients.
“The flavours were good and the cooks were proud of what they were doing when it came together,” says Joyce. “It was great to see their pride and hear the compliments coming back to the kitchen. I was thrilled for them.”
By streamlining the menus at the Rotunda, Joyce ensured everybody got the same food, whether they were private patients, diabetic, public or staff. She spent two years there, which she says was probably too long.
These are just a few examples of Joyce’s special pureed meals for those suffering from dysphagia. \ Claire Nash
“I’d say they were happy to see the back of me,” she laughs. “But they’ve stuck with many of the changes and what they’re posting online looks brilliant.
“We did push boundaries, but they were very easy boundaries to push. The staff became more confident; seeing how well the food looked and tasted. It was more of a restaurant approach.”
Marymount
Care Centre
After the Rotunda, Joyce went back to college to study hospitality management. Then, the opportunity arose for her current kitchen management position at Marymount Care Centre.
“When I came in here, I walked through the doors and said, ‘This place is amazing’,” she recalls. “One of the residents said, ‘Well, howya gorgeous?’ The interview, then, was just so relaxed.
Joyce take a chef-driven approach to creating delicious and appealing meals for those suffering from dysphagia. \ Claire Nash
“The manager said, ‘I want you to give me two years’,” she continues. “I didn’t know much about care homes and elder food, but I was happy to commit to that.”
Dysphagia
Once she found her stride, Joyce began to focus on the residents who suffered from dysphagia. Dysphagia is a condition where the ability to swallow has been impacted, so those who have it often require pureed meals. When she arrived at Marymount, the meals for their 20 dysphagia residents consisted of a scoop each of potato, pureed vegetables, meat and gravy. She felt the ingredients were good, but the presentation had to change.
Joyce also creates desserts, like this chocolate mousse or her special pureed eclairs, for residents suffering from dysphagia. \ Claire Nash
“When you have dementia and you’re looking at plates of scoops, the first thing you’re going to assume is it’s ice cream; you’re expecting something cold,” Joyce explains.
“I started researching; I knew I could do better,” she continues. “The first dish I did was fish and chips. I had the fish and made a turmeric sauce with a bit of vinegar and lemon. I had malt vinegar through the mash, I pureed tartar sauce and mushy peas and had a lemon gel on the side. It looked terrible, but smelled great and got the juices going. Then, I did a puréed corn beef which I piped into slices. The staff actually thought it was a normal sliced corned beef!”
Joyce feels her dysphagia residents should have the same meal options as the other residents. This includes Christmas dinner, which she provided pureed; complete with stuffing and all the trimmings. She has also created puréed desserts like profiteroles and coffee eclairs. It may sound like a lot of effort, but she says it’s a very simple process and can be done in any care home, hospital and even private homes.
“Imagine getting a bowl of food that’s just mashed up,” she shudders. “I think eating well is important for any person’s dignity. If you’re at home, sitting with your family at meals and getting a baby bowl while the family’s having a nice lasagne – you can have that lasagne, too. It shouldn’t be any different.”
This is Joyce's sundried tomato, chicken and pesto pasta. It is completely pureed and piped to look appealing for those suffering from dysphagia. \ Claire Nash
Joyce has future aspirations for her work in intuitional food, but for now she is happy to be working in Marymount with her great team of cooks and her “legends”, as she calls the residents.
“This care home is a fun, loving place – I don’t know if that’s the case for all nursing homes, but here it is. I call the residents my legends, because I don’t want to call them old or elders or even residents, to me they are – legends.”
She is currently designing a website, which will contain tips, recipes and videos for the many people in Ireland living with dysphagia. Follow her on Instagram @jammyj for images of her many purées.
The future of institutionalised food
Joyce says it all begins with actually wanting to change.
She has spoken with Dr Philip Crowley, national director of quality improvement for the HSE, and has said it wouldn’t take a lot to make some meaningful changes to the current hospital food system.
In her current role at Marymount Care Centre, Joyce creates nutritious meals that are equally appealing and delicious. \ Claire Nash
“I think you can go into a place for two weeks – because chefs don’t want you there longer than that – to set up menus, get to know them and just let them know you’re there to help them,” she says. “Make sure everyone has the same menu cycle, costings, dietary requirements, and dining room menu cycle.
“There’s a food management system called Nutritics – if we did our menus through that system everything would be streamlined. If every hospital is on the same menu plan and cycle and a team is created to check in with different hospitals and have that connection - being open and transparent is the key to success.”
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