Schools

Local Chef to Unveil New School Lunch Menu Items

Metz Middle School hosting special event Friday to unveil local chef's Cajun-style menu items for students.

For over a month, local chef and business owner Charles Gilliam has been working side-by-side with the cafeteria staff at Metz Middle School to create a healthier alternative for school lunches.

Chef Gilliam will unveil the new dishes at the school's Lousisiana-style 'Carnivale' celebration Friday complete with real Zydeco music, decorative beads and some tasty Cajun cuisine.

"I've had a lot of fun working with the kitchen staff at Metz," Gilliam said. They really do care about the children and what they're eating, and don't want to see them eat pizza everyday."

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The project was based on the White House's 'Chefs Move to Schools' initiative with a focus on getting the Middle School students to eat more vegetables. The local chef has created three dishes aimed at providing them with a healthy yet tasty school lunch.

The dishes include:

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  • Sweet Chili Cornbread - a jazzed up cornbread with sweet chilis.
  • Red Beans & Rice - Brown rice instead of white and a non-pork sausage.
  • Maquechoux- a classic cajun dish introduced to European settlers by Native Americans that consists of corn, bacon, diced green and red peppers, onions and tomatoes.

Gilliam chose the dishes based on his Cajun background. He also wanted to make the event fun for the children and on Friday will be bringing down Okra's mascot 'Gaston' the alligator to keep the party moving.

The local middle school's morning show has been broadcast from Okra's all week where Charles provided a 'Louisiana trivia question of the day' that the students were able to watch live on TV. Prizes will be handed out for correctly-answered trivia questions during Friday's festivities.

"This is just the beginning of what we're trying to do," Gilliam said. "I started this project thinking I could change the world but one of the best things I've figured out is just to try and create some awareness."

Culinary students from Stratford University will also be present Friday to lend the students at Metz a helping hand.

Another big contributor for this cause has been Director of Food Services for Manassas City Schools Cecil Anthony.

"We wanted to create something fun to encourage children at this grade level to eat more vegetables because it's difficult at their age," Anthony said. "We also wanted to encourage nutrition, work with someone in our community who owns a restaurant and introduce our students to a different type of food because they do like pizza and chicken nuggets."


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