General News
23 December, 2020
Christmas favourites on the menu at Cairns Hospital
KITCHEN staff have been preparing for three days, an epic Christmas Day feast for Cairns Hospital patients and staff.
About 40 dedicated hospital staff will be working on Christmas Day from breakfast through to dinner to deliver a mouth-watering Yuletide menu, ranging from three-cheese pumpkin pie, through to Cobia fish fillet with mango salsa.
Brenton Miller, Food Services Acting Manager at Cairns Hospital, said a hospital stay over Christmas could be a difficult time for patients and their families.
“Our staff are doing an amazing job,” he said. “It’s a lot of work that goes into the one day, but it really pays off.
“Our patients get to have something special, and it really gives them a smile to see it presented to their beds.”
The menu is designed to cater to all tastes and dietary requirements and includes Christmas favourites such as roast pork with apple sauce and gravy, and the classic Aussie dessert, pavlova with a fruit compote.
Mr Miller said all food was either locally or Queensland sourced, where possible. “There is a huge amount of food being prepared as we speak,” he said.
“We have 30kg of scrambled eggs, 15kg of bacon, 160 Danish pastries, 60kg of pork, 130 pieces of pumpkin pie.
“We’re also doing about 320 serves of Christmas pudding and custard, and the same number for the pavlova.
“And we’re making about 18kg of mango salsa up for about 40kg of fish.” Our dedicated hospital staff working on Christmas Day will also be treated to a Christmas meal.
“We’re trying to make a special day for people who can’t be home with their families, including staff,” Mr Miller said. “We’re looking at about 2000 meals for the day, including staff and patients.
“It’s a very homely feel around here on Christmas Day – like one big, happy family.”
