Issue 7

Food Glorious Food

The old Caswell Clinic food was so tediously dull even Oliver Twist didn't ask for more. The menu was so predictable we knew exactly what day of the week it was by looking at what was on our plates. If the kitchen veered away from its predictability confusion could prevail; "Is it Monday? It looks like a Thursday on my plate "

Apart from being mundane the food was cooked miles away, standing for hours in heated trolleys before being delivered by road. It certainly didn't travel too well because it was not unknown for soup, custard, or the gravy to slop over to mingle with the main course. By the time it reached a plate it was either cold or warm at best. It was eaten with as much passion and enthusiasm as if a damp squid had been served.

It was not however all doom and gloom. A lasting memory is the vibrantly coloured blancmanges and mousse, for instance, the "Radio Active Yellow " or the "Genetically Modified Purple ". This vibrancy in colour wasn't reflected in their flavours. We assumed Radio Active Yellow was lemon; it could well have been banana! And Toxic Purple was possibly blackcurrant. Who knows? Their distinct colours did however promote lively conversation around the table at meal times. Should they carry a health warning was considered and debated as was the likelihood that the Radio Active Yellow jelly could change our skin pigmentation.

The improvements in food have been vast. These days food is cooked where it's consumed, arriving on our plates steaming hot and emitting a pleasant aroma. We are happily adjusting to this rise in temperature along with experiencing flavours and tastes all within new settings.

Moving out from Dickensian settings and facilities and into the 21st Century is welcome progress. The new clinic is bright with natural light falling onto pastel coloured walls. It's more spacious and cleaner. Caswell isn't a dark and dingy Victorian clinic anymore.

No longer do we see as many patients spending their meagre allowance on takeaways. Food has improved to such an extent that local "Takeaways' have suffered dramatic slumps in their takings since we moved. Perhaps detractors of the new clinic are Takeaway owners.

Anyway bon-appetite and welcome to the twenty first century. At long last we have physically moved on from the dark ages.

Rb2-11