A TOP UK chef has taken drastic measures to ensure some children in hospital get their required intake of protein, by dishing up pizzas topped with deep fried worms.
Heston Blumenthal’s interest in the children’s diets was sparked by a visit to Liverpool’s Alder Hey hospital where he noticed pizza on the menu.
“Thick dough and a thin layer of dried cheese and tomato on it, with potato waffles and baked beans. Where’s the protein?” the chef, who is renown for his scientific approach to the culinary arts, told The (London) Sunday Times.
Blumenthal, who visited the hospital as part of a campaign to improve food at taxpayer-funded hospitals, said the children found the pizza unpalatable, prompting him to try and improve on it.
The owner of three-Michelin-starred restaurant The Fat Duck decided to top the children’s pizzas with worms - a source of protein more commonly usually used as bait by fishermen.
“The kids loved it,” Blumenthal said. “One kid didn’t like it. I’d injected one with ketchup. He said: ‘I don’t like that. It’s not the worm - I don’t like the ketchup’.”
Blumenthal’s other unusual creations include bacon and egg ice cream and snail porridge.
