Chef learns to cook new meals after ship donation

The chef of a community food bank said she had to expand her skill set after receiving a huge donation of meat and fish from a stranded oil tanker.

The Bridge lunch club, run by the St Mary Magdalene Church in Gorleston, Norfolk, relies on donations to offer up to 60 people a three course meal each week.

It was recently given a cubic metre of food including oxtail from the Stena Immaculate which was struck by a cargo vessel in March.

"I did get really excited at the thought of that meat. It is very expensive and it is not the sort of thing we get usually," said Lottie Eaton.

"I have learnt how to butcher an oxtail myself."

She tends to prepare her menus six weeks in advance, but is having to adapt her cooking and the dishes on offer.

Before she was a chef at the club, she used the service as a client.

"I used to come and have my meals here. I suffered with anxiety so I used to hide in the kitchen a lot and I found it a safe space. Now I run the kitchen.

"It has changed my life. I have now got my family back - it's not something I would have dreamed of 10 years ago."

The Stena Immaculate has resided at the port in Great Yarmouth since 11 April, where it was towed to be inspected.

Community lead for the food bank, Anna Price, believes the food is worth hundreds if not thousands of pounds.

"We took as much as we possibly could. There's big slabs of frozen chicken wings, boneless chicken, loads of beef," she explained.

"I had, in my freezer for a while, massive slabs of really good quality beef... the thing we didn't know how to use or get rid of were the oxtails - but we are learning."

The 47-year-old said it was like "Christmas had come early" for chef Lottie.

For the past four years, David Williamson has been coming to the lunch club.

He said: "Half of my money went on my bills... I didn't have the money to afford to go shopping.

"[Stena Immaculate] are not wasting the food... everybody is from a low income and they can't afford to go out and have a proper meal.

"It brings a tear to my eye... people can walk away and say they've had a nice meal today."

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