Festive feasts
Daniel Etherington whets our appetite with food inspiration for your Christmas fair
Christmas fairs, but taking the lead from the makeup of your school community and suggestions from volunteers can yield delicious results. Choose from options including meaty, vegan or vegetarian, homemade, locally sourced, supermarket-bought, or get your fair catered by external vendors.
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MAIN DISHES PULLED PORK ROLLS Rhonda
Hodges, secretary, Penny Acres Primary School PTFA, Holmesfi eld, Derbyshire. ‘At our last fair, we sold pulled pork rolls with pork cooked two ways. My husband cooked one on the barbecue overnight with applewood. In the morning, he shredded it, put it into the slow cooker before the fair and served it just in its juices. A PTA helper cooked the other version in barbecue sauce in her slow cooker. She started it in the morning and it was ready by the end of the school day. We served the rolls with sauces like barbecue sauce and apple sauce. The pork cost £13 from Costco, and we got between 28 and 30 portions from it, which we sold at £3 each. We made a vegan chilli as well and both completely sold out.’
FAMILY KITCHEN Amanda Campbell, chair, Our Lady of Lourdes RC Primary School PTA, Wanstead, London. ‘We run a
42 AUTUMN 2023
pta.co.uk
isitors may expect festive food classics such as turkey baps and hot chocolate at PTA
“family kitchen” where we ask parents to cook their signature dish in bulk and PTA volunteers sell it in portions at the Christmas fair. We’ve done it at every fair for the past ten years, since before my children were at the school. It is very profi table and, as we’re an East London school with a diverse community, we get a lot of different dishes from all over the world such as dhal, jollof and pasta. Everyone loves it!’
PASTIES AND SAUSAGE ROLLS Kelly King, co-chair, Widey Court Primary School PTFA, Plymouth, Devon. ‘We’re in Devon so, of course, we sell pasties at Christmas. We source them, along with sausage rolls, from a local supplier, a Plymouth-based company called Friary Mill. We usually get traditional Cornish and vegetarian pasties and large sausage rolls. They offer a trade price list, which enables us to sell at a profi t. We generally charge below shop price to keep the costs down for our families.’
NEPALESE RESTAURANT FOOD Jessica Bush, chair, St Mary’s Primary PTA, Oxted, Surrey. ‘We charge the local Nepalese restaurant £200 to sell food at our Christmas fair. It was a huge hit last year. We always try to choose somewhere local to support the businesses and the Nepalese restaurant has links to the school. We always charge a set fee to whoever we ask to do the catering.’
MEAT-FREE OPTIONS VEGAN HOT DOGS Make your hot dog stand vegan (or vegetarian) using meat-free hot dogs with tasty toppings such as fried onions, mustard and ketchup. Many people fi nd they don’t taste much different from traditional meat hot dogs.
VEGETABLE SAMOSAS Vegetable samosas are another delicious meat-free option. Try to get a donation or a good deal in bulk from a nearby South Asian restaurant or ask a willing parent to prepare a batch.
FALAFELS Beloved of many meat eaters as well as veggies, falafels are the quintessential snack throughout a large section of the world. For a Christmas twist, serve them with cranberry sauce.
PULLED JACKFRUIT ROLLS The meat-free alternative to pulled pork rolls. Ask if any vegan or vegetarian parents can help cook or serve them and use the same tasty sauces as on the meat version.
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