Top chef dishing up some healthy eating advice

She is holding an object in her hand, which she feels and smells. After a couple of minutes, she speaks. "Avocado?"

Standing alongside her, authoritative in chef's hat and apron, is Idris Caldora, the charismatic chef and restauranteur, whose former roles includes head of catering at the famous Belfry Hotel in Warwickshire.

Idris was representing the London-based Academy of Culinary Arts and had come to Mirfield Free Grammar School as part of the academy's Chefs Adopt a School scheme.

The successful project, which has been running across the country since the early 1990s, aims to teach schoolchildren about nutrition, health and cooking. It is being brought to schools in West Yorkshire in partnership with the Hilton Hotel, whose Hilton in the Community' scheme is providing sponsorship.

Even before Jamie Oliver's hit TV series Jamie's School Dinners gripped the nation, chefs from the academy were teaching schoolchildren about food, in the hope of influencing a new generation of food lovers and home cooks.

In classrooms across the country, top chefs like Idris have been teaching youngsters to understand food and its origins, as well as the importance of nutrition, health and cooking. The sessions are followed up by visits from local head chefs from the Hilton chain who demonstrate how to cook healthy, nutritious meals.

Head chef Robert Ferguson, of Bradford's Hilton Hotel, joined Idris at the front of the class, one of 70 head chefs across the country helping out.

From the start of the session, the children were captivated. "Can anyone tell me what the five senses are?", asked Idris, "And the four tastes?"

The former owner of Bilborough Manor near York and head chef at the Bank restaurant in Birmingham went on to test the children's tastebuds, asking them to sample small coloured food with unexpected flavours. "The brain plays tricks," he says. "You should be able to tell what these tastes are, but the brain deceives you.

"The only time you become hungry for something is if you are used to it in your diet. If you have a lot of sweetness or salt in your diet you actively look for those things. That is why people add salt or other seasoning to their food."

He adds: "I don't season my food as I'm getting all I need from the fresh vegetables and fruit I am eating, and I can appreciate the flavours. Salts occur in food naturally - it is all about training the palate and appreciating food for what it can give you."

Idris was full of praise for the school's menu which on the week of his visit included Oriental chicken skewers served with stir fry noodles and vegetables, Cajun chicken wraps served with a warm cous cous salad and oven-baked cheese and onion quiche.

Parents seem happy with it too, according to staff at the 1,400-pupil technology college, where 70 per cent of children eat school meals.

Unlike at one South Yorkshire school, there have been no incidents of parents arriving at the school gates every lunchtime to hand out fish and chips to their children.

"I was amazed to hear that, having healthy food is a vital part of life," says Elizabeth Hartley, catering manager at Mirfield Free Grammar, who was delighted with the session.

"The messages lessons like this send out are very important. When I came here two years ago the meals were essentially made up of foods like burgers, chips and pizzas. I think there was one home-cooked dish every day so my first thought was not just to work towards healthy eating but towards a wider variety of food."

There has now been a "360 degree turnaround" in the school's Take 5' restaurant, named after the Government's recommendation of at least five portions of fruit and vegetables per person, every day, to help reduce the risk of some cancers, heart disease and many other chronic conditions.

"We have so much home-cooked food we can hardly keep up," adds Mrs Hartley. "We are serving dishes from grilled salmon to Mexican dishes, and they are absolutely flying out of the door."

She adds: "We do need help, we need back-up from parents. It is not easy to get children to eat something different. If they have a burger every day they are not going to want anything else."

Suzanne Ferguson, head chef at the school, believes better education on types of foods and their health benefits is vital in a society where some children, particularly younger ones "don't know one vegetable from another."

"It encourages them not to be afraid to look at and try different foods," she adds.

Class teacher Celia-Anne Morton, teacher in charge of food technology, believes that visits like this one, plus regular lessons in the subject, will benefit not only the pupils but their families and the community.

"I think it is important to raise the profile of healthy eating not just at school but in the community. The children are going home and will tell their parents what they have learned. They will see that what they learn can be practised out-of-school too and not just in the class on a Monday afternoon."

The proof has been in the pudding, with a survey into the impact of Jamie Oliver's crusade to change children's eating habits resulting in a quarter of adults changing theirs.

Assistant head teacher Paul Morris emphasised how eating healthily impacted on the behaviour of children. "It definitely affects their learning, especially in the afternoon when children are less hyper."

Idris Caldora cannot stress enough the important of a healthy diet. "It is as important as the air we breath. Without food we would not survive, so we should make sure it is good food - it is as simple as that."

He does not pretend that the struggle to make people change their diet will soon be over, despite the good work being done across the country. "It will take a lot more work and a lot more energy and will take time, but I think everyone - parents, schools, all of us, have a duty of care."