Originally from Romania, Monica Szabo works at Sanctuary Care’s Wantage Residential and Nursing Home in Oxfordshire and won third place in its Masterchef 2022 competition.

Tell us about your background and how you joined Sanctuary Care
I discovered my passion for cooking, in particular making cakes, at an early age. I joined Sanctuary Care in 2015 as a catering assistant and six months later I was promoted to assistant chef and I’ve been chef manager since March 2022. Originally from Transylvania, I’m married with a daughter.

What is special about working at Sanctuary Care?
Sanctuary Care and the people at Wantage have become my family – the environment is fantastic, with a brilliant team, a great atmosphere and very supportive managers. I’m grateful as Sanctuary Care has made my dream of becoming a chef come true.

How do you vary your menu to provide choice for residents?
I like to give our residents the chance to enjoy their favourite foods, according to their needs. There is always a large variety of cakes which are my signature. Sometimes a resident may fancy something that isn’t on the menu, so I will always prepare something just for them – from homemade snacks like sausage rolls, omelettes, or a bacon and cheese turnover.

What does your typical weekly menu look like?
Our menu is rich in all sorts of meat, fish, vegetarian dishes and puddings. Our residents love traditional roast meat dishes and homemade soups – mushroom and chicken are the most popular.

How do you meet residents’ nutritional and health needs?
I work very closely with the care staff and nurses to ensure that the residents’ food passports are up to date, and I regularly meet with residents and their relatives to make sure I know about any changes in their preferences or needs.

How do you cater for residents with dementia?
The colour and the shape of our modified meals is so important and I’m always thinking of new ways to make my food attractive and not just tasty, especially if I am using pipes to shape it. Sometimes a resident may struggle to choose what they fancy, so I make presentation plates for them to see, smell and taste what I’ve made, which can stimulate the senses and increase their appetite.

What’s your most popular dish?
My favourite dish to make and the one which makes the residents so happy is roast beef with crispy potatoes, parsnip chips, baby carrots and sprouts with homemade Yorkshire pudding and horseradish sauce.

What’s your own favourite dish?
What represents me is my passion for cakes – it gives me such freedom to be so creative and I love it when they bring a smile to someone’s face. I always make our residents themed birthday cakes that are very personal to them – and when I see their happy faces, I can go to bed feeling happy. The residents also love homemade profiteroles, macaroons and cookies.

How do you make the dining experience special for residents and their families?
I always spend time talking to our residents getting their feedback, which helps me to shape the menu. We also love to do themed days, where the residents choose what they would like to eat. For a recent Italian day, they chose carbonara and pizzas, with tiramisu – and of course prosecco! I also love to make our residents’ recipes – one lady recently gave me a special recipe for tangy lemon cake and she was so happy when I made it for her.