It feels as if not a day goes by without some food or other being hailed for preventing cancer or causing it.
As a health journalist and editor of a blog that sorts pseudo-science from actual science, I am frustrated by this because the evidence rarely, if ever, backs up the claims.
So you might think I’d be sceptical about the UK’s first-ever cookery course aimed at people suffering with cancer.
But having spent a day at the class, which has been backed by foodie royalty such as Jamie Oliver, Nigella Lawson and Grace Dent –and spoken to experts in cancer and nutrition, as well as others on the course – I’m convinced these lessons are so worthwhile that they should be given on the NHS.
Taste buddies: Sue Perkins, left, and Ali Beattie, right, at the River Cottage cooking course with Eve Simmons and Life Kitchen founder Ryan Riley
And here’s why. While eating a certain berry won’t trigger or cure cancer, a balanced and nutritious diet is essential if you want to get better. The problem is that cancer, and the treatments for it, make eating a challenge for almost 75 per cent of patients.
Cancer – and the rapidly dividing cells that cause tumours – causes inflammation and disturbances in gut bacteria resulting in taste loss and nausea.
Chemotherapy that targets cancer dramatically dulls taste and smell and can cause mouth ulcers, while drugs such as steroids can result in thrush in the mouth, making for painful meal times. The result is that patients don’t want to eat – when they most need to.
Dr Richard Simcock, oncologist at the Royal Marsden Hospital in London, says: ‘The body burns a lot of energy to fight the cancer, meaning calorie intake has to be increased. But treatment can make everything taste like cardboard, metallic or salty.’
CARBONARA WITH MINT, PEAS AND FENNEL FRONDS
This dish uses mint, as the herb is not sensed by taste buds but by the trigeminal nerve responsible for detecting cool or spicy flavours. This provides extra sensations when taste buds and sense of smell have been lost. Peas add an unfamiliar, umami flavour and the fennel fronds give a strong, punchy taste.
Serves 3-4
Pulse 1 large onion, 2 large garlic cloves and 1 red or green chilli in a food processor until finely chopped. Place the blitzed mixture in a frying pan and cover with a tightly fitting lid. Add 200g of chopped smoked lardons and a pinch of salt to the pan and sweat on a low heat for 20-30 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the onions have melted.
Meanwhile, beat 100g of grated parmesan and four eggs in a bowl and season with salt and pepper.
Cook 500g of dried tagliatelle according to the packet instructions. Two minutes before the end of the cooking time, take a ladle of the starchy pasta cooking water and add to the parmesan and egg mixture.
In the final minute of cooking time, add a large handful of frozen peas to the pasta water. When the pasta is cooked, drain with the peas and add back into the pan. Tip the parmesan and egg mixture over the pasta and stir – the sauce will take a minute or so to emulsify. Tear the leaves of a small bunch of mint and a handful of torn fennel fronds, scatter generously and serve.
According to Simcock, fuelling the body is much easier when patients enjoy what they’re eating. Which is where Life Kitchen comes in. The ‘cooking for cancer’ class is the brainchild of food stylist Ryan Riley, who lost his mother Krista to lung cancer four years ago.
He and Krista were devastated when her chemotherapy robbed them of their shared passion for discovering new foods. Now Ryan, 24, uses his professional cookery skills to ease the treacherous journey for others, and has launched an initiative designed to reawaken dulled taste buds using inventive flavour combinations.
Drawing on advice from flavour experts at the University of London and Macmillan Cancer Support oncologists, he has created for class attendees two, easy and inexpensive recipes, printed on these pages: carbonara with mint, peas and fennel fronds; and a mushroom, lentil and pork ragu.
Clever tweaks that make them ‘cancer specific’ include mushrooms being stewed slowly to extract a pungent ‘umami’ flavour – often detected by cancer patients when others, such as sweet or bitter, are not. Elsewhere, lemon zest and mint in the carbonara sauce increase the chances of detecting a zingy after-taste.
Life Kitchen has a fan in Ryan’s friend, TV presenter Sue Perkins, who co-hosted the inaugural event at Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s River Cottage in Devon.
I ask the former Great British Bake Off presenter why she thinks such a course is a good idea. ‘People live with cancer – they don’t always die from it. It’s the living we’re getting to grips with here,’ says the 48-year-old, whose father Bert died last year following a ten-year cancer battle.
CARAMELISED MUSHROOMS WITH PORK, LENTILS AND GREMOLATA
Caramelising mushrooms and cooking lentils in mushroom stock accentuates the umami flavours. Studies show that umami tastes – experienced with foods high in the amino acid glutamate, such as soy, pork and tomatoes – boost the other four, dulled tastes. Finish the dish with lemon and fresh herbs to add a strong, citrus zing.
Serves 3-4
Soak 15g of dried porcini mushrooms in 500ml of boiling water for 20 minutes. Cut 1 large onion in half and crush 3 garlic cloves, then set aside. Drain the porcini mushrooms, reserving the liquid. Rinse 300g of black lentils, then tip into a saucepan before adding the mushroom liquid, 400ml of vegetable stock, onion, crushed garlic cloves, 1 bay leaf and a pinch of salt and pepper. Bring to the boil and simmer for 25 minutes.
Meanwhile, melt 20g of butter in a frying pan before adding 100g of button, shitaki and porcini mushrooms. Cook over a medium heat for 10-15 minutes, until caramelised. Add the juice and zest of one lemon and half a bunch of chopped parsley and set aside.
Pan fry 4 pork chops in a knob of butter, turning frequently, for 8-10 minutes until cooked through. Set aside. Drain the lentils, discarding the garlic cloves and onion. Add a knob of butter, a bunch of chopped chives and half a handful of chopped parsley to lentils and stir.
For the gremolata, mix a handful of chopped parsley, the zest of one lemon and 1 garlic clove, grated, in a bowl. Spoon the lentils on to a plate, pile the mushrooms on top, then the pork. Top with the gremolata and serve.
It’s a sentiment that course student Ali Beattie relates to. The 55-year-old from Belfast has stage four breast cancer and suffers from chronic pain, stress and exhaustion – and a dreary diet. She says: ‘Even after chemo and my taste came back, it wasn’t the same. I loved bolognese, curries and red wine and now they taste bland.’
Everyone left the class armed with information about how best to counter their altered tastes. For example, adding mint to carbonara, Ryan explains, bypasses the damaged taste buds, as both cool and hot (spicy) flavours are detected not by the tongue, but by the trigeminal nerve connecting the brain with the palate.
‘There are plenty of ways to trick the senses into drawing pleasure from food,’ says cancer dietitian Jane Clarke. She suggests a smoked fish mousse or smoked salmon blini to satisfy chemo-related, salty cravings. Silken panna cotta and velvety risottos are also good, high-calorie options for those who struggle with abrasive textures.
A week after the course, I call Ali. She says: ‘The day gave me a tremendous lift. My fridge is now stocked with lovely fruit and veg and I am excited to experiment with new recipes.’
It’s a pretty strong therapeutic effect given no drugs are involved. ‘You see,’ says Ali, ‘this isn’t about cancer. That’s the beauty of it.’
lDonations to the Life Kitchen charity campaign can be made at Gofundme.com/lifekitchen. The next Life Kitchen classes will take place at Jamie Oliver’s cookery school in London on March 26. Book at LifeKitchen.co.uk.