It’s almost 20 years since a young Naomi Watts passed up dinner with Tom Cruise to tuck into her mum’s lamb roast.

These days, she’s more likely to be picking up lamb kebabs for dinner or dropping by a local café, depending on where she lives.

According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, between 1985–86 and 2005–06 household expenditure on “catered” meals rose by 30 per cent as the growth in restaurant and takeaway food consumption substantially exceeded growth in household expenditure on groceries.

This change in Australian eating patterns is being reflected in food technology and hospitality classes across NSW public schools, where innovative TAS (technical and applied studies) teachers are looking at creative ways to address the syllabus and cater to the interests and circumstances of their students.

For the students of Georgina Buttel, head teacher TAS at Kiama High School, eating out is part of the lifestyle in their seaside village, a popular weekend destination 90-minutes drive south of Sydney.

“Because our students are very much into eating out and going somewhere for a coffee, our lessons reflect what’s happening locally,” the teacher says.

From Year 7, her students begin looking at food preparation in both domestic and commercial environments.  “We do a lot of work on food presentation with classes based around a café unit, which introduces basic food preparation skills and operating the different appliances you might find in a café,” Ms Buttel said.

By Year 9, the students have developed their skills enough to create a mock-up of their own double-page magazine spread, choosing a festive occasion on which to base their presentation.

“They prepare the recipes, style and photograph the food and then use their computer skills to lay it out as a magazine article. The kids love it and it’s another part of the food industry they’re exploring.”

In 24 years of teaching, Ms Buttel has seen the focus of food technology classes change significantly. Where home economics used to concentrate on the domestic front – from stain removal to decorating a wedding cake – today’s syllabus has a much broader application.

“We still teach students to produce food they could make at home in a domestic situation, but you also look at large scale production and manufacture of food; what are the nutritional costs of eating large quantities of processed foods and how can we use processed foods at home to make appetising, nourishing meals.”

Ms Buttel said Australia’s multicultural palate is always evident in the wide variety of dishes the students prepare, and she attributes their willingness to try new things to the efforts of high visibility celebrity chefs such as Jamie Oliver and Donna Hay.

“The media has changed the way kids look at food. In the past I struggled with getting students to try something new. Then a few years ago I brought in some roo sausages and bush chutneys like native myrtle, thinking the class might try it. They polished it all off, the sausages, the chutneys, everything.”

As food trends develop, so do new opportunities to incorporate them into lesson plans. Ms Buttel has recently been invited to join a new “slow food” group in the Shoalhaven area, and she is looking at introducing aspects of the slow food concept into the classroom.

Founded to counteract the fast food culture, slow food promotes cooking from locally produced, seasonal raw ingredients. Starting in Italy in 1986 and now a worldwide movement, slow food is concerned with the nutritional and environmental benefits of using only locally grown ingredients.

“In Year 9, the students start off looking at nutrition and the foods they eat. I think that’s where slow food might fit in well, as we explore nourishing, good foods and incorporate ingredients like fresh herbs into the students’ menus,” Ms Buttel added.

Creating alternatives to fast food is also high on the agenda for Greystanes High School TAS teacher Damien King.

“My biggest challenge is trying to get the kids to try new things, to think beyond McDonald’s and Pizza Hut as restaurants. We just don’t have the café culture here,” Mr King said.

Although his students come from diverse ethnic backgrounds, as in many Sydney suburbs, the fast pace of family life means some students are not getting exposed to cooking at home.

By increasing his students’ exposure to different foods and fresh ingredients, Mr King not only broadens their palate and appreciation of food but opens the door to future vocational opportunities.

“We aim to help these students understand that you go to a restaurant to enjoy a different level of quality and service. When they can recognise the spectrum of standards and professionalism that are present in the industry, they can see where different businesses are coming from.”

One thing the students quickly appreciate is that they are in the hands of someone who really knows the Australian food industry.

Before training through the department’s Accelerated Teacher Training program, Mr King had reached the heights of success in the restaurant industry – quite literally. As well as having been senior chef de partie at Sydney’s acclaimed restaurant, Level 41 (located on the 41st floor of a Sydney tower block), his resumé includes the award-winning restaurants International and Beach Road, and five-star hotels such as Gold Coast Marriott and the Alice Springs Resort.

Tired of long shifts and 60-hour weeks but still passionate about good food, in 2001 Mr King followed in his mother’s footsteps to become a teacher. His first position was at Cobar High School in the state’s west.

“I gave the students a lot of exposure to people like Jamie Oliver and Kylie Kwong and they really took to it. After 12 months we found the classes were completely full. The popularity of celebrity chefs has made a huge difference in getting the kids interested.”

Food technology students at Greystanes High are able to go one step better and not only meet one of Australia’s most popular chefs but enjoy the full experience of his world famous restaurant, Aria.

Last year celebrity chef Matt Moran, who went to school at The Hills Sports High and started his apprenticeship at Parramatta RSL, welcomed Mr King’s Year 12 class to Aria.

As well as enjoying a three-course lunch, the students were given a guided tour through the kitchens, wine cellars and across the dining-room floor.

“It was a fantastic experience. Matt must have spent at least two hours talking to the students and he came to see them after each course, to see if they had eaten everything!”

An eye-opening experience, the students were amazed at the amount of money that went into creating a world-class restaurant.

Mr Moran said the 250 chairs alone were worth $250,000. “When they heard the rug they were standing on cost $60,000, the kids all jumped off it at exactly the same moment,” Mr King said.

Mr King hopes to make the Aria visit an annual event, and is planning to ask Mr Moran to visit Greystanes High to judge an interschool cooking competition.

And while fine dining doesn’t come cheap, students have the opportunity to earn their way while they develop their own culinary skills.

“My Year 10, 11 and 12 classes also do catering for functions, “Mr King said. The school’s commercial quality kitchen features wall to wall stainless steel and gives the students valuable experience working in a professional environment.

”We’ve even done a wedding for 150 people. Someone approaches me to do a function and they pay for the cost of the food and give a donation to the food technology department.”

The profits are used for equipment or to fund excursions for the students.

Proof of the students’ acquired tastes can be seen in their recent wedding menu (listed). Mr King said the experience had noticeable effects on students’ confidence and social skills and they genuinely enjoy the opportunity to practise their skills at that level.

“When they come up to you and say, ‘Did you see what Matt Moran was cooking on TV last night’, you know you’re getting through to them, and they’re enjoying what we’re doing.”

Greystanes High wedding menu

  • Stir-fried king prawns in a wonton basket with a sweet chilli sauce
  • Chicken breast stuffed with mozzarella, roast tomatoes, basil and wrapped in prosciutto, served on a cream pea puree with a chicken jus
  • Lemon lime tart with a lemon sorbet