Sparking food memories
MAKING A DIFFERENCE
We talk to a chef who develops nostalgic recipes to comfort people with dementia
Matthew Dodge is an acclaimed chef with 15 years’ experience, including at the Savoy and various care facilities. Growing up with close relatives diagnosed with dementia and later dysphagia, as well as a keen interest in food, pushed him ‘to strive for better knowledge of the syndrome and to incorporate it into my recipe development’. So, when the opportunity arose to work at care facility Loveday & Co, chef Matthew could not turn it down.‘High-quality, appetising, tasty food is one of the cornerstones at Loveday,’ he explains. ‘We extensively researched the healthiest diet for ageing people – which is along similar lines to a classic Mediterranean diet.’