SHE has cooked for guests at hotels and restaurants all over the country and been in charge of entire menus as a head chef.

But in her latest job, Justyna Rutkowska faces her toughest judges yet.

The head cook at Birchwood Primary has been creating healthy meals for the children for the past year and is representing Warrington in a national school chef competition at Cheshire Cookery School on Tuesday.

The smiley 34-year-old said: “I like challenges and I love working with the children.

“With the younger ones it’s actually much easier to get them to eat their greens than the older children. 

“They are also better at eating sugar-free desserts because they were brought up with it. The healthy school meals came into place while they were starting nursery.”

The mum-of-one is so enthusiastic about her job that she teaches the pupils how to make dishes with produce from the school’s vegetable patch, making mash potatoes with the reception children and baking with the older students.

Once a week the kitchen has a sugar-free menu, with a fruit dessert and homemade sauces to reduce the children’s taste for the sweet stuff.

But Justyna also believes it is important to have a little of what you like: “The children are still keen on eating fish fingers and chicken nuggets but we only have food like that once a week.

“Some children are keen to try everything but some are a bit more hesitant. My children know that if they try something for me and they don’t like it, I will find a solution, but they have to try it once.”

For the School Chef of the Year competition she will be cooking a menu that has been taste-tested by her pupils, fish croquettes with rosemary and garlic wedge potatoes, crisp salad, citrus dip and basil oil.

And the recipe is set to be served at schools across Warrington after it was added to the council’s summer menu.

Justyna said: “I’m so excited about the competition. The children keep asking me every day if I’ve been practising. They were taste testing all my dishes.

“I spent about nine years cooking in busy restaurants and as head chef in hotels. When I started having a family, I wanted a job that would fit around my six-year-old son Oliver but I was still very passionate about cooking.

“I’m really grateful that I had the opportunity to be part of the team here. I love working with the children.”

Justyna’s tips for cooking for children

Presentation is important

“It’s about the presentation as well. If it looks nice and colourful and fresh, they are more willing to try it. You can also change the shape to something more familiar – I changed the recipe from fish cakes to a croquette shape and the children liked them a lot more.

Try new things

“You can’t predict if children are going to like eating something and sometimes it’s easier to stick to the same food but try something new and they might really enjoy it.”

Involve children in the cooking

“We used potatoes grown at school to make chips and potato cakes and mash. The children were amazed to see how much you can make from one ingredient.”