School serves up frogs' legs, crocodile and zebra to pupils

A school chef has gone the extra food mile to serve pupils plates of crocodile steaks, frogs’ legs and zebra stew. Thierry Leroy insists students are snapping up the curious new dishes and are game for more.

In the coming weeks, wildebeest and springbok will also be chomped up by a horde of hungry secondary school pupils rather than lions. The weekly ‘exotic lunch’ project was launched by Mr Leroy at the New Line Learning Academy in Maidstone, Kent, in an attempt to expand pupils’ knowledge of food from far flung places.



‘Very often you find that the kids don’t want to try something new but as soon as it’s exotic they love it,’ said the Frenchman. ‘When they try it, they come back to us and ask what is on the menu next week. I love the idea that they are going home and saying, “I tried crocodile today.” I think that is wonderful.’

Headteacher Guy Hewett said trying different foods can help to ‘raise aspirat­ions in the same way as learning about different countries and getting qualif­ications’. However, some parents worried about food miles. ‘This is hardly local food is it?’ said one. Another said her son had tried croc­odile and said it was delicious. ‘Next thing you know, he’ll be wanting this kind of food at home and, to be honest, I have enough trouble roasting a chicken,’ she added.

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