Bentley Wood — A 68-page Food & Nutrition book built around a repeating dish-review spread

The brief

Bentley Wood came to us for a Food & Nutrition book for a small select class — 100 copies, no waste — that would carry students through every practical of the year in one place. The department wanted students writing up dishes consistently, not on loose sheets that go missing on the bus home.
The team was clear about what each write-up needed to contain: the dish and date, the equipment used, the ingredients, the skills shown, a photo of the finished plate, an assessment (WWW / EBI), and notes on what to develop next time. They wanted that template repeated through the book so students aren't redesigning their layout every lesson — and so a teacher flicking through a book at the end of term can see the arc of a student's practical work at a glance.

Alongside the dish reviews, the team wanted the reference material students keep needing to reach for: the Eatwell plate, the full vocabulary of skills and techniques students are working through, and the sensory evaluation language they need when describing their own and each other's dishes.

What we designed

Working with the Bentley Wood Food team, we built a 68-page Food & Nutrition book printed in a short run of 100 copies for the select class.

A school-branded cover with ruled lines for name, class, teacher and subject, and the Bentley Wood logo top-left.
An Eatwell plate spread setting out what a balanced diet looks like on the plate — including the 6–8 glasses of water a day guideline and the 150ml daily cap on fruit juice and smoothies.
A skills and techniques reference covering everything students will be assessed on across the year — knife skills (bridge hold, claw grip), portioning a whole chicken, filleting a fish, de-boning meat, sauce-making (reduction, roux, emulsion), pastry (shortcrust, choux), bread, pasta, and finishing techniques (garnishing, piping, glazing, icing) — alongside the full list of cooking methods from steaming and poaching through to braising and casseroles.
A sensory evaluation spread giving students the language to describe appearance, odour, taste and texture — from aromatic, pungent and scented for odour through to brittle, crumbly, stodgy and waxy for texture — so write-ups don't default to "nice" and "tasty".
A repeating dish-review spread used for every practical: dish and date at the top, equipment used, ingredients used, skills used/shown, a panel to insert a photo of the finished dish, a star profile for sensory assessment, WWW and EBI feedback (completed in green pen), and a notes section for skills, techniques and future developments.
A dotted "My Notes" page for working out ideas, planning practicals or sketching plating before the write-up.

The finished book

100 copies landed at Bentley Wood for the select Food & Nutrition class — enough for every student in the cohort, none left over. Every practical now goes into the same structured spread, photo included, with the Eatwell plate and the sensory vocabulary already to hand in the same book.