There was a surprise for travellers at Newcastle Central station yesterday, Friday, 4th October, when British Bake Off favourite Dame Prue Leith helped London North Eastern Railway challenge the concept of uninspiring food served on trains.

Local suppliers had created an unusual ‘off-board’ menu to dispel the myth that train food is uninspiring.

Dame Prue hosted the LNER Taste Station with dishes that she had personally tried and tested.

Inventive creations such as a Popping Jack Roll or BaNacon Sponge were designed to leave taste buds tingling and wanting more.

Their creators hoped they had proved that there are endless possibilities for food on trains by using good quality ingredients.

Dame Prue is working with London North Eastern Railway to help change travellers’ perceptions of train food and encourage them to try new things.

This could be exploring the UK or setting taste buds tingling by choosing something from the latest onboard menu.

Prue has a long record of transforming train cuisine as she was recruited to the board of British Rail over forty years ago.

For a limited time, one of the creations from yesterday’s event will feature on selected London North Eastern Railway services so that travellers can have the chance to taste new flavours for themselves.

Menu items created specially for the yesterday’s event were:

• Popping Jack Roll, a vegetarian ‘pork’ roll with candy flavours and a hint of warming rum.
• BaNacon Sponge, a moist banana and bacon cake infused and topped with crispy bacon.
• Crisp-y Chocolate Truffle, a sweet and savoury combination with melt-in-your-mouth truffles injected with a tangy orange marmalade and encased with the crunch of a ready-salted crisp.
• Ale & Rarebit Shortbread, a rehash of the traditional Welsh Rarebit where crunchy toast is swapped with crumbly shortbread biscuit and a hearty ale.
• Katsu Chicken-and-Egg roll, a pastry encased in a mix of chicken and pork shoulder, Katsu flavouring, and a boiled egg.

Ingredients for London North Eastern Railway’s on-board menu combine exciting flavours with fresh produce from local suppliers. Those involved in the LNER Taste Station event were:

• Reids
• The Original Baker
• On a Roll
• The Fruity Kitchen
• Taste Tradition
• Beckleberry’s
• Libations
• Masons
• Rudgate
• Gudness

“Train food has come a long way since my campaigning days 25 years ago. It’s great to see train companies really pushing themselves to provide fresh, creative and local on-board menus… and it’s fantastic to taste these unexpected creations from LNER’s talented suppliers!”

Dame Prue Leith, campaigner, cookery writer and Bake-off judge

“At LNER, we’ve always believed that train food should be much more than just a sad sandwich. Our menu is a key part of the travel experience, and it was fantastic to be able to showcase our commitment to quality and innovation through these unexpected food combinations today. We were thrilled by the positive reactions from our customers who enjoyed the wide range of delicious dishes made from fresh, locally sourced produce, and we’re excited to continue redefining the perception of train food.”

Richard Judge, Head of Customer Experience at London North Eastern Railway