Freshers at the University of Hull are being taught how to stave off starvation today by Nora Sands, the straight-talking dinner lady from Jamie's School Dinners.
Freshers' week is a time for making new friends and partying, but for most new students it also means moving away and learning to live without home cooking.
Sands, who is originally from County Kilkenny in Ireland, shot to fame as Jamie Oliver's right-hand woman on the TV series, which focused on her school in London.
Oliver and Sands bonded over a mutual hatred of Turkey Twizzlers and since the series she has never served a single chip.
But she will be teaching students how to cook burgers in today's demonstration.
She said: "I want to show them how simple it is to make their own. In the time it takes them to walk up the street away from campus and back they could have cooked it and they can add their own toppings and salads and make a meal of it.
"When I was trying to figure out what to do today I knew it had to be about quickness. They haven't got time to be cooking. It's a chore to be cooking until you want to do it.
"I've spoken to lots of mothers who've sent their children off to university and have helped them prepare but have forgotten to tell them how to boil an egg."
Her top tips? Buy sensible, by which Sands means look out for supermarket special offers and food nearing its sell by date and in season vegetables that can be turned into wholesome soups.
"I wouldn't say go cheap but they can be clever at making a pound of mince last several meals. You can get good bargains in markets rather than always going to the supermarket," she said. "Build up a relationship with your green grocer, that's always good."
Make your own sandwiches for journeys so you don't have to touch the food on trains and planes. "It's the biggest disgrace I've every seen in my life, paying £4 for a roll," Sands said.
And pass on your cookery skills to others – that way you won't be the student left cooking for everyone else. And when you go home help others cook so you learn how to do it yourself.
Although Nora left her job last year, she still pioneers healthy food by demonstrating her skills around the country.
She said: "Many school leavers come to university without knowing how to cook but my demonstrations will teach even the most inexperienced cooks how to make simple, healthy food on a budget.
"Who knows, my recipes might even help the students to impress their housemates and even mums and dads when they come to visit."
She hopes the demonstration will stand students in good stead for their second year, when they are "starving" and can no longer rely on hall food.
Prof Derek Colquhoun at Hull is a strong advocate of healthy food and gave expert advice to Oliver's team before the school dinners programme was launched.
He said: "Nora has a vibrant personality and a real passion for food. I hope that her enthusiasm for home cooking will rub off on our students and convince them to cook fresh food rather than living off takeaways."
"So much effort has gone into raising awareness of healthy food amongst school children, but many of our students missed out on cookery lessons at school. I am delighted that the university is able to host such a useful and positive event for the new intake of students."
What are some of your favourite student recipes? Share them below.
