IF, Peter Kay-style, you are still struggling to come to terms with 'exotic' foods like garlic bread, here's a new one to blow your taste buds -- chocolate curry!

Royal Marine chef, Sgt Mike Beaton, is visiting schools in Burnley, Blackburn and Accrington to whip up his signature dish Malaysian chicken curry, which has a Bounty bar in its list of ingredients.

Sgt Beaton, renowned for his unusual twist on haute cuisine, was taking a break from his Navy kitchen job to do the demonstrations with a double mission,promoting both cooking and a career in the armed forces.

He said: "I used to make it with fresh coconut but I couldn't find it one day in Tesco's so I thought I'd get a Bounty bar instead. And it worked. It adds a real sweetness to it.

"The dish is more like Mutiny on the Bounty. It's caused quite a stir on my travelling road show and people can't believe that you can add chocolate to a curry, but as they say, the proof's in the tasting.

Once you've got all your cooking exams it's about experimenting and putting your own mark on a dish.

"If one person joins the Royal Navy or Marines as the result of a Bounty bar, that can only be a bonus."

Sgt Beaton, who has worked alongside celebrity chef Brian Turner and appears regularly at the NEC's Good Food Show, visited Hollins Technology College in Accrington today and tomorrow is at Ivy Bank Business and Enterprise College in Burnley.

On Monday he entertained pupils at Crosshills in Blackburn, a demonstration also attended by students from Our Lady and St John Catholic Arts College and watched by pupils from St Wilfrid's and Intack Primary School via video conferencing.

Crosshills headteacher Mike Hatch said: "The catering demonstration was the real highlight for the children."

Sgt Beaton said: "My unusual style of cookery is a good example of how life in the Royal Navy and Marines can exceed your expectations.

"After all, many people cook for a living but creating meals for hundreds of people, in the middle of the ocean, travelling all around the world, that can be a real

challenge and very exciting and I get to combine my culinary skills with so many other opportunities thanks to the Royal Marines."

Sgt Beaton underwent the most intensive of military training to become a Marine Commando, before joining the Royal Marine Chef Display Team.

How to make Malaysian Chicken Curry

Ingredients

Garlic olive oil, 450g diced chicken breast diced, 50ml brandy, mushrooms, onions and peppers (as much as you like), 300ml ckicken stock, three tabspns Balti curry paste, one tspn garlic puree,

150ml UHT double cream and a Bounty bar

Brown the chicken breast for around five minutes in the garlic olive oil. Add the brandy and burn off excess alcohol taking care with the flames!

Add the onions, mushrooms and peppers and fry for around a minute. Add curry paste and garlic puree and fry for another couple of minutes until the mixture is well-coated.

Add tchicken stock and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes. Add the Bounty a few minutes before the end. Add the double cream.