Norwich City Football Club now has its own dedicated pastry kitchen.

As cooks across the county start their final plans for their own Christmas meal spare a thought for Delia's Canary Catering team at Carrow Road who will be preparing some 9,000 festive feasts for their guests.

The eye-watering figures involved in such a large catering operation include 362kg of turkey, 1,600kg of roast potatoes and some 455lt of gravy.

Of course, no festive meal would be complete without a mince pie and this year for the first time ever head pastry chef Nourddine Ameziane will have a dedicated pastry kitchen where he will oversee production of 5,500 mince pies.

Nourddine joined the football club after finishing a degree in hospitality, tourism and leisure management at UEA. Before doing his degree, he worked as a head pastry chef at OCCO Mediterranean restaurant in London having started his catering career as head pastry chef and chocolatier in some of the best French patisseries in Morocco. His initial move to England was to manage the first French patisserie coffee shop in Norwich.

Delia Smith said: 'The Canary Catering team pulls out all the stops every match day, at every event and for Christmas events they will be working hard to deliver the high standards we are known for at Carrow Road. Thanks to the Arcadia Home Interiors and their support for the catering department we have been able to invest in this wonderful new dedicated pastry kitchen, which will produce all those mince pies along with pastries and desserts used in every part of the catering operation. We cook every element of a meal from fresh, having brought in the very best local ingredients we can use to ensure we maintain a very high quality.'

Previously, the pastry team was working in small and cramped area but now with a dedicated space and ovens it makes this year's Christmas catering a little easier and opens up new possibilities for the future. Norwich-based Bartech Services, one of the leading commercial installation companies, installed the new kitchen.

Visitors can gain their own glimpse of the new kitchen as it is based on the ground floor of the Barclay Stand with a window to the path outside.