cookery lessons anyone? (copy)

A few weeks back I saw a programme on the TV about how bad the British diet is and how much we rely on convenience, junk foods and take aways.  Did anyone else see it?  At the end there was a bit about a group that had been started to teach parents and children how to cook properly as this is apparently a lost art.

I was intrigued by this programme.  In particular the way they were denigrating the likes of McDonalds and the local take way.  According to this programme the fast food and convenience food industry is solely responsible, not just for all the fat people, but for a great many of the sick, unhealthy ones too.

Forgive me for not understanding, but how exactly does this work??  Do McDonalds kidnap people from their cars and force them into the restaurant and then force them to eat loads of big Macs?  I think not.  What about your local “Chinky” or “Indian”?  Do they round up passers by and drag them kicking and screaming inside, where they are force fed onion bahjis or prawn balls?  Again, I think not. What about your local supermarket?  Do they surreptitiously slip all those packets of convenience foods in to your trolley when you are not looking?  How then, exactly are these industries to blame for all us fat unhealthy people??

Instead of constantly critising these industries, shouldn’t we start encouraging people to take responsibility for themselves?  It is up to us what we choose to put into our mouths.  There is nothing much wrong with an occasional McDonalds or take away as far as I can see. Nor the occasional quick frozen dish. But, note the word occasional!  If you eat these foods 2, 3, 4, 5…..times a week then you will almost certainly be fat and unhealthy.  Your choice.

Now, something else in this programme was, that so many parents give their children these foods because they are quick and easy to cook and apparently cheap.  With the numbers of families today where both parents need to work, that in part may be true.  But it is only part of the equation. Many young people today simply don’t know how to cook.  They think it is difficult and expensive, because they have never been taught.

This brings me on to my second rant!  Young people are not taught to cook either by their parents or by their schools.  Many parents now are too busy with other things and may have lost the art themselves.  The days when Mum was at home all day and would patiently teach her children to “bake” as a fun activity are long gone.  This is another issue isn’t it?  Maybe a debate for another time?

What about schools?  When I was at school some 20 odd years back, there was a subject on the timetable called “Cookery” in which we were taught about nutrition and what was required for a balanced, healthy diet.  Then, beginning with the basics, we actually cooked.  We ended up with a proper cooked dish of some sort to take home, which the family would then eat for dinner that night.  Well sometimes, depending on how successful the dish turned out! There was the occasional disaster.  The point was though, that we did learn to cook and bake.

Cookery has had several reincarnations since my school days.  It has morphed through, domestic science and home economics to its present day food technology.  Now I have nothing against the change of name, although quite what domestic science is supposed to convey is beyond me.  But the whole subject has changed.  Food technology is no longer about nutrition and how to cook.  It is more about food manufacture and packaging and marketing techniques.  How often does the average student bring home from school an edible dish?

So instead of blaming the food industries for all that ails us, why don’t we begin in school and teach our young people the art of cooking for themselves.  At least then they can choose what to eat.  A proper cooked meal made with fresh ingredients and cooked from scratch or a quick packet from the cupboard because today they need something quick.  Maybe if we taught this in schools there would be no need to set up special cooking groups like the one in the programme.

When Verity first went to University she lived in halls and shared a kitchen with 5 others.  None of them could cook except Verity.  One of the boys on his first night actually put a frozen dish in a plastic tray in its cardboard box in the oven!  He didn’t realise you had to remove the packaging first.

A recent magazine poll asked 5 year olds where milk came from.  Without exception they said from a bottle.  Ok, that’s quite funny, but what about the year 7’s (age 11-12) who were asked how do you make gravy?  What about custard?  Well, you make them the same way don’t you?  A few spoons of powder from a packet pour on boiling water and stir.  None of them had any idea about the making of proper gravy or custard.

Now, I do recognise that not many of us have time to make proper custard; I even use the Bird’s powder stuff myself.  BUT….I do know how to make the real stuff if the occasion requires it.

I wonder what other people think about this.  Do you think we have lost the art of cooking?  Do you think we should go back to basics and teach this in schools?  Do you think I am just ranting on and talking a whole lot of rubbish?  I have had my rant now, but if anyone wants to tell me their view then please do.

Now I am going to be very smug and pay tribute to all 5 of my children who are all very competent cooks.  They are competent because they were taught at a very early age by their parents! (That’s the smug bit).  Just a week ago when Verity was home from University for the weekend she cooked a delicious, American themed, 3 course meal for 10 people.  Everything was cooked from scratch using fresh ingredients.  It wasn’t expensive and she had a wonderful time cooking and serving.  How many other young people can do that?