I read with mixed emotions the announcement of Ed Balls (schools secretary) today that cookery classes will be made compulsory in secondary schools.
I hope this will encourage people to take more interest in the food they eat. However I don't think we should wait until our children are 11, and then devolve the responsibility to some poor teacher.
The leader of the Shropshire Star tonight suggests that the government should get Gordon Ramsay to help teenagers with their cooking, and get the teenagers help Gordon with his language!
When, a few years ago, one of my sons had a lesson on how to make an apple crumble he was instructed to bring in a packet of crumble mix and a tin of apples!!!! I think there were more lessons about the labels and doing maths with the fat and carbohydrate contents than any actual cooking. I pity the teachers who will have to teach cookery in future. I hope they will emphasise sourcing good, local, and fresh ingredients. In an ideal world they would go to markets etc. but I realise that timetables and budgets will make this hard. Hopefully local food producers will talk to teachers and consider going into their local schools (with free samples and ideas on how to link in with the curriculum the teachers have to teach).
I got my love of food from my mother, who was a domestic science teacher. My mother made cooking fun and interesting for a small child. We made home made biscuits and sugar mice, with liquorice tails. She introduced me to chemistry by showing me what happened when you add a bit of baking powder to some vinegar. She taught me biology with chicken giblets and even claimed I could be a surgeon after getting me to sew up a stuffed turkey before cooking it!
She also emphasised the need for good, fresh ingredients. In those days greengrocers would often give you a piece of fruit to try.
However I do remember, when I was 5 or 6, once coming home from a greengrocers and my mum (having found some over ripe tomatoes in her bag) angrily saying that she would never go in that shop again. A few weeks later I found we were in the same shop again (it was conveniently situated between my school and home). I asked my mum (in a loud voice) "why were we in this shop again as you said we would never go here any more?".
I learnt a bit about telling the truth on that day as well....
I hope this will encourage people to take more interest in the food they eat. However I don't think we should wait until our children are 11, and then devolve the responsibility to some poor teacher.
The leader of the Shropshire Star tonight suggests that the government should get Gordon Ramsay to help teenagers with their cooking, and get the teenagers help Gordon with his language!
When, a few years ago, one of my sons had a lesson on how to make an apple crumble he was instructed to bring in a packet of crumble mix and a tin of apples!!!! I think there were more lessons about the labels and doing maths with the fat and carbohydrate contents than any actual cooking. I pity the teachers who will have to teach cookery in future. I hope they will emphasise sourcing good, local, and fresh ingredients. In an ideal world they would go to markets etc. but I realise that timetables and budgets will make this hard. Hopefully local food producers will talk to teachers and consider going into their local schools (with free samples and ideas on how to link in with the curriculum the teachers have to teach).
I got my love of food from my mother, who was a domestic science teacher. My mother made cooking fun and interesting for a small child. We made home made biscuits and sugar mice, with liquorice tails. She introduced me to chemistry by showing me what happened when you add a bit of baking powder to some vinegar. She taught me biology with chicken giblets and even claimed I could be a surgeon after getting me to sew up a stuffed turkey before cooking it!
She also emphasised the need for good, fresh ingredients. In those days greengrocers would often give you a piece of fruit to try.
However I do remember, when I was 5 or 6, once coming home from a greengrocers and my mum (having found some over ripe tomatoes in her bag) angrily saying that she would never go in that shop again. A few weeks later I found we were in the same shop again (it was conveniently situated between my school and home). I asked my mum (in a loud voice) "why were we in this shop again as you said we would never go here any more?".
I learnt a bit about telling the truth on that day as well....
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