“It’s a bit like being back at school”

Those were the words of an ex-pupil when his mother showed him one of my videos. I’m hoping it was said with a wistful sigh rather than a grumpy frown, but I consider him to be one of the lucky ones. Many of the young people I meet have had little or no proper introduction to cooking and the value of food for which I blame the introduction of the National Curriculum. One of the first modules I taught under the then-new guidelines was called “Airline Catering”. Packaging materials were smuggled off planes by jet-setting husbands and menus were kindly sent to us by airlines. The pupils had to think about dietary requirements, but we weren’t supposed to actually teach them about it, the plan was that they’d find out for themselves- “research”. It was all a bit thin. So at the end of that term what had they cooked? Nothing. Not a single thing. They were expected to draw pictures of food or cut them out of magazines. What a waste of time. So you can understand my disappointment that we had lost control of our ability to teach what we thought was necessary and important. Many years later I was confronted by a Head who spoke about the “nominal GCSE in cake decorating”, considering food studies trivial and unimportant because “we all know how to eat”. But do we? So, for anyone who didn’t experience the delight of proudly taking home a magnificent bake – these videos are for you. For anyone who has become jaded and a bit fed up with the dishes you’ ve been making for many years- these videos are for you. For anyone who still wants to learn just a bit more- these videos are for you. Forgive me if it’s like being back at school, but I can’t do it any other way…once a teacher always a teacher! xx