School Cookery Lessons

[carolegif]

I wonder if they will be taught the same awful dishes that we were taught 40 years ago. Remember trying to get soused herrings home on the bus, at least they were in a jar which only leaked a bit. What about Junket? The one thing about junket it that it mustn't be moved or it will unset - Oh the mess in the bottom of the bag in my gondola basket (remember those?!).

Other delights to take home on the bus were fruit salad, custard and cottage pie. What about Christmas cake & pudding which cost an arm and a leg to make. Not mention doing things like washing a tea towel and making tea and toast!

One useful thing though - I know how to iron a shirt properly!

carolegif

[spudqueen]

Well I don't remember making junket, but we certainly made soused herrings, and my personal favourite - Liver a la Francaise. Somehow I can't see them cooking either of those nowadays! Lets hope they do do some decent cooking though, all my sons have done is baking and making a pizza using a packet mix!

[carolegif]

My granddaughter has made vegetable soup, which luckily she ate for lunch and didn't have to bring it home, and also she has made bread.

I agree the lessons are necessary, but let's teach them things they will like to eat!

I do remember watching while my Mum & Dad had to eat everything though!

carolegif

[LoftyLottie]

Oh how I hated school cookery and scrubbing down the wooden tables afterwards.

All I can remember producing is some burnt veggie soup and a steamed pudding in a pyrex casserole which I dropped on the way home creating a lovely mess of pudding and glass.

I too hope they learn basic cooking skills and don't use packet mixes or create designer sandwiches. Just the basic first steps of cooking and preparing a proper basic meal would be good (and much better than all this new fangled 'food technology'!)

I have to say though I learnt more about cooking being in the kitchen with my mother and watching. It seems so ridiculous now that cookery seems to dominate the television and yet so many people just can't cook basic things.

[123everton]

In a class full of boys we had to do sewing before we could do cookery, we were all so bad at it that the term ended by the time we finished. Only 1 boy in our class finished his assignment and had to sit out the back copying recipes, a lesson to us all not to try too hard.

[Gromit]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml;jse ssionid=LAMQ5FEF31KTLQFIQMGSFF4AVCBQWIV0?xml=/ news/2008/01/22/ncookery122.xml

It is a scandal that cookery lessons are not already compulsory, no wonder people eat unhealthy cr@p out of a packet, they cannot cook anything decent themselves. I went to an all boys school and we were not taught any cookery, which was a great hindrance when I left home.

[Goodsoulette]

MY mum and nan are excellent cooks, they had me slaving away in the kitchen from a young age and everything I know about cooking comes from them and my aunts.

I went to secondary school in the 90s. My HE lessons were atrocious, they revolved around covenience food. I remember our first lesson we spent making milk shake (with nesquick). Then about as complicated as it ever got was a tin of stewed apples with abag of crumble mix on top.

I agree with Gromit, cooking lessons should be compulsory. School should arm you with skills you need for life. Looking after your money and terrifying you with stories of debts and bankruptcy should also be at least of hour of maths a week too.

[rabbitygirl]

I had no idea that cooking lessons had gone by the wayside. Both my sons, now in their 20's cooked at school. The problem was that it either got eaten before it got home, or didn't survive the journey home.

I wonder who decided that cooking lessons for all kids were dispensible.

[LoftyLottie]

Just heard on the news that all that will be compulsory is 8 hours in total over a child's years in secondary school!!
I suppose it's better than nothing!

I should say that I too think it should be compulsory, now that children seems to be learning less and less from their mothers and grandmothers, etc. who are nowadays themselves pursuing other interests and have turned to fast food. Gosh, I do sound old and sexist (just like my mother), but why worry!!

[China Doll]

In my HE class all I recall making is coleslaw. That and someone attempting to teach me to use a sewing machine with disastrous results.

I didn't learn to cook til quite late in life but that's largely because I preferred rollerskating or playing on my bike than hanging out with mum in the kichen, my younger sister could cook before me. The option to learn was there but it always seemed boring. UNtil I left home the first time and realised just how nasty ready meals are.

Now I love cooking and I'm not too bad at it either but I always think that people are too lazy to learn rather than thre being no way they could learn.

[tiggerblue10]

It should definitely be compulsory. Like Rabbity I didn't realise that HE was not part of the curriculum these days.

When I was at secondary school in the early 80's we made, pineapple upside down cake, French onion soup and flakey pastry. We were also taught how to cramble an egg. My mum taught me how to cook as well.

Alongside cookery I also think kids should be taught about nutrition and the effects of a bad diet.

[LoftyLottie]

They should also be taught the very basics about food production and the basic cooking methods for meat, fish veg. etc. If you have the basics and can read then you are well away.

[baremission]

At last...i've been saying for the last 7 years that i would like to be taught how to cook..now i've just left school and thats exactly what they're going to start doing!
Schools at the moment don't teach basic cooking skills or meals, you get taught how food in industry works...for the majority what use is that?

Well done GB.

[wiggal]

Hiya,

I had a few cookery lessons, then dropped the subject to do IT & Woodwork!

I would love to learn to cook, I can do lasagne & spag bol and thats it, even then my fellahas to help me!
My excuse though, is I'm far too lazy, and he loves to cook and is happy doing it! But sometimes I wish I could cook him a nice dinner and would love to have learnt!

[shaneystar2]

.
We used to have DS every week for the whole of my secondary education not just an hour here and there.
I used to like it because we mucked about and threw wet discloths around when the teacher wasn't looking.
We did learn a lot though although they never actually taught us how to get a meal on the table from scratch .
.I learnt all that from my mum.
My soused herrings ended up being thrown over the nearest high wall on the way home .But I still have my old school cookery recipe book and the victoria sponge I learnt to make at school never fails .
They didn't just teach actual cooking either .We learnt about nutrition and all the other things mentioned like ironing and the washing of teatowels and the funniest of all (or so we thought at the time ) how to set a tea tray for an invalid ! With a lightly boiled egg and all that malarkey .I must have learnt something though as it was an O level subject and managed to pass!
Hopefully these children will be taught basic cookery with good ingredients and not just how to make a sandwich or open a tin .

[bananie]

I suppose they will want the parents to provide/pay for the ingredients. Wait till one of the little darlings burns themselves and the Education Dept gets sued - see how long it lasts after that.

I definitely agree with it though, all children should be eble to fend for themselves and be able to master the basics of cooking. And soup - you'll never starve if you can make a nice pot of homemade soup for about �2.50.

[carolegif]

The price of ingredients was always a problem. At first we could just take out own, but then it was decided that we had to pay for them instead and I think the teacher must have had a nice little sideline with a local grocer!
My husband came from a large family and his mother sent a letter to that teacher saying that she could get the ingredients for half the price and that she wasn't teaching her pupils good household management! The school relented and let her send the girls with their own ingredients. Mothers take note!

carolegif

PS: I have never ever made junket or soused herrings again in my life!

[saxy_jag]

I remember having to make 'Fisherman's Pie' - some awful cod concoction with tinned tomatoes. We had to use the tomato juice and mix cornflour into it and pour it back over the fish. It went all lumpy when it was baked, and it was vile.

I remember eggs au gratin and scones as well. Oh, and vegetable soup - jeez what a performance. Let the vegetables sweat? I did enough of that myself, never mind the bloomin' veg!

[tiggerblue10]

I didn't realise Fishermans Pie had tinned tomatoes in it. Lol

I make mine with white sauce.

[rabbitygirl]

That was the one problem with cooking lessons. You cooked to the teachers recipe. And it could sometimes be a long way from what mum made.

I remember making tomato soup. We all expected it to look like cream of tomato out of a tin. Instead it looked like - blood. I can remember we all took it home in our flasks and every one of us had it poured down the sink.

Still at least you knew what result you didn't want.

[shaneystar2]

Our teacher was Scottish ( she rolled her R's really well !)and oatmeal always came into the equation somewhere .Apart from the dreadful soused herrings I think we made them with oatmeal too.
We had to make gooseberry jam and we ladled small jars of it out and took it home when we were left to clear up then topped it up with water.
She did remark that the goosegog jam was rather thin that year.
She was always harping on about "Rich crumbly pastry" ..she was a lovely teacher though ...and my old schoolfriends and I still mimic her to this day and laugh about it .
She used to tell us off in that lovely accent "Girrrrrls ..behave or I'll make you scrrrrrrrrub the floooor "!
And we did have to get down and scrub it !
I can't imagine what the little dears would do today if they were made to do that !