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Original poster

I'm a bit miffed about this Food Tech ingredients list

383 replies

IbizaToTheNorfolkBroads · 15/04/2023 11:09

Not feeling brave enough for AIBU, and I'm sure the teacher has her reasons, but this is what DS needs to take to school next week. He's 14/Y9, do not into GCSE course yet, and food tech isn't one on his options. Also, he has food tech after lunch, and has to carry his cooking around for the rest of the day, as the fridges are full of heat the morning lessons have made. OK for scones, but for chicken?

Here is the offending ingredients list:

Thai Green Curry - 1 onion, 1 clove of garlic, 80g sugar snap peas, 2 small chicken breasts, 30ml Thai green curry paste. 200ml coconut milk, ½ lime, small bunch coriander.

My concerns - there's about £8 worth of stuff there, many of which (curry paste, coconut milk, coriander) come in bigger packs than required. That doesn't seem to be considerate of the CoL crisis - it's a big standard academy comp in a not-particularly affluent area.

Also - no veggie alternative ingredients offered - so half our household wouldn't eat the results anyway.

DS is not matey enough with anyone in his FFT class to suggest sharing ingredients. Expensive ingredients!

I'm delighted that the school is teaching the kids to make something other than scones and pizza, but there are so many cheaper curries to mark in an hour! They could start by making the curry paste! Or school providing (and charging for) the ingredients the kids won't need need "all" of.

(DS's previous school/DD's school charge for all FFT and RMT ingredients and materials at the start of the year, abs supply everything. I appreciate limited kitchen space doesn't always make this possible).

OP posts:
RampantIvy · 15/04/2023 14:39

I've been suggesting that the school provide a list for "veggie alternative" for
months!

That suggests to me that the food tech teacher is not very good at his/her job.

You also need to check that the curry paste doesn't contain fish sauce as most Thai curry pastes do.

JulieHoney · 15/04/2023 14:39

@IbizaToTheNorfolkBroads , your son should know to take his ingredients to Food Tech first thing to store them in the fridge. That’s what is standard practice, they don’t have the pupils schlepping raw meat around all day.

Miscellaneousme · 15/04/2023 14:41

My DC school charge a small fee for the term, for all the ingredients to be provided. They will also refrigerate the food until the end of the day as well and provide foil trays. Standard state comp.

Interested in this thread?

Then you might like threads about these subjects:

General education General food Secondary education
Rummikub · 15/04/2023 14:41

Needmorelego · 15/04/2023 14:29

@ginlovingqueen I don't eat much meat but used to make a lasagna using Quorn or soya mince. Unfortunately both seem to disagree with me now. I don't really know what to use as an alternative so not "all vegetarians know how to adapt a recipe".

Try tinned green lentils in place of mince. Works a treat.

Angebot · 15/04/2023 14:42

Crikey! My daughter whose in yr7 has to pay £1 every time she does food tech , which is once a fortnight and tbh we often forget.
I wouldn't be happy with that cost and wouldn't so e of the ingredients be going off or to mulch by the time he cooked them?

ZeroFuchsGiven · 15/04/2023 14:45

The best day of my life was literally when my youngest child took his GCSE options and no longer needed to do food tech!

Ramonaflowerz · 15/04/2023 14:46

My mum would really struggle with this when I was in school. Some days I would have to stay off school on the days of food tech because we didn’t have enough money to pay for the ingredients.

WeeWillyWinkie9 · 15/04/2023 14:48

jellybe · 15/04/2023 11:52

The school I used to work at the tech department would do the shopping and the kids would pay towards it, it would work out a lot cheaper for the kids and there wouldn't be any waste. Why more schools don't do this I do not understand.

Many schools do not get any money towards food tech and so the teacher buys it all. I know as this half term I will be funding food for 30 children to make their creations. I can't afford to fund it but there is no money in the budget right now.

ZeroFuchsGiven · 15/04/2023 14:49

RosesAndHellebores · 15/04/2023 13:53

Surely every child should leave school able to:

Make an omelette
Cook rice
Make a white sauce and a brown sauce
Make simple shortcrust
Bake an apple and/or stew fruit
Make a victoria sponge
Make a tray of biscuits
Learn about storage and re-heating
Learn to follow a recipe

Sadly, many are not learning basic skills at home.

Similarly how to run a bank account, compound interest, the cost of credit, knowledge of mortgages and insurance, basic budgeting along Micawber principles. Probably of more help to the majority of children than quadratic equations and calculating the circumference of a circle.

9GCEs are all very well but DC also need to master basic life skills when they are no longer taught at home.

I am 42 and have no idea what a brown sauce is other than the one in a bottle.

RampantIvy · 15/04/2023 14:49

Rummikub · 15/04/2023 14:41

Try tinned green lentils in place of mince. Works a treat.

Show quote history

Or the Merchant Gourmet packs of Puy lentils

Rummikub · 15/04/2023 14:51

ZeroFuchsGiven · 15/04/2023 14:45

The best day of my life was literally when my youngest child took his GCSE options and no longer needed to do food tech!

😂😂this was me too. Though my dc would pretend it was something they were thinking of taking!

ZeroFuchsGiven · 15/04/2023 14:52

NomNomNominativeDeterminism · 15/04/2023 14:12

Phew. Gravy. Brown sauce is what’s in an HP Sauce bottle, and I would rather maintain its mystique.

I actually googled brown sauce as had no idea what she was talking about who the fuch calls gravy brown sauce? Anyway there IS actual recipes for brown sauce online, not something I ever thought to look up before 😂

Needmorelego · 15/04/2023 14:52

@RampantIvy @Rummikub thanks for the ideas.
I don't know what it is about Quorn mince or soya mince that doesn't agree with me anymore. I buy the Linda McCartney burgers and they are ok and I use the Quorn pieces to do a sweet and sour but the mince - my tummy just says "NO" 🤣

bellylaughter · 15/04/2023 14:53

Gosh that is expensive. Could you maybe use one of the thai green curry packs. They contain a sachet of coconut milk and thai curry paste. Cost less than £2 in Aldi. The chicken etc is going to bump the price up though. Maybe as others suggested use a vegetarian alternative.

Rummikub · 15/04/2023 14:53

Ramonaflowerz · 15/04/2023 14:46

My mum would really struggle with this when I was in school. Some days I would have to stay off school on the days of food tech because we didn’t have enough money to pay for the ingredients.

:(

I really think schools curriculum
should consider the budget or make workarounds permissible.

Rummikub · 15/04/2023 14:56

Needmorelego · 15/04/2023 14:52

@RampantIvy @Rummikub thanks for the ideas.
I don't know what it is about Quorn mince or soya mince that doesn't agree with me anymore. I buy the Linda McCartney burgers and they are ok and I use the Quorn pieces to do a sweet and sour but the mince - my tummy just says "NO" 🤣

Same with me too. I had a mcplant yesterday and im
regretting it!

Im going to try to avoid Frankenstein food from now on.

ive used the green lentils in place of mince for awhile now and it’s so simple. And cheap.

Bluebells1970 · 15/04/2023 14:56

I refused to send meat in with mine purely because of the waste - as a vegetarian I found it really offensive to know an animal had been killed to make a meal that then went straight into the bin because it was not safe to eat due to not being refrigerated all day and rarely cooked properly due to time constraints.

And the kids NEVER ate what they'd made as they said the kitchen areas were so gross...

hartof · 15/04/2023 14:57

I'm always thankful DDs school charged £15 a term for ingredients, because she is definitely the child who would come to me at 10pm the night before the lesson. But also because it helps keep costs down if they are bill buying for all pupils.

ginlovingqueen · 15/04/2023 14:59

Sounds like you need to do year 9 food class too

viques · 15/04/2023 15:01

And why chicken breasts? Surely Chicken thighs would be a cheaper option and fine for a curry?

one of the things they should be teaching is using cheaper alternatives to recipe ingredients where possible.

Twiglets1 · 15/04/2023 15:01

I'm a TA that works in a large secondary school. Your son absolutely will be able to substitute the chicken for a vegetarian option if he wants to. If he hasn't told you that it's because he has chosen not to, the school will have made it clear.
Also, food tech classes have fridges in them for pupils to store food if they have lessons in the afternoon.

JackSheepskin · 15/04/2023 15:01

Our school doesn’t teach any form of technology so I’d actually be thrilled if they were teaching them how to make a curry. Ingredients are expensive, yes, but I bet they don’t make meal this expensive every week.

PriamFarrl · 15/04/2023 15:02

Twiglets1 · 15/04/2023 15:01

I'm a TA that works in a large secondary school. Your son absolutely will be able to substitute the chicken for a vegetarian option if he wants to. If he hasn't told you that it's because he has chosen not to, the school will have made it clear.
Also, food tech classes have fridges in them for pupils to store food if they have lessons in the afternoon.

The op says that they can’t. It could well be different in her son’s school.

Therealjudgejudy · 15/04/2023 15:02

OP, I feel your pain.

I'm actually cooking a Thai green chicken curry today for my partner and i and can tell you the ingredients just for us two cost me €15...

Twiglets1 · 15/04/2023 15:04

PriamFarrl · 15/04/2023 15:02

The op says that they can’t. It could well be different in her son’s school.

Show quote history

It won't be, schools have to be sensitive these days to the fact that lots of pupils in the class will be vegetarian or vegan. They would not force a vegetarian to cook chicken, there would be lots of complaints.