DS is 'cooking' lasagne in food tech tomorrow

[Salmonellie]

So, DS is cooking lasagne tomorrow.

Of course he only gave me the ingredients list yesterday, so off I scuttled to the supermarket after work to buy the missing ingredients this evening.

Now he has told me the exact details I am beginning to wish I hadn't bothered. Apparently he has to prepare the meat sauce this evening. This will be taken (chilled) to school, where they have to make the white sauce and will layer it with the meat sauce. However, because the lesson is only an hour long, the lasagne will not be baked at school. I can only assume that this will also mean the white sauce will not have long to cool down and will still be warm when it is added to the chilled meat base - which will then sit at school all day festering...

AIBU to think this is not good food hygiene and I should plan an alternative menu for tomorrow?

This is why I teach my DC to cook at home and do not rely on school to do it!

I'm an experienced cook and I couldn't make a lasagne in less than 1 and 1/2 hours and would probably take 2 hours. The meat sauce needs to be prepared and cooked first and that would take at least 45 minutes. I assume that they are cooking from scratch and not using shop bought sauces.

OP, I probably would eat the lasagne, but I would have to cook it very, very well first.

At least they are cooking proper food. My daughter did food tech and cooked variations on muffins for a whole term. Making packaging seemed to figure quite highly too. Very frustrating for a girl who loved her food.

When we were at school we learnt all the basics ie sponge, pastry, bread, roux sauce, filleting fish. I even made mayonnaise from eggs and oil. I did most of the cooking at home throughout my teens because schools really knew how important cooking skills were and taught them properly.

Ok, will hop off my soap box now.

My home made lasagne takes longer than that. A decent ragu needs a couple of hours in a slow oven. Even the cooking time of the lasagne once assembled would take up most of that time.

Yes your one does.

But for a basic "This is how you make a lasagne HE class" the chopping veg, meat sauce and white sauce can all be made in 30 minutes easily. Layering 5 minutes. Then 10 minutes to wash/dry up. I did this at school, my whole class did. They chose the class before lunch break to do it and the dish was in the oven over lunch. I think some classes chose the last class of the day to do it and were instructed to put it in the oven at home.

The amount of times I've seen my nephews take fruit in to be taught how to make fruit salad is a fucking joke.

What happens if the people at home don't know how to make the meat sauce?

"But for a basic "This is how you make a lasagne HE class" the chopping veg, meat sauce and white sauce can all be made in 30 minutes easily."

I could do that and so could you, but could a 13 year old who never cooks at home?

Oh is it a regular thing Ginger? I have never seen anything that looked less like a Fruit Salad in my life. They added a load of sugary water to it, it was swimming. Just vile.

Year 10 now, and Cookery Food Tech has been well and truly dropped. He can faff about in our kitchen and experiment.

There is no point whatsoever in "knocking together" a lasagne in an hour. What a waste of food and money. If you are going to teach children how to cook, at least get them to do it properly.

It would take me at least 3 hours to cook a proper lasagne. The ragu needs a long simmer.

Mintyy why is there no point in "knocking together" a lasagne? At this stage the children are not training to work in restaurants, and if they are learning life skills then "knocking together a lasagne" in an hour is a very valuable thing to learn to do IMO - more useful to learn to do something you are then likely to do again at home on a regular basis, than be utterly put off bothering because it takes 3 hours...

Most people who cook simply for their own family do not spend 3 hours on a lasagne for an ordinary family meal - some might, most won't - and the knocked together one can still be a nutritionally valuable meal that tastes good, rather than sticking a frozen pizza/ ready meal lasagne in as it takes far too long to cook the gourmet 3 hour version...

There are other ways of making a tasty lasagne that don't involve slow cooking ragus.

My mum "knocks together" spaghetti bolognaise in 30 minutes, it's fucking rank. What's the point in showing kids how to take expensive ingredients and throw together a mediocre at best meal that will probably put them off cooking it ever again.

There are plenty of delicious meals you can make in a very short space of time so why schools are obsessed with making lasagne I have no idea.

Lasagne is pretty simple.

But it isn't actually cooking if your mum is doing most of the work the night before.

As I said upthread it would have made more sense to split it over a multi lesson plan.

You could probably even make the pasta ifthey did that, would require freezes though.

Slow cooking is nice but not necessary for a beginners lasagne.

Mr Tumble
As I said, because its a waste of good food and money to "knock together" a meal that should be cooked slowly.

I cook way more quick meals than 3 hour jobs. I save making lasagne for when I have the time to do it justice.

The purpose of the lesson will be to show how to make a white sauce. Why not do it with meals that can be started and finished in one hour?

I always make lasagne in less than an hour, and it's very nice.

They all eat it and are pleased when I make it, no jars involved either.

DD's ( and my) favourite after fish pie which I can also do in under an hour.

It does beg the question, especially if it's the first time they are making a White sauce, why didn't the teachers get the kids to make a macaroni cheese or cauliflower/broccoli cheese which could be achieved all in class, have cheaper ingredients and not harbour as many germs if they couldn't chill it properly during the school day!

bunbaker

"But for a basic "This is how you make a lasagne HE class" the chopping veg, meat sauce and white sauce can all be made in 30 minutes easily."

I could do that and so could you, but could a 13 year old who never cooks at home?

Yes a 13 year old who never cooks at home could with a good home economics teacher. I know this because we did. A whole class of at least 15 kids with different cooking experience. I think we were 12 years old.

I challenge anyone to make a decent lasagne in an hour and I am cordon bleu trained. Yep schrager and that sort of jazz.

Tonight I have made a bolognaise sauce - simmered for one hour and we have had spag bol. I made it with 4lb of mince and tomorrow night I will prepare stuffed peppers for four and will make a bechamel sauce for the rest of the ragu and will bung it in the freezer for next week. My bech involves boiling bay leaves and peppercorns and an onion in milk, letting it steep and then straining.

I am a good family cook. Lasagne can't be hurried and if food tech teacher's say it can they shouldn't be teaching. It isn't difficult and can be done in stages bit whjat's been suggested is food prep NOT cooking.

Lasagne doesn't have to have meat which is what requires the slow cooking.

Onion, garlic, carrots, celery, grated zucchini, eggplant chopped small - sweated off together chuck in a stock cube and a tin of tomatoes, shake of herbs put on back burner on low while you are making the white sauce. Easy done.

White sauce can be made easily and yummy with cream cheese a bit of milk and some nutmeg.

If this is a gourmet cooking class then sure there isnt enough time. If the idea is to end up with a nice lasagne in under an hour then there is plenty.

As I have already said (and ginger too) 20 pupils can and do make lasagne in 50 minutes. I've done it many times. Proper planned teaching is all that's needed. Still laughing at the person who thinks we should only cook before lunch-what should I do the other 5 lessons in the day then? Also good food can and should be made. Learning how to make a mince sauce and cheese sauce is a valuable skill.

Married 12 year olds are never going to be making 5 star dishes. We're teaching them basic skills. Obviously it's not going to be as nice as a proper one made at home but it's still edible and the kids love it. Also I don't teach food tech I teach home economics. Food tech is less practical more theory.

Then practical skills should start with short crust, perfect rice, baked apple and a victoria sponge. Otherwise called learning proper basic techniques. I was 12 once and that's what we were taught. Building foundations; a boit like you need to learn your tables before moving on to algebra and trig. You have just illustrated exactly what is wrong with education in this country.

After reading this thread I wouldn't be a food tech teacher for all the money in the world

If they've only got an hour, I agree with others who say they should be given recipes that can be made and cooked in an hour. Lasagne is a ridiculous idea.

agree with marriedinwhite - focus should be on basic skills that are used in lots of different dishes.

Do foodtech teachers only do foodtech now?

Our Home Ec teacher used to do multiple subjects.

Obviously there is something going wrong somewhere if kids are not learning the basics either at home or at school.

We did the really boring stuff way back in primary.

Why is it called 'food tech' anyway? Wouldn't 'cooking' be more appropriate?