DS has applied to a "no cooking" university. He loves cooking. This is madness, isn't it?

[Thesearepearls]

Just that really. DS's first choice university (we've just done the application for halls) is a no-cooking university. The cooking facilities comprise a toaster, kettle and microwave. There is no cooking allowed for the entirety of his university course.

If you'd asked me what DS would do in a future life I would have given you two choices. The first is singing (he was a cathedral chorister and loves classical music). The second is that he would be a chef. He is absolutely gutted that he won't be able to cook. He cooks for us all the time. He's really keen on it and he is beyond disappointed that the next three years of his academic career will involve zero cooking.

It's total madness isn't it?

What's he going to eat though! Toast? Or do they feed him?

I was at St Andrews (someone mentioned it) and we definitely had a kitchen. But might be different depending on what halls you're in.

I don't think I went to any evening meals for a year 😬 I was mostly at the then boyfriend's house.

Urgh

Cambridge terms are short and intense so he won't have much time for cooking anyway. He can come back home and cook for you all during the vac!

frogsoup yes quite DS2 and his friends had an oven which was regularly confiscated by the bursar and regularly given back on condition it wouldn't be used but then was and then confiscated then given back on condition etc etc etc etc.

Also it's not compulsory to live in halls in three/four years although most do there will always be a group that decide to rent a house.

") No he wasnt suggesting cinnamon in spag bol - just exploring the difference between tomato-based dishes and why moussaka (which needs cinnamon) tastes so different from spag bol.

With two hob rings there is a huge amount of stuff you can cook. Microwaves can feel much more constricting if you aren't used to them, and it can take a few goes to learn how a specific microwave behaves with a dish. He really needs to start seeing it as a challenge and working out just how much he can cook with just a microwave and a kettle. And as he's really into cooking I daresay he'll get into it after the initial disappointment has worn off.

I hated microwave-only halls. It's surprising such prestigious universities still have them - but of course most Oxbridge colleges are using older buildings for accommodation than other universities so it's more difficult for them to build full kitchens with extractors.

It sounds like other people had more successful experiences of sneaking forbidden appliances into halls. IME people usually got caught after a while.

It explains why a large percentage of well educated young men who have been through a prestigious University seem unable to grasp basic life skills

Why only the men? Do you think the female students get given kitchens and they don't?

My Cambridge college had no cooking facilities except two rings and a below-the-counter fridge, shared between eight. I have managed to become a perfectly normal and functional adult human despite this. In fact, DH had the same and now manages to cook most nights despite being posh, Oxford-educated AND male.

This is the most complex stealth boast ever!

He can move out. Lots do.

It explains why a large percentage of well educated young men who have been through a prestigious University seem unable to grasp basic life skills

Have to say this is total rubbish. I think educated young men (and women!) have the same basic life skills as anyone else people just make a bigger deal of their failings if they can't do stuff like cook because it proves the stereotype.

This is the most complex stealth boast ever! Sssssh Bertrand

Agree with you Bert. Ridiculous.

Physics and cooking are pretty indistinguishable anyhow.

Is it Magdalene? I loved living in college for three years, but definitely managed to knock up some curries, etc. I suppose they might have replaced the hobs with microwaves though.

This thread is bringing back memories of using my trusty sandwich toaster to make many different combinations of food when I lived in halls

It's still a step up from when my dad was in halls in the 60s. He had meals in the dining hall and a housekeeper used to clean their rooms and make their beds! He basically went from his mum looking after him, to that and then got married straight out of Uni and has never learnt how to look after himself.

This is the most complex stealth boast ever!

Yes but at least with this - my dc is so multitalented, what's he going to do - thread it's allowed loads of others to pop on with "when I was at... my DC are at... " so it seems everyone's happy!

In all seriousness though, on the back of a pp saying "should think about whether this is right and whether to go to catering college"...

No, bad idea. Give uni a try first.

At most universities it's cheaper not to live in halls. This wasn't the case at my son's college. So moving out is not necessarily a good idea, even factoring in any saving from cooking your own food over eating the heavily subsidised meals in college.

Not sure what you think is the stealth boast old loves

The bit about the cooking? It's DS's first love and probably ranks ahead of everything else. He cooks and he's interested in cooking and I do believe that he should be a chef

The bit about Cambridge? Not really - I'm a veteran of the Oxbridge threads - although I admit I didn't want to say where DS had applied (note applied, had a conditional offer, and definitely not accepted)

What this thread was intended to be about is the fact that in this day and age there are still universities around where it is not possible to cook. Or not possible to cook properly. And that is bonkers.

C'mon OP... it's fine. He's clever (theoretical physics I think you dropped in there?) and a great cook. It was a stealth boast but everyone else has loved jumping in with their stealth boasts too.

I had a minimally equipped kitchen in all my years at Cambridge. No ovens but they let us use hobs so spag bol and stir fries became my specialities. I think there might've been a microwave too.

They definitely encouraged eating in college. Terms are really short and he'll be busy so will probably be glad of being catered for. I certainly appreciated having my room cleaned for me!!

Nutmeg in spag bol, cinnamon in moussaka :) Could he get a part time job in a restaurant kitchen?

My DD is at Cambridge now (well, not at this minute, but you know what I mean) and is at an old college which has at least an electric ring and microwave type kitchenette available to everyone. Next year she's landed a fancy 3 room set with her own mini kitchen. I was at a different college there 30 years ago, and it's where I learned to cook. So it's certainly possible to cook at Cambridge; maybe not at OP's son's college, but then he could have chosen a different one, unless he didn't choose the one that made him an offer? Anyway, I feel sure his college will have other accommodation options after the first year, if cooking is very important to him. It's really not a university where you can't cook, although obviously it is a different student experience from most places.

Paying the private housing costs in either Oxford or Cambridge - two of the UK's most expensive cities - year round rather than the costs of a college room in term-time just so you could cook when you fancied it would be absolute madness.

And you're not allowed to work in term time, so no restaurant jobs either!

Tell him to go and volunteer at the local soup kitchen/drop in/community centre/retirement lunch etc, they'd love him there