Most people make terrible food and can't actually cook.

[ImNotEntirelySureAboutThat]

They can't.

I read such horrors on food threads.

Either courgettes and mushrooms mixed in a worthy mushy horror.

OR jars, and packets.

Horrible. So. Much. Horrible. Foood.

We differ there because I wouldn’t thank you for a shop bought cake. Foamy, synthetic, flavourless things so they are.

I love home made cake. Mine is especially good…though of course I would say that.

Maybe it’s just down to what you’re used to and what you define as good cake.

Really @LillyCandC ?
Get yourself to Waitrose, darling.

More cheese than you can imagine and many varieties of tomatoes.

Where on earth do you live if you can only buy Cheddar?

The best way to cook courgettes is thinly sliced on a very low heat so they dont catch at all for about 45 minutes, with decent olive oil and garlic, until all the moisture has been driven off and they are a tasty unctuous soft pulp.

Exactly. I might feel different if DH didn't enjoy cooking and he's retired so it suits us both.

I don't know about the cookery skills but my mind boggles at the 'what have you eaten today' threads.

Some people eat so much! So many snacks, so many sweets, so much packaged rubbish.

That's another thread.

yeah, I thought that too!! Skimping, it's more like 120!!

it might be an improvement on nhs catering for you but it is still just a matter of taste. That’s the point.

I personally don’t think M&S salads (not just any salad!) are that impressive or virtuous. And I don’t think having one rather than nhs catering cottage pie is necessarily preferable. And that’s the point.

one can be as sniffy about M&S salad as nhs catering. Or even juicing. Why would you take a juicer to hospital?

That will be me OP, I hate cooking, I only do it so I can stay alive😂, packets, jars no problem the quickest and easier , the better.
I eat to live not live to eat , is a massive inconvenience and time wasting the fact that we need to cook/eat on daily basis. I wouldn’t mind a house without a kitchen 😂

you can be as defensive as you want but it’s absolutely true - ask any Italian, Greek or French what they think of tomatoes, fruit etc in the uk and you will get the same answer. Tin tomatoes are not fresh. Yes, you can source good seasonal ingredients here and make something like Lancashire hotpot or a good old roast and it’s going to be delicious. I’m talking about simple recipes - like any 5 year old can make and they still going to be tasty due to the quality of the ingredients.

Nothing wrong with tinned tomatoes - use them all the time - taste good and readily available. A lot of food snobs posting today!

Haha how middle class of you @LisaLovedUp! The OP is talking about the majority of people that can’t cook apparently and their food tasting rubbish. My argument is don’t blame the cook, blame the ingredients. Sometimes the easiest dish with 3 ingredients is going to be the tastiest on the planet due to the quality of the ingredients.
as a matter of fact, I do buy tomatoes from Waitrose but veggies in M&S are tastier IMHO

LillyCandC- totally agree, is like chewing on tastelessness plastic ,same for fruits. I found that Lidl veggies and fruits are a bit better, Waitrose used to be good as well but not anymore

I don’t think ‘any French, Italian or Greek person’ is that up on what you can buy in a provincial Waitrose. Their prejudices don’t make it true.

many Italians use tinned tomatoes. And dried pasta too. Tinned tomatoes are often better than fresh.

It might simply be that you can’t think of easy, tasty recipes beyond tomato, cheese and pasta. 🤷🏻‍♀️

Its not being defensive to challenge bullshit online.

I'm not from the UK originally, I believe Uk food as eaten in most households is very, very poor. Both dp and I cook from scratch 7 days a week. Sundays I prep some meals for 2 or 3 days.
The UK palette is bland, it's common knowledge UK food is poor, and a bit of an international laughing stock tbh. Too much reliance on convenience and supermarkets are stocked full of junk food.

@Rocksludge each to their own. In the end of the day we’re taking about taste here therefore anyone is entitled to their own opinion. And there’s no Waitrose in those countries by the way … also calling someone else’s opinion bullshit online doesn’t make you appear any smarter than them ;-)

I can cook. I made sausages. Mincemeat. I make ham. I didn’t visit a supermarket for years and made every last thing myself. People raved about my cooking. You know what? It was a fucking lot of work. Maybe some people just have better things to do? Like earn enough money to sleep indoors and have the energy to spend time with their families? Just a thought.

Now I serve up the odd ready meal and don’t make all my own bread because I’m a lone parent and I like to sleep or watch tv occasionally too. Everyone’s different.

Well it is bullshit to say you can only get cheddar...

@LillyCandC Yes i am middle class and proud to be so and simply LOVE having a Waitrose nearby.

You are talking rubbish as another poster pointed out. I've read a lot of stuff on cooking and some of the top chefs say tinned toms are fine if you buy certain brands (I don't, as I'm allergic to tomatoes) so you are being a bit of a silly snob to say you can't get the right ingredients in the UK .

How ridiculous to say you can only buy Cheddar. Then you say you do shop in Waitrose, so it proves you are talking tosh. They have at least 5 choices of parmesan and a deli cheese counter groaning with cheese from everywhere.

I can cook and my children can cook.
however at school the eldest has cooked five or six times their entire school career. They are year 9. She wants to do food tech at gcse, I’m worried about the school provision of this given they’ve cooked twice at secondary.

now my kids are lucky I can and do cook, we can afford the food to cook and them to take an internet. I’m educated enough to be able to do that with the. Not all children have a parent who can, knows how to or wants to. There’s an age coming through as parents who never had food tech at school, they had the kitchens removed. Just where were they meant to learn?

@PinkSparklyPussyCat ah, and Red Leicester of course! in Tesco’s without driving out to Waitrose and spending lots of money. Also, even in Waitrose the choice is not that great. Anyhoo cheddar is not bad at all.

I am also from the erstwhile colony but that has not made me entitled to be rude like you. And speak for yourself, people from those countries are not so insecure like you to put down an entire country's cooking.
I have lived long enough in UK and despite coming from a country which is popular for its cuisine, I have had good food not only in London but in other parts too and I am talking of local cafes and pubs.

I was recently in US, and I didnt enjoy the food at all but i would never say anything rude to any American even on anonymous forum.

How many Swedish, Nordic or Ukranian restaurants have you been to outside these countries. Does it make them inferior to you and your bunch of people? Countries like USA and UK may not have worldwise restaurants maybe because they prioritise other skills over cooking.

Also, it's a bit racist to stereotype negatively a country. Well done for travelling the world (thanks to the technology and skills developed by people from countries lacking cooking skill and with colonial history) but you still sound ignorant and insular.

have You slipped in from 1975?
whilst that probably was the case. It’s not know

It’s not now!

phone living up to my name 😆

@LillyCandC Are you suggesting that posters have never travelled, bought and cooked overseas? Are you saying we have never been to Italy, bought parmesan, pasta, etc?

And that you cannot buy the same ingredients in the UK?

Are you just arguing for the sake of it?

You are posting as if most of the UK is in the 1970s still and using pre-grated tubs of sawdust, supposed to be as good as fresh parmesan.