To feel that sad that basic cooking skills are dying out

[SingleDoubleWhippedClotted]

Me and my brother were taught to cook by my gran and mum. Dad used to cook too but worked away a lot so wasn't around as much.

So many people now seem to be incapable of basic food prep and spend a fortune on food. Cooking seems to be an undervalued life skill, I think its so important to have the skills to be able to prepare simple cheap healthy meals.

I have taught my teen to cook and she could fend for herself if she left home tomorrow. She can cook healthy cheap meals.

I see so many threads on here where people can't boil rice, boil an egg etc

Totally agree

A homemade meal is a thing of beauty, and a lot of people are incapable of doing it!

I love cooking but my toast is terrible. I can’t get it right. Roast dinner for 15 is fine. Dh finds my inability to make toast hilarious.

I wasn't taught to cook by anyone, but I can still cook. My children can both cook proper meals and also have an awareness of wanting to eat healthily. These days you can look up recipes for everything so there isn't a need for someone to show you.

Don't know why you're getting so roasted OP. I agree, I love cooking and my mum is a fantastic cook who taught us all.

I did home economics in school and the class was diabolical...cooking consisted of "buy and bring a shop bought pizza base into class girls and we will decorate it with tomato puree and cheese"..my mum was horrified! And this wasn't that many years ago!!

I think Jamie Oliver (not everyone's cup of tea) is making great shows and books that teach basic, cheap, home cooking. He's not a bad egg!

I can cook, but I really don't like cooking.
I can cook, but I don't have time.
I can cook, but I'm too fucking knackered for cooking!

I can cook, but I really don't like supermarket shopping day-in day-out for fresh ingredients.
I can cook, but I really don't have the time for supermarket shopping day-in day-out for fresh ingredients.
I can cook, but I'm too fucking knackered for supermarket shopping day-in day-out for fresh ingredients.

DH works long hours
I work long hours
Gone are the days of one person works and the other stays at home to do lovely wholesome fresh cooking each day ready for when the other hard worker gets home. Because we're both knackered-to-fuck hard workers who then wanna cry at the thought of another days shopping for fresh wholesome ingredients and then stand for another hour (at least) in front of the hob prepping and cooking that wholesome meal that we're too bloody exhausted to enjoy by the time we sit and eat it.

But go ahead OP. Make us feel shit that we have to have the two of us working all the hours under the sun to keep a roof over our heads instead of dropping our hours (and income) to have the time and energy to prove to the sanctimonious we CAN and DO KNOW HOW to cook from scratch.

I'm a good cook, DH can cook, DS(16) can cook, DD(14) doesn't cook much particularly, but sees cooking from scratch every day.

I'm on MN far too much, and have been for 16 years. I can't recall seeing threads about people not being able to boil rice or an egg.
Have I missed them?

When I was young it was quite common for men not to cook at all. Nowadays I think a lot more men cook, so I would say overall more people can cook. I think the issue is people are time poor and its tempting to buy something ready made.

Im not sure its any better or worse now than its ever been in terms of skills... my lovely parents can cook but its not the best (sorry mum!).. my friends and I probably use a mixture of from scratch and convenience like jars or freezer stuff and salad (FT jobs, kids, time etc).. teenage nieces/nephews choose quicker foods but can cook if they feel inclined/have to... everyone is fed and healthy, all seem happy with what theyre eating. So does it really matter 🤷🏽‍♀️

Yes proper cooking should be taught in schools. Other countries can manage it, we should be able to too. Unfortunately cooking in schools is no longer cooking and all about can you make sausage rolls from premade pastry and can you design a pretty packet for a sandwich. Nothing actually useful in real life. I want people to come out of school knowing how to make cheap basic meals which will help prepare them for life.

Not everyone has the resources to be able to cook from a YouTube video or the confidence to do so. If you have no cooking knowledge how do you know if the meat is cooked enough and not going to poison the whole family? Is it the food the right golden yellow colour to show that it cooked? Is something the right texture when you have mixed it and how do you know it's right? Many people need a physical teacher to help them not just a video.

Totally agree OP! Not being able to cook is miserable.

How can anybody not cook? If you can read you can cook.

I knew someone who didn’t even know how to boil potatoes or cook any vegetables.

@TeenLifeMum Ok you win with the toast thats impressive getting that wrong 😅😅 Eggs are my nemesis to be honest... fried = fine, hard boiled = fine, huevos rancheros = fine! But poaching, omelettes and runny boiled ones are off the table 🙈🙈

Basic cooking skills aren't 'dying out' at all?

What an odd little op!

And the point of the thread is ....?

You might as well be saying if you can read, you can do brain surgery. It really isn't as simple as that for many people.

🙄

My mum couldn't cook for toffee when I was young, it was all jars of chicken tonight (supermarket branded) and fish in sauce in a bag, we lived in the East end in a diverse community and her good friend did teach her a couple of cracking curries and she did teach me to make a lasagne (dolmio type sauce but home made bechamel). I started working in restaurants and quickly realised I could earn more per hour in the kitchens, I worked hard and learned quickly. By the time I graduated I could cook fairly well and have never bought a jarred sauce or packet mix in my life. Funnily when I returned home my mum was really interested in what I'd learnt and now I've long moved out is a keen cook!
DF could always cook but it was quite simple food, liver and onions, stuffed lamb hearts, cottage pie, spaghetti Bolognese etc fine to feed a family but he'd do odd things like decide to put mint in on the Bolognese to jazz it up!

DS is only five but loves helping in the kitchen, has a good memory for recipes and flavour combinations, DH is more a good as fuel person but he can cook a decent meal and I have no worries when I go away that he won't be able to feed DS appropriately.

Most of my friends and colleagues cook from scratch regularly, only DB and SIL seems to rely on ready meals, take aways etc but that's more about not wanting to spend the time rather than a lack of capability

Except cooking is a gazillion times easier to do than brain surgery.

It's a choice. Public libraries are free to use and have basic cookery books available. There are SO many tutorials on social media. You can cook if you want to. But you don't have to.

i can read but cooking is a skill that I’m not I’m not that good at it.
my parents are excellent cooks but I never learnt.

I see an instruction gently fry onions and garlic- my garlic is burning well before onions are anywhere near what picture or internet looks like. Or everything just sort of sits there, presumably too low.

I can “cook” one simple meal from scratch - pasta sauce garlic, chorizo, canned tomato olives and basil. Is that cooking though as it doesn’t seem to really start from raw things.

The one thing I can cook perfectly is rice.

Lots of people can't do things because they have never had the opportunity to.. but then learn when they have to.

I got a confused phone call from DH earlier... he was trying to buy a duvet, but realised he had no idea what tog rating he needed. He's never had to buy one before, despite being 40yo. He's now learnt.

If I offered to either make you an omelette or do brain surgery on you, I'd seriously recommend letting me have a crack at the surgery 🤣

I honestly think a lot of people are just absolutely exhausted and can’t find the energy to be creative / cook a meal from scratch / can’t afford to buy lots of ingredients.

I can cook. I’m good at it actually. I used to spend a lot of time doing it.

But with both of us working full time + kids, tbh I often am just looking to produce something easy so I don’t spent me entire 1-2h a day of awake non-working, non-childcare time in the kitchen.

I can cook but I absolutely hate it, so I don't do it unless I have absolutely no other choice.

I have more enjoyable things to be doing with my evenings than standing over the stove and washing dishes, thank you.