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Why can't British people cook, despite all the bloodty cookery programmes, magazines and cookbooks?

123 replies

moondog · 05/09/2010 22:40

Yes, I know one or two MNers will come on all huffy about how fabulous they are at cooking but generally speaking we don't have a bloody clue do we?

I know hundreds of people from all different kinds of backgrounds and could count on one hand those who can put a decent meal together.
Why???

OP posts:
gorionine · 06/09/2010 07:14

Forgot to add, and my niecees and nephews who still lives in the country I was raised in.
sorry for missing bit!

hmc · 06/09/2010 13:13

Am I allowed to discount it Seven because it doesn't fit my adopted thesis? Grin

Quenbioz · 06/09/2010 13:14

I don't like cooking, I find it very boring. So I haven't spent much time learning about it.

hmc · 06/09/2010 13:16

Actually I think it is drudge work too Quenbioz, although I am quite a good cook....

Iklboo · 06/09/2010 13:17

I enjoy cooking - I've just had homemade tomato soup (made with DS's homegrown tomatoes) for my lunch. I was devastated when my oven broke a couple of weeks ago - no baking, roasts etc.
I was taught 'Home Economics' at school, but my nana taught me pretty much everything I know.

expatinscotland · 06/09/2010 13:17

Mmmm, I love to cook! And eat.

I get the kids involved, too.

When we watch telly, DH and I openly sneer at people who can't cook. It's not a desirable trait.

EdgarAllInPink · 06/09/2010 13:20

are forriners really any better?

from what i saw abroad, not really....

hmc · 06/09/2010 13:21

But where is the appeal in cooking? - all that mindless dicing, weighing, stirring and cleaning of worktops etc. I do cook, very competently, and I certainly love to eat (a little too much, unfotunately!) - but enjoy the 'process'? Nah!

expatinscotland · 06/09/2010 13:23

the appeal is in making food that's good to eat, sharing it with others and seeing their pleasure in it.

southeastastra · 06/09/2010 13:24

don't think we're arsed as a nation, our world has never been food centered has it. we're too busy doing interesting things Grin

zanz1bar · 06/09/2010 13:26

Also I think there is a link with the vast expanse of new marble work tops and fancy kitchen islands and the lack of food preparation.

Most of the people I know with new, flash kitchens and esp Islands which are a total waste of space, don't seem to cook at all.

The best food I have ever eaten was from a kitchen with a work top the size of a tea towel and an old gas oven.

midnightexpress · 06/09/2010 13:33

One further thought I've had on this. Many Europeans never make puddings or bake - they buy all their baked goods ready-made from the bakery (admittedly, not Greggs, but still, it isn't home-made).

hmc · 06/09/2010 13:33

That's describing the outcomes expat, not the process. I like the outcomes too

CatIsSleepy · 06/09/2010 13:34

think i only know a couple of people who really can't cook, or say they can't

tbh am not sure I believe people who say they can't cook, maybe they just can't be arsed

expatinscotland · 06/09/2010 13:35

The process is integral to the outcome, hmc. I enjoy the journey as much as the destination.

hmc · 06/09/2010 13:36

Bloody wish I did!

GetOrfMoiLand · 06/09/2010 13:41

I blame it on the war

I was a child in the 80s but my war-reared gran was still cooking an approximation of Woolton Pie (potatoes and other root veg in a thin white sauce, covered in mashed potato).

Other gems included spam and chips, egg and chips, fish scraps meant for cats which was boiled in its own scum and served with chips, and corned beef and chips. If it was a carnival day we got a fried egg with.

Generations of working class brits grew up eating shite because that was the only thing affordable to them, and I think we still are living with the legacy of that. It costs far, far more to buy decent veg and rustle up (say) a cheap vegetable curry, for instance, than it would to buy a beef curry and rice meal for a quid from Iceland. And if you are going to cook a decent meal you have tp have the necessary skills to do so.

I am lucky in that I can afford decent ingredients, and I love cooking, and am a very good basic cook. Not everyone (a) has the interest or time to develop that skill or (b) the money to spend on ingredients.

Iklboo · 06/09/2010 13:41

Ds (4.5) said to me last week 'Mummy, all you watch is food, food, food or doctors & nurses (I'm a sucker for Real A&E etc). I'm afraid he has me pegged Blush.

MmeLindt · 06/09/2010 13:43

I only know one person who says she cannot cook, and she is German.

I do find that there is a LOT more processed food in UK supermarkets than you will find in Swiss or French supermarkets, and it is not unusual here to shop at a farmers' market.

Not just swan around looking continental, but actually buy ingredients there.

I would say there is a more direct route between food producers and consumers here than in UK.

GetOrfMoiLand · 06/09/2010 13:43

And I think we can stop this misguided belief that it is better abroad.

In my experience poor and uneducated people eat shite, wherever they live.

MmeLindt · 06/09/2010 13:45

True, Getorf, but the processed food is more available in UK.

And Take-Aways. We have hardly any take-away restaurants here.

turnitup · 06/09/2010 13:46

Most people I know cook.

However I also know people that cant be bothered and just rely on convenience food.

I think if you want to cook you will.

SevenAgainstThebes · 06/09/2010 13:47

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

expatinscotland · 06/09/2010 13:48

Blimey, I'm glad my parents grew up Mexican-American then!

Beans, rice and maize tortillas sound much better than that shite, GetOrf!

The advantage of being in a warm climate, too, meant both sets of grandparents grew foods like pecans and other fruits and veg and herbs to season food.

Though French by birth and upbringing, my mother's mother could whip up superb salsas, both green and red, and the memory of her Christmas tamales still makes my mouth water.

My dad's family have very little meat in their diets, as there were five kids and very little money, but looking back the traditional Mexican diet wasn't the worst.

His mother used to make frijoles to die for in a clay pot. All her pots were made from clay and she had an enormous mortar and pestle.

Papa's never had a cavity in his life and, now in his late 70s and having been a smoker for nearly 60 years, he still has all his teeth!

usualsuspect · 06/09/2010 13:50

I can cook ,I just don't like cooking..its just another chore to me