Why are British women such shit cooks??

[moondog]

I mix with a lot of different people.
Over the years, the women I know who can cook could be counted on one hand (and my mother and sister are two of those.)

Seriously, people haven't got a fucking clue about even the most basic stuff.On the rare occasion I am even invited to eat in someone else's house it is usually inedible slop.

And yet,the tv has nothing but cookery programmes on it,Gordon Ramsey is a househole name and the bookshops burst with glossy tomes that make the best seller list.

Seriously, any ideas???

I am quite a good cook - so is my sister. BUT we were brought up with 2 parents who could cook and also had the time to let us help out and learn from them.

My 2 closest friends were brought up in a single parent family, by mums who worked several jobs to keep their heads above water and had barely enough time to sleep, let alone teach their kids to cook. Neither of them can cook very well, yet both are teaching themselves.

My MIL is a fantastic cook, yet dp until recently could not cook himself, not through her lack of trying but through his unwillingless to learn.

At school we had people in lessons who could not even boil an egg or make toast - they had never been taught, and school taught us little more than how to make pizza from ready made ingrediants (most of work was on food industry and things like packaging).

Living in shared households those that could cook (even basic foods from scratch) were heavily outnumbered by those who weren't sure even how an oven worked - but these people also didn't know how to budget or work a washing machine, or look after themselves in general.

These experiences aren't exactly in the minority.

Add to this the fact that I think we are rated 3rd in the WORLD for the amount of hours worked on average.

TV food shows and celebrity chefs are more food porn than cooking.

SO I think it comes down to a large amount of people in this country not knowing how to cook combined with a culture that works incrediably long hours and says 'want to make things easier - get a ready meal/sauce in jar' and the marketing that tells us these things are as good as homemade but without the effort.

Message withdrawn

I really do think this is a valid question adn can't see why so many take it so personally.

Depends what you mean by jars though.

I use pesto sauce and curry paste for example.

And I have to use ready made fresh cheese sauce because I usually balls it up.

I agree with cod WRT what makes a good cook, I raerly cook cordon bleu style, but I cook what we like, mainly from scratch, and enjoy doing so, yet if I am busy I can still do it, almost on autopilot, because it needs to be done.

I cook most things from scratch and love to bake, we don't have ready meals, but do use pesto from a jar and seeds of change sauces for curries sometimes, their ingredients are pretty good, honest...

I too am amazed by the number of people I know who can't/won't bake a cake, make a shepherd's pie, pasta sauce or roast a joint, and as for ready made yorkshire puds WTF are they all about????????

On the other hand my MIL cooks everything from scratch too and I often find my self wishing she'd give up and get a ready meal for us instead

I can cook if I follow a recipe (am Irish so not taking offence at thread title ) but am not an instinctive cook. Have a good Aussie friend who is a great instintive cook. I would love to be.

inamukingfuddle, I dont go as far as redy made yorkshire puddings but I am terrible at making yorkshire pudding mix!
It's probably the only thing I can't cook that we eat regularly.

I agree with Moondog

I was brought up with proper food and I can cook thanks

In fact I am reading this thread eating a baked egg, spinach and sweetcorn ... erm baked thing with some tasty cheese on top, which I just shoved in the oven for my lunch.

Very nice it is too

But I went to a dinner party not so long ago and was given spal bol (...ok) made with BOLOGNAISE SAUCE!

??!?!?!?!?!?!?!??!?!?!?!?

(by which I mean from a JAR of course)

i make my own pesto

It is also about educating your palate though

DH was brought up with freezerfood and cannot tell what is GOOD food and what is not. He just cannot TELL.

Whereas I can tell you every ingredient in a Brownie by taste ;) (and GOD it is depressing when you buy one and it's made with vegetable fats)

I laugh at people who buy those cake mix in a box things. They cost about four times as much as the ingredients for a real cake and taste like crap. People then buy the bun mixes to do with their children. There is no measuring or tasting involved. How is this supposed to teach children to cook?

I can cook. I like traditional british food though like game, hotpot or fish pie.

The bun mixes for children are WEIRD

They are inedible

They just have a nice packet

Cooking went out of fashion about the same time bras were burnt and microwaves were invented. My mum and MIL pride themselves in not being able to cook. I on the other hand love cooking. My MIL thinks I'm nuts. It's only just coming back into fashion as ready meals are slated and people are realising fresh food actually tastes nicer.

My MIL and dh's aunt both went to swiss finishing school for the posh and were taught to cook cordon bleu. They both cook beautifully and can cater for 20 plus guests without getting a hair out of place.

My dm's cooking is stictly for family only. My dh goes out for a walk after dinner and comes back suspiciously smelling of fish and chips.

blimey, not read the thread just the op, but thats a bit bloody harsh!
god i hope you have never/will never be a dinner guest of mine!
if i am invited to dinner at someones house i hardly register the food and if its not up to standard i dont care anyway because i havent had to flipping cook for once

I used to be a chef and i can cook bloody well! I have a book that i note down my own recipies in and i use others and noone i have ever cooked for has complained.

I am pure English!

I can cook and so can my friends so disagree with moony. However, my mum doesn't really cook (although she can do a really good roast dinner) so I had to make a conscious effort to learn.

It's mind boggling that you can buy those jars of pasta sauce and curry sauce for a couple of quid when it takes 5 minutes to make is 10 times cheaper and much nicer. If we cooked food from our garden we'd be at least 5 grand a year up.

I agree that cake mixes for kids are vile. Generally IME kids feel the same as they tend to eat the icing and leave the horrid little dry bun.

My SIL uses packet sauces - for chilli FFS! How hard is it to make chilli??? Neighbour has recently seen the light as DS's gf has been diagnosed with wheat intolerance. She had no idea how to cope - all her lovely packet sauces were out of bounds! Had to help her out a few times but I think she's got the idea now.

Dp is british and a fantastic cook. He doesnt DO fancy tho (his words)and he is mostly self taught.
He made a fab fish pie last night with pollock and prawns and Sunday we had stew'n'dumplings. Simple plain British food but home cooked and delicious.
He cant follow a recipie with out gettign flustered and prefers to be told how to cook something so that he can get the gist fo it and then make it his own.
I agree with the idea that a good cook is someone who can produce simple family meals that taste great and can be done with minimum fuss. Takes lots of pracise tho.

I love it when someone comes on here and says "I've got sausage, onion and carrots, what can I make for tea FFS?" and they are given some instructions and come back later and say OH MY GOD THAT WAS DELICIOUS!

It's v. satisfying