I think cooking lessons at school are great, I didn’t have that. I’d say it’s less about what they cook there but about learning to handle food, jiggle around with spices.
I didn’t learn how to cook until I was about 23 when my boyfriend and I became tired of eating out on daily basis. So we called his mother and other people on “how do you cook this” on things we remembered eating and took it from there.
After splitting up and staying friends, he stayed more on the traditional path while I took recipes as a basic input and then did my own thing (still do). We enjoyed each others cooking until he died last year.
Some friends of mine serve take away food when ever they invite people. These days it’s the only time I consume take away food, so that’s fine by me.
As to giving someone a cooking-course as a present I think one should check in advance. It’s not a favor to force someone to do something they might seriously dislike.
My worst (and best) experience of cooking for a crowd was when my friend in Santa Barbara called me in a panic. His catering partner had gone into labour, and they were due to cater an Italian wedding, with 100-odd people flying in from Italy. (It was a warm day in a local park, and we had the use of the huge BBQ.) I took the next flight in. She managed to make the cake layers and frost them before leaving for the hospital. I had charge of marinating 50 kg of fish filets (salmon and Chilean sea bass) and making two salads of pasta and baby spinach, as well as the crudites and dips for them. I had one helper, who, when I asked him to carry the fish to the van, said “Flesh!? I don’t touch flesh!!” On the way to the venue, he hit the brakes, and the gallon tub of dip took flight and skidded across the top of the cake, popping its top in the process, and landing on the floor in a puddle. Somehow we got there in one piece (sort of). I put flowers in strategic locations on the cake, salvaged what I could of the dip, and the show went on. No guest ever knew anything had gone wrong.
I can’t even imagine that. I am used to cooking for 4-5 people (one of my daughter’s friends has practically moved in lol) , when we have guests is the OH that cooks. (meantime I do the cleaning and tidying up just to pretend our house looks exactly like that all the time! ) I do help my hubby with menial tasks though. Frankly I think he enjoys cooking more than I do!
oh my god! there are Zealots, and then, there is the next level This was in CA? incredible.
Yep, your experience was pretty nightmarish.
I owned(for a while) a small catering company also, and have some funny stories == like the one in which one ambassador from a very reputed country stole part of the antique Limoges serving set that I had used for serving the desserts. It was pretty valuable, so I had a second nightmare with the insurance company, trying to recover some of the value. (My first attempt was a very educated letter to the embassy, which, of course, did not get any answer).
But that was much much before all these allergies, intolerances, and eating disorders appeared…so things were easy(er) those days…
One of the things I am grateful for is my apprenticeship as a chef many oodles of yonks ago.
One of the things I learned was that a good chef can stir butter from shit, as the saying goes.
Now almost 50 years down the line and two apprenticeships later I know that although I was a crap chef, I was and am a good cook.
Sure, but what proportion of people with special dietary requirements are actually allergic to that sort of level? Very low.
Not saying it’s a bad thing to allow for all the many possible restrictions and preferences as we do these days, but before it became accepted practice most people with specific (non-medical) restrictions would just not eat things or put aside sais preferences at catered events.
I’d agree that there’s lots of fads going on all the time - fueled by social media and perhaps peer pressure - it seems to be high-protein at the moment, it was gluten-free and then there are the religious and moral observances (no-pork, or vegan) but I should think that many people with genuine illnesses such as coelic disease just died younger from malnutrition or condition related cancers and those with virus-triggered disorders suffered with their diarrhea etc and were considered to have a “delicate stomach”.
Times have changed though - many more people no longer drink alcohol through choice but given that those that do get offered wine, beer, spirits and so on, why should those that don’t have to put up with water or industrial orange juice?
Having said that, most people I know with serious, real dietary conditions sort it out themselves and take something easy to eat with them rather than make a fuss - or go without.
See, I think this is the wrong way round. The social drinking phenomenon has developed solely from alcohol consumption and the range of alcoholic drinks available is huge - but if you’re not drinking alcohol why would you feel the need for such a wide choice? And I haven’t been to any function in decades where water or OJ was the only choice available. Admittedly those and prosecco were the welcome drinks at a couple of event I went to recently, but there was tea and coffee available throughout as well as a bar.
Not sure if I understand your POV: do you think the usual offer of non-alcoholic beverages is very limited?At most functions I attended lately there was water, orange juice, apple juice, coca-cola, coffee, tea. I personally think it’s OK? (I usually drink water and sometimes a glass of wine)
I attended the barbecue course and I was the only woman in the group. They have said, they normally have either one or no women, and the record number was two.
No, it was in the different location. But I think the ratio is the same everywhere.
I watched old episodes of the cooking show today, and the topic was BBQ. Female contestants said: “Oh, no! I don’t barbecue! My husband normally does it!” and the males were like: “Yeah! Great topic! Let’s do it!”.
I admitted to the group that I only came there because my husband didn’t understand Swiss German. They give you a book with all the recipes anyway.
The old days with the campfire romanticism, gathering around the fire, eating what ever is ready, yeah. But those days are over, if there are people into this there is at least one person ruining the night with a scientific rant.
OH insisted on a gas grill. Grrrrr. I grew up with a Weber family bought in 1955, so I served him a meat/veg array, but cooked over mesquite wood charcoal. The gas grill ended up on the kerb for someone to take gratis. When we bought This Old House 9 years ago, I was almost brought to tears by the sight of a perfectly preserved 1974 Weber in the cellar (mid-century brown!) I bought it new grills (available everywhere still, in the same sizes), gave it a clean-up, and it will live to grill until 2074 probably.
) I do help my hubby with menial tasks though. Frankly I think he enjoys cooking more than I do!
This was in CA? incredible.