Who ever said that we should never work with children or animals certainly knew what they were talking about…..
We run two different cookery sessions for children – our Children’s Cookery Academy on a Saturday morning – a fairly formal and instructional session - and Cook ‘n Eat on a Monday afternoon – a social prep, cook and eat session for children from the age of 5.
I had got fresh mackerel for the Children’s Academy which we were to prepare from scratch and stuff with a delicious array of ingredients including Cherry Tomatoes; Red Onion; Garlic; fresh Breadcrumbs to name a few. There was the expected ‘ugh’ when I produced the (almost) flapping fish but I encouraged them to run their fingers over the fish and to get a ‘feel’ for them. All was well until one of them jumped back and said that it looked like a snake. Unfortunately, I have an absolute phobia of these hissing sids from my days in Africa and I will never be able to look at mackerel in the same light again. I still don’t know how I brought things back, but automatic pilot took over and the rest of the lesson continued but that was the closest I have ever come to losing my dignity in front of students…
Mondays are always interesting – we have a good age range and there are children from 5 different schools which is so good for development of social and communication skills. Unfortunately, one of our little ones is singularly unable to sit still and this poses quite a problem whilst they are cutting and chopping. Two of the children are extremely fussy/picky eaters and it is a joy to see them try new foods each week. I am doing a lot of work in this area as it can destroy families and relationships.
On Wednesdays I delivered demonstration Weaning Cookery to a group of parents with their babies in attendance. I never cease to be amazed at the characters of these tiny creatures. They certainly know their own minds. I wrote a recipe for Butternut Squash and Sweet Potato Soup with Crème Fraiche which most of the babies enjoyed but the funniest moment was when one screwed up his face; spat it out and started crying. As we know – in this game – it is impossible to please all of the people all of the time…..
Well, this won’t get the recipe written for our Valentines Supper Club, will it? I’m thinking of Salmon Tagliatelle with home-made pasta (of course) and a delicious (reasonably healthy) Chocolate Tart for dessert. I am so lucky to do what I do – to meet so many people and, in some small ways, to actually make a difference.
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Andy Richards
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