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Who taught you to cook?


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Old 06-03-2008, 14:40
Alleycat666
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Did you learn at school/from your mum (or dad)/teach yourself?

Me - I started making cakes and stuff when very young (pre-school probably), then learnt the basics from my mum and self-taught after that.

My OH was very impressed with the first Sunday Roast that I dished up when we moved in together and that I knew how to make a victoria sponge without a recipe book.

Anyone else?

Last edited by Alleycat666 : 06-03-2008 at 15:05. Reason: Typo - my cooking's better than my typing!
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Old 06-03-2008, 14:42
Orangebathwater
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Self taught. I come from a long line of dreadful cooks, so hopefully I am breaking that line.
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Old 06-03-2008, 14:42
RAINBOWGIRL22
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I'm still waiting for someone to teach me
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Old 06-03-2008, 14:44
whoever,hey
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Self/student taught. Started with the good old stirfry and rice as a student. Literally throwing anything in a wok. Went from there, using inspiration from recipe books and the web.
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Old 06-03-2008, 14:44
Cstar2229
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A combination of my mother, father, school, my OH and Delia Smith
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Old 06-03-2008, 14:49
dollylovesshoes
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Domestic Science at school (as it was called then) Many moons ago Me mum/nan and aunts. All good basic cooks. I really picked up on cooking when I lived with my partner in a one bedroom flat with a tiny belling one plate oven..If you can cook on one of them you can do anything.
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Old 06-03-2008, 14:55
indianwells
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I taught myself. My first job was grill chef at a Berni Inn but there were only half a dozen items on the menu so not real cooking.
A couple of years ago I went to college to do an NVQ 2 which was quite useful.
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Old 06-03-2008, 14:58
bluespeed
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I'm in the process of teaching myself - with occasional words of advice from friends, relatives and you lovely people. It's an effort, though!
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Old 06-03-2008, 16:08
Smutbucket
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I enjoy cooking when I have the time, mostly though it's rustling up something after work for the family, although really that too isn't too much of a chore ...

My Mum taught me some things but after my Mum and Dad divorced I was introduced to a whole wide variety of food, my step-mum was so patient and cooked different dishes to my Mum, so I learn't the basics between the 2 of them and then Food and nutrition at school. In fact, I still have all my recipes I cooked at school as Mum suggested I write them in an Alphabet index book for reference, and I still use some of them today!

I also have a friend who has made me more confident about my cooking, even though she does the cooking even when she visits (bless!)

Oh and the great Delia and Good Housekeeping books
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Old 06-03-2008, 16:20
dollylovesshoes
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I'm in the process of teaching myself - with occasional words of advice from friends, relatives and you lovely people. It's an effort, though!
Its the most soothing therapy
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Old 06-03-2008, 16:24
bluespeed
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Its the most soothing therapy every!
I'm sure it is once you can actually do it! It's the learning curve that I'm struggling with.
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Old 06-03-2008, 16:41
Quickblood
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TV Taught me to cook. At one point I was watching 2 hours of Food TV a day, I miss Good Food live
My mother taught me many of the basics but to be honest with you the stuff she cooks is nothing like what I cook.

I also bake and I'm obessed with Deserts which no one I know cooks.
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Old 06-03-2008, 16:48
whoever,hey
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I'm sure it is once you can actually do it! It's the learning curve that I'm struggling with.
Watch a few saturday kitchens on tv. You'll soon pick it up and be making your own food and recipes up.
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Old 06-03-2008, 16:56
dollylovesshoes
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I'm sure it is once you can actually do it! It's the learning curve that I'm struggling with.
When you cook a bechamel sauce ! Its very soothing...just a good stir and *be patient*
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Old 06-03-2008, 17:16
Midiboy
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I learnt the basics from my mum and sisters and the rest is self taught.
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Old 06-03-2008, 17:18
Scots_Dragon
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From watching my mum first off, then I took a job as a commis chef in a restaurant with very....actually no experience at all. Changed jobs and went to college to gain my City and Guilds 706-1 & 2 certification. Anything else after that is self taught, like how to make sushi from scratch.
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Old 07-03-2008, 12:51
JAMESPEARCE91
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I learnt basic skills of mixing etc with my mum when I was little (about 3 - 5)
Then I did the odd practical of Food Tech at school
For my GCSEs I took a course in Food and Nutrition, which taught me a lot
Then I used to assist my mum in teaching food technology at a school during my study leave
God knows where my creativity comes from though! My mum always says she has no inspiration and idea and my old teachers said I had too much!!

JP
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Old 07-03-2008, 13:35
80's chick
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AWT -Saturday Cooks
James Martin -Saturday Kitchen
Jamie Oliver- the naked chef series.

I learnt from the best
My mother is a bad cook, if it wasn't undercooked it was overcooked. She never really taught us how to do anything.

I have picked up everything I know from the above mentioned chefs, It isnt too bad if I dont say so myself, my eldest makes a comment every mealtime, usually' mum this is lovely'..

I will teach my kids how to cook too.
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Old 07-03-2008, 14:02
Erithacus
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My Mom taught me a lot of the basics of baking, cooking, and kitchen hygiene... but my Dad taught me to use my imagination. My Dad never used a recipe. He taught me to take risks with cooking--to experiment.
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Old 07-03-2008, 14:17
SheepdogNo1
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Mixture of mum/dad as they are both chefs & myself , at uni its a case of learn or starve.
Mrs Sheepdog doesnt like to cook ,but when she does its very good.
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Old 07-03-2008, 14:20
Frood
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My mum was the kind of person who would let you start doing something (if asked) then gradually take over until you were left doing nothing. Also a good 'basic' cook of he 1940s/50 type. No idea about things like stir frying, not much (if at all) in the way of herbs and spices and garlic is evil.

I learn't to cook, from neccissity, when I left home.

Various cook books and TV programmes gave me advice but the best ones are from Nigel Slater. Although Jamie Oliver's recent series was good.

I can do a variety of pretty good meals, if I say so myself, now.
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Old 07-03-2008, 14:26
Anita_Blake
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Self taught, my Mum couldn't bear us around her in the kitchen so she used to give us recipe books, we'd chose what we wanted to cook and she'd go and get the ingredients and leave us to it. If it went wrong we tried again until we got it right but she stayed out of the way unless we asked for help (we never did)

I've done the same with my daughters, the eldest is a great little cook, the youngest wanders off leaving the over on so I'm a little bit more cautious with her!
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Old 07-03-2008, 15:37
macca@90
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My mum is a crap cook. When we were growing up we got fed home-made fish and chips, chips and cold meat , shop-bought steak pie and on a Satuday (while the wrestling was on ) fried egg, bacon and fried pancake. How I am not dead I don't know.

I neved tried curry or pasta until I had my own money and bought it myself. I love cooking now self-taught when I first left home I bought a book called "How To Boil An Egg".

Now with the Internet I have progressed and print off recipes etc. I am not afraid to try anything and make tablet and traybakes to take into work. I have loads of books for ideas.

OH is very good though his Mother taught him to make sauces etc so we share it now. He does risotto and any sauces and just makes up things. I do soups, curries, chilli, stews and stovies. When I tell my parents what we are having for tea they say "Oh I don't fancy that" . Yet they have never tried it
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Old 07-03-2008, 16:08
Gogfumble
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My mum and gran taught me all the traditional things like hotpot, yorkie puds and the likes, the rest was pretty much self taught.

We did cookery in school but we never made anything I didn't already know how to make.
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Old 07-03-2008, 16:56
jojo01
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My mum. And Mrs Foster, my first cookery teacher and then the other cookery teachers whose names I can't remember!

Plus cookbooks. I love cookbooks. I would like a whole room in my house full of cookbooks.
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