Tesco Farm to Fork cooking course

We were unable to make the first of the three day cooking school which we had booked at St Neots from 19-21 August. We had an extra visit from my Dad who needed to stay over so we couldn't get across to them in time. We were lucky when we arrived on day two because there was still enough space for us to join in. 

There was a beautiful display of fruits and herbs for the children to see as you walked into the cooking space. It is wonderful to show food in this way, the colours are so bright and appealing. 

Caden was given his apron and the children were told that today they would be visiting 'America' to make American pancakes and some other delicious food after. Caden really liked the idea that we were making food from another country.

Caden set off weighing out the flour for the pancakes, he was also in charge of whisking the batter. The other girls on our table got on with other jobs and myself and the other parents present helped out. 

Here is Dils, one of the two women who were running the course for the day. She is putting honey on some of the finished pancakes so the children can sample the things they have made. They all especially liked the part where they could add their own toppings. There were a lot of creative combinations. We had an interesting mix of cheese and sweetcorn with blueberry and banana. I had Miles (my toddler) in a sling on my back out of the way and he adored the wacky pancakes. There were none left by the time the class finished. 

What was really lovely is that the simple act of washing up and drying up was explained to the children. My boys and I have done lots of cooking, especially recently, at home. It is always me though, that does the washing and drying. I hadn't even thought that the kids might actually enjoy doing that. Well, it was one of the highlights of the cookery school for Caden. He was very thorough and took his time getting everything completely clean and dry. I will be letting him take charge of this in future after he cooks at home too, with a step ladder at the kitchen sink. The trainers, Dils and Fiona were very careful to explain how to wash a knife safely and how to actually do the washing and drying properly. The things we take for-granted every day. This was a great bit of learning for me and Caden. 

Next we made fruit kebabs. This is a recipe that is right up my street. I appreciate that the cookery course needs to appeal to children from a very wide range of demographics but in my opinion there was too much emphasis on 'white' food, white bread, white flour, cow's milk and sugar etc.. . Having a pure fruit kebab is a fantastic way of getting children to eat fruits in their natural state without extra sugar like honey or a chocolate dip and they still have fun and can be creative with it. This was my personal favourite recipe. Needless to say both kebabs Caden made were wolfed down within seconds of us getting out of the class. 

The final masterpieces!

As some of my friends will know, Caden loves to eat green leaves, lettuce is a hit but especially herbs. He and I have done lots of foraging and nibbling our way around the hedgerows when we find tasty edibles. We have found chives in the past and he has loved them. He also eats basil and sometimes nibbles on rosemary and lavender (yep, it's edible) or rubs them on his skin to make a perfume when we pass it. So it was no surprise that he went straight for the beautiful herb display once Dils and Fiona began showing the children what the herbs were and letting them have a taste. In the end Caden was eating bunches of coriander from the plant. I am very happy for his health but sorry for the plant and the lovely display. 

There was a very interesting demonstration next, called 'bread in a bag'.  A new idea to me as well as the kids. The ingredients were read out from the recipe book that the children were given. They were measured and poured into a sealed bag. They were the regular stuff, flour, yeast, salt, tepid water. The children were allowed to feel the tepid temperature in a jug (they all had a good swill around in the jug with their hands which was great for them to experience the temperature) and a basic explanation of what happens to the yeast and what yeast is, was given. Then the really fun bit happened, they sealed the bag, squashing out the air before sealing and began to knead it. The kids threw the bags a bit, they pummelled them and squashed them. They got stuck in! 

We will try this in future again, it makes bread making very accessible for Caden who has a problem with sticky and slimy textures on his skin. The bag was no problem at all, he enjoyed being a part of kneading the bread and turning it into a gooey, sticky mess. 

The children were then given a packet of seeds. They very kindly found Caden some chives. He is delighted with these and I will blog about the herb garden we hope to make soon. 

He was very serious on this day. I don't know why but I guessed because it was a new environment, he is a creature of familiarity. Also he was very tired from camping in the car and going to bed later than usual the two nights before. 

His face does seem to say it all.. haha! 

This is a poster from the wall that the kids read out. 

I had spoken with friends earlier this year whilst camping, about campfire bread. Having the ready-made dough there seemed like a great opportunity to try it so I brought it back to camp and kneaded it. It was truly a sticky mess! It took ages to knead properly. Then I rolled it out as much as I could and covered it in cling film and left it pretty much all afternoon. It grew and almost doubled in width. You could see the bubbles which Caden explained to me was the gas coming off from the yeast in there. 

The kids and I made a campfire and I cooked the bread on the skillet next to the fire and did some sausages. It was a complete hit. I have to say, totally delicious (if not a little smoky looking on the outside).

I believe that for usual campfire bread you roll the dough out into a sausage and wind it around a stick and then cook it in the camp fire, so you can turn it while it cooks. The skillet worked well though.

Miles really enjoyed his too. 

Day two of the cooking class and we learned some new skills again. Caden is becoming proficient with a knife, he tries to be very careful and he was given the task (after it was demonstrated clearly by Dils) of chopping the cheeks off the pepper. I think he has a great technique. 

Today's country was India! The recipe was traffic light rice and mango and chicken pittas. Caden was desperate to slice the mango, I must get some at home for him to practise on. 

The three children from Caden's table stirring the rice. 

Then it was washing up time, hooray! 

Caden got to slice his mango. We have had mango hedgehogs at home before many times but I have always done the slicing. He learned to use the tip of the blade and to make careful and light strokes so the blade doesn't go through the skin. He turned the mango cheek inside out and Voila! 

He really was very good with a knife. It is so encouraging as a parent to see this. We have now put a box in the kitchen aside with Caden's kitchen things (he is left handed so he gets special cooking utensils, just for him to use). He is going to get a left handed knife and he now has his own wooden spoon and spatula, dish cloth and tea towel for drying with (he specifically asked for these).

He is chopping the chicken into 1cm cubes here. He is making a bridge with his non-knife hand so that he protects his nails and skin. 

Then they mixed up mango chunks, lettuce, chicken and mayo. and spices and placed some dollops into the middle of white flour wraps. Fiona demonstrated how a wrap was created. This was tricky for little, unpractised hands but they just about managed it with a bit of help. 

Then the wraps were tasted too along with the rice. Caden loved the rice but didn't fancy the wrap much. 

The next thing we were shown by Dils was a yoghurt and fruit pot. A very good dessert/breakfast recipe I think, if you are happy to have dairy. Lots of berries, oats and plain live yoghurt layered, which again allowed the children to get creative. They loved it when they could be creative the most, all of them preferred this as far as I could see. 

Caden is layering his yoghurt pot here. 

Then we had a quick explanation about Top Noodles which is a play on the word 'Pot Noodle'. Thankfully lots of the children who were there hadn't eaten them but it is a shame that we live in a world where an alternative to a Pot Noodle needs to be found for children, this is not a staple food product. I can't think of many foods that are more junky than a pot noodle.  Educating children in the art of food preparation, safety and hygiene are vitally important. Educating children (and most adults these days) about proper nutrition (not food industry biased nutrition advice on food packaging or in adverts) and the food chain including how to source and forage for themselves is equally vitally important. I feel lucky that my kids are learning things like this and while I don't think that all of the ingredients used in the farm to fork cooking course are necessary (I will mention this later), making this kind of course accessible to all because it is free and teaching these basic skills, like washing up and using a knife safely are skills that will make a big difference later on throughout their lives. 

So back to the 'Top Noodle', again this was a creative exercise. The children could put a selection of veggies into their pots and some very delicious smelling soy/ginger/lime/garlic (I think) sauce was put inside along with egg noodles. It is a novel idea and we might do a dish of noodles with veggies in future. I might not put it in a pot though.

Then the course was finished. The children stood in a row to get their certificates. 

Caden was awarded first and a special mention was made of his careful use of the knife. Thank you gratefully to Dils for that, he has really taken that compliment on board and feels very competent as a result of it. He has talked about how good he is at chopping lots since then. Much appreciated!! 

He is stifling his chuffed-ness here, as he does when he tries to look cool about stuff, but he is totally stoked! He was glowing when he got back to me with his certificate!

Hooray - Caden! and Thanks Tesco! It was great.... more please! 

I said I would review the menu. There were a couple of amendments I would personally like to see made to the ingredients. Firstly the use of low fat products. There is a whole wealth of top-notch research now in the field of nutrition to show that the whole low-fat and diet food phenomenon is partially responsible for the rise in child obesity. I am surprised that a course that was designed in 2014 is recommending  'diet' or 'low fat' products for children. This is sending out the wrong message Tesco.   If you are trying to promote health in young people and there are some good recipes in the menu, then use the standard product with no added sugar to mask the lack of taste since the fat was removed. Children need fat! They also need educating about fats, those that are helpful and those that are harmful (trans-fats, hydrogenated fats and anything unsaturated fat that has been heated, including olive oil).

Sugar has a deleterious effect on the body, in a child it sends blood sugar levels rising too quickly, insulin is released by the pancreas but this bring it too low too quickly and the child feels hungry (and probably cranky) quicker. If a child has full fat food then their hunger is sated, they are full for longer. There are a lot of vitamins (D and E for example) which are fat soluble that a child will benefit from if they eat the fat component of the food. So fat should be kept in food. Keep the food natural. I don't mean full fat processed food, I mean more natural foods like yoghurt. 

I wonder about combining a healthy eating course like this with a healthy movement course, an all round fit child course. This would teach children about the importance of all aspects of health and how you can't fully improve your health without comsidering movement and healthy eating together, anyway I digress... 

The other thing that concerned me is that many of the products were still processed and were white foods. Items like processed mayonnaise and white flour/pasta shouldn't be in there at all. Sugar in the fruit recipe is uneccessary - fruit contains natural sugars already. If flour must be used then surely, stick to wholemeal... The children will just see it as normal if you use it and they are encouraged to try new things simply by being in that environment. If you only use white food because you think that kids will be put off or parents won't want to use those products then you are limiting the children's choices for them. Nothing will change. Use the healthiest versions of food, whole foods and natural foods. Encourage children to use them and tell them why it is good for them to use whole foods. This is an opportunity to slowly educate children and improve lives by expanding their knowledge.