My son really loves cooking...

victory

It calms him which is a good thing, he has got the flair to think of putting this ingredient with that one to come up with some lovely things, he is 11, he does cooking once a week at school for 45 mins and comes home with muffins, flapjacks, cakes etc so here at home I have been in the kitchen with him encouraging him to make meals, savoury etc.

Googled about kids cookery classes and they range from £205 upwards:eek: some are very far away so will stick to teaching him myself and sometimes he likes to be in the kitchen alone and comes up with great things.

I am not saying he is the next Jamie Oliver but wondered if there are any cooks out there that do it for a living or chefs or anyone that could tell me how to channel his love of cooking.

Other than the cooking his hobbies are very limited so am excited for him that he has found something he is passionate about, I don't mind spending as much time as he needs with him helping him, we have cookery books for kids, we have all the equipment, he cleans up after himsef with some help so it is all good just wondered as he keeps saying he wants to be a cook when he is older if there is anything else I can do for him?

I realised at the age of 11 he may change his mind a million times by the time he comes to get a job but in the meantime I want to keep him inspired.

ilikewatch

To be honest, if he's showing a talent for cooking at 11 I'd steer well clear of "kids" cooking classes and recipe books, he should be absolutely fine with the "grown up" versions of these things.

Encourage him to keep a scrap book/journal to record recipes he has invented/modified.

At your sons age I was entranced by Larrousse Gastronomique and must have read this book almost non-stop between the ages of 10 and 15 - it seems expensive (RRP around £60 - cheaper on ebay etc.) but contains so much detail about recipes, ingredients and techniques that I think it is indispensable for any budding youngster.

Mupette

I think you are doing a great job,

practice, practice, practice.

Teaching your son to cook now, brilliant, least they will leave home and know how to fend for themselves in the kitchen.

Sorry nothing constructive to say about classes.

VfM4meplse

Mupette wrote: »

Sorry nothing constructive to say about classes.

I agree, money for old rope. Have you ever seen Rachel Allen's cookery school on her TV show? Even a child would feel seriously shortchanged by it.

If you want to invest in your DS' interest, why not subscribe to the Good Food channel? The breadth of shows should encourage his creativity.

cyclingyorkie

Wouldn't bother with classes myself - just teach him what you know/do! To be honest it is far more important that he knows how to cook a spag bol or shepherds pie than flapjack!

Just let him loose with your cookbooks - DD2 spent ages reading mine and having a go at various things - in the end we bought her the Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall Family cookbook and she's made loads of stuff out of it - but she's equally happy doing a curry and she regularly looks at the recipes in my Slimming World magazine and works out what to try. When I started doing S/W she was very involved with helping me make my family favourites S/W friendly!

And yes she did Food Technology GCSE - and she loved it! School doesn't offer it at A Level - not enough demand they said -( they were wrong!! But they will run A Level IT for 3 people!)

19lottie82

I went to a cooking evening class and it was fantastic!
We were taught how to cook healthy family meals on a budget and cooking / prep / safety basics and techniques. Such as how to chop veg and prepare meat and fish.

It was 2.5 hours 1 evening a week for 10 weeks and I think it was £70? At one of my local colleges.

I'm not sure if it was adults only tho.

RedBern

why don't you give him the 'responsibility' of once a week planning and preparing dinner for you all? Perhaps sunday lunch, (keeping to a budget of course!) but trying out new ideas?

RedBern

elvis86 wrote: »

Is there a point to this thread, or did you mistake MSE Forums for your diary again..?

*waits for thread title to change to "........................................"*

that's unnecessary - what's your problem? If you're not interested - don't read it! Simples.;)

rachbc

at that age my brother and I were both cooking for the family once a week - choosing the meal, and doing all the cooking. Why not give him the responsibilty.

Our college offers 'Junior Chefs Academy' which is quite different from cooking lessons at school etc in that it is an introduction to working in professional kitchens rather than just learning how to cook for yourslef/ family.

If in a few yyears he's still wanting to be a chef a weekend job as a KP wold be good expereince too.

pinkteapot

Keep fresh recipes coming into the house for inspiration. Supermarket magazines are full of recipes and usually only cost a couple of quid.

Maybe a subscription to Good Food magazine for his birthday? Might result in him asking you to buy expensive ingredients though.

shebangs

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