The little chefs Hilary Rose travels to Dorset, in the south of England, to investigate a cookery course for children. There must be something in the air in Dorset, because the last place you’d expect to fi nd children during the summer holidays is in the kitchen. Yet in a farmhouse, deep in the English countryside, that’s exactly where they are – on a cookery course designed especially for children. It’s all the idea of Anna Wilson, who wants to educate young children about cooking and eating in a healthy way. ‘I’m very keen to plant the idea in their heads that food doesn’t grow on supermarket shelves,’ she explains. ‘The course is all about making food fun and enjoyable.’ She thinks that eight is the perfect age to start teaching children to cook, because at that age they are always hungry. 9() These children are certainly all smiles as they arrive at the country farmhouse. Three girls and four boys aged from ten to thirteen make up the group. They are immediately given a tour of what will be ‘home’ for the next 48 hours. 10 But one thing is quite clear – they all have a genuine interest in food and learning how to cook. Anna has worked as a chef in all sorts of situations and has even cooked for the crew of a racing yacht, in limited space and diffi cult weather conditions. 11 ‘Kids are easy to teach,’ she insists, ‘because they’re naturally curious and if you treat them like adults they listen to you.’ Back in the kitchen, Anna is giving the introductory talk, including advice on keeping hands clean, and being careful around hot ovens. 12 Judging by the eager looks on their young faces as they watch Anna’s demonstration, they are just keen to start cooking. The children learn the simplest way, by watching and then doing it themselves. They gather round as Anna chops an onion for the fi rst evening meal. Then the boys compete with each other to chop their onions as fast as possible, while the girls work carefully, concentrating on being neat. 13 When they learn to make bread, the girls knead the dough with their hands competently, while the boys punch it into the board, cheerfully hitting the table with their fi sts. The following morning, four boys with dark shadows under their eyes stumble into the kitchen at 8.30 a.m. to learn how to make breakfast (sausages and eggs, and fruit drinks made with yoghurt and honey). We learn later that they didn’t stop talking until 4.30 a.m. 14 Ignoring this, Anna brightly continues trying to persuade everyone that fruit drinks are just as interesting as sausages and eggs. Anna has great plans for the courses and is reluctant to lower her standards in any way, even though her students are so young. 15 ‘And I like to keep the course fees down,’ Anna adds, ‘because if the children enjoy it and go on to teach their own children to cook, I feel it’s worth it.’ If this course doesn’t inspire them to cook, nothing will.
A This is followed by a session on ‘knife skills’, which will be important later on.
B She always uses top- quality ingredients, such as the best cuts of meat and the fi nest cheeses, so there’s clearly no profi t motive in this operation.
C As they wander round, they argue lightheartedly about who has had the most experience in the kitchen.
D In the garden, they learn about the herbs that they will use in their cooking.
E Their obvious tiredness may explain why one of them goes about the task so carelessly that the ingredients end up on the fl oor.
F This is particularly true of young boys, who are happy to do anything that will end in a meal.
G As a result, she has a very relaxed attitude to cooking, constantly encouraging the children and never talking down to them.
H This contrast will become something of a theme during the course.
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