What would motivate you to attend a cookery school/ lessons?

[dudette]

Thanks again BB.
Out of interest what make of knife did you purchase? What did you look for when making the purchase ITO quality/ price/ functionality etc?
I'm surprised you prefer an electric oven to the gas - afterall gas is 'immediate' in it's functionality.

Some further questions:

q. Do you have a particular strength in the kitchen?
r. What scares you most about cooking?
s. What excites you most about cooking?
t. Do you rely on tried and trusted recipes or do you experiment with abandon?
u. In general do you find it easy to cook ITO 'Eat to live' or 'Live to eat'?
v. How much of your budget do you devote to cooking?
w. Do you prefer convenience or 'prepare from scratch' cooking?
x. What kind of shops do you source your food from eg: Specialist/ super stores/ farmer's markets/ online/ etc?

Keep the answers coming
G

Q. I find roasts pretty easy, and generally they come up trumps for me
r.preparing for guests!
t. baking!
u.eat to live
v.cooking? just under 10% of our budget goes to food
w. I definitely prefer "prepare from scratch" ... I like to know what I have put into my meals, but then am not averse to using cook-in-sauces ... they really seem to get the taste right...
x. Good ole Tesco's for me! (budget considerations here...)

[Bushbaby]

some further questions:

y. Rank in order of importance the course you'd most like to attend and reasons therefore.

· Knife skills
· Easy cooking methods eg roasting/ braising/ grilling etc
· Tips for cooks
· Sauces and stocks
· Meat and poultry
· Fish and shellfish
· Seafood master class – white fish/ game fish cookery
· Seasonal/ regional
· Restaurant/ Haute cuisine plating and service
· Basics to exotic
· BBQ/ potjiekos
· Vegetarian
· Kiddies cooking eg pasta/ pizza, fun and healthy
· Entertaining at home
· Purchasing points – what to look for, how to prepare
· Basic cookery – German/ Italian/ Portuguese/ South African/ Classic French/ British
· Pastries and desserts, sugar work
· Bread making
· Venison and game
· Canapes and cocktails
· Equipment to be used/ purchased by domestic cooks
· ‘Spend night in the kitchen’ - professional kitchen, service etc
· Smoking – trout/ game fish/ meats

1. Fish and shellfish
2. Seafood master class – white fish/ game fish cookery
3. Pastries and desserts
4. Bread making
5. Meat and poultry
6. Smoking – trout/ game fish/ meats
7. Vegetarian
8. Entertaining at home

z. What cookery programmes do you watch and the reasons thereof?

My Greek Kitchen (I like Greek food and this presents the preparation of the dishes in a very simple way).

Anything else that might be on when flicking through channels - except Gary Rhodes as he is soooooooo boring.

[lols]

a. What would be your primary motivation?

To get some idea's and inspiration using GOOD products. I really enjoy cooking but find I cook the sames things as I need lots of inspiration.

b. What kind of food would you like/ love to learn how to cook?

Almost anything! I really love cooking. Unusual things, different cuts of meat , using different ingrediants

c. What is the amount you're willing to pay for lessons?

£20-£30 a lesson

d. Have you ever attended cookery lessons/ school?

Yes, Your family magazine cookery school.

e. Would you prefer 'hands on' or 'demonstration' type of lessons?

Most definetly HANDS ON


f. Can your other half cook?

If he really wants to

g. Would you be interested in doing 'couple's cooking'?


Probably yes

h. Would you be interested in learning just a few dishes and mastering them or a wider selection?

Wider selection


i. Do you panic at the thought of hosting dinner parties?

No

Have cooked for large numbers in the past.


Yes, part of a team who catered for about 300 people. Use to work in a canteen enviroment.

[lols]

Out of interest for the others as well, some further questions:

j. Do you cook on gas or electricity mainly?

GAS


k. Do you own a professional set of knives (no matter how humble your kitchen is)?

Yes


l. Would 'knife skills' interest you as a demo/ hands-on?

Not really

m. Would 4 hours per course be sufficient time to learn?

I would prefer 4 hours per session rather than just fours hour all in all


n. Does the 'celebrity' factor influence you when choosing ingredients to cook?

Only in the fact that is where I get inspiration from.


o. Do you find cookbooks/ recipes easy to follow?

Yes

p. Have you ever spent any time in a professional kitchen/ eaten at the restaurant's 'Chefs Table'?


No, unless you count Ready Steady Cook audience

[lols]

q. Do you have a particular strength in the kitchen?

I have been to known to use just one ingrediant as inspirations to create a whole meal. Not being scare to try new things.

r. What scares you most about cooking?

Baking, cause it always seems to go wrong.

s. What excites you most about cooking?

Having the right ingrediants to cook nice meals. Being able to prepare meals for people who enjoy eating different food.


t. Do you rely on tried and trusted recipes or do you experiment with abandon?

Always happy to experiment.

u. In general do you find it easy to cook ITO 'Eat to live' or 'Live to eat'?

Bit of both. Over the weekends I can spend hours cooking for fun, normally during the week its a case of East to live



v. How much of your budget do you devote to cooking?

About 15% but that is probably all our food budget including things for packed lunches, snacks etc


w. Do you prefer convenience or 'prepare from scratch' cooking?

Scratch but do use convenience when time is limited


x. What kind of shops do you source your food from eg: Specialist/ super stores/ farmer's markets/ online/ etc?

Farmer's markets, deli (for certain things) mainly supermarkets. I have been known to travel miles to get a certain ingrediant

[Cheffie]

Thanks Lols, Dudette and BB.

Interesting so far with the comments etc - please keep them coming.

dudette.. we'll have to brush up your skills. You've missed a few questions

Some further questions:

1. Would you be interested in doing this as a 'corporate team-building exercise' ?
2. ITO Value-for-money what would be your essential requirements?
3. What (if any) discounts/ deals would you expect from booking multiple courses?
4. If you were able to learn and re-produce one thing from each course presented, what is that 'one thing' you'd most like to know?
5. Is there a gender bias towards cooking the meals in your home?

Keep the answers coming
G

[Bushbaby]

Some further questions:

1. Would you be interested in doing this as a 'corporate team-building exercise' ?

No.

2. ITO Value-for-money what would be your essential requirements?

Please elaborate...

3. What (if any) discounts/ deals would you expect from booking multiple courses?

Reduced fee per course booked.

4. If you were able to learn and re-produce one thing from each course presented, what is that 'one thing' you'd most like to know?

Again, need a bit more clarification. The one thing I would really like to know at the moment is simply menu planning/food combining - what combination of dishes/courses work and what doesn't and how to tell the difference.

5. Is there a gender bias towards cooking the meals in your home?

No.

[Cheffie]

2. ITO Value-for-money what would be your essential requirements?

Please elaborate...


4. If you were able to learn and re-produce one thing from each course presented, what is that 'one thing' you'd most like to know?

Again, need a bit more clarification. The one thing I would really like to know at the moment is simply menu planning/food combining - what combination of dishes/courses work and what doesn't and how to tell the difference.

Hi BB and others

Whatever you deem as value-for-money eg: knowledge gained/ course instruction and delivery/ cost/ lunch and wine provided/ accessibility to major transport routes/ course content and recipe advice/ etc.

Using the above list as a provisional example (the one where you had to rank in order of importance) what would be the 'one-must-know/have-thing' you'd want to learn and/or take away from the courses?

Some further questions:

6. Would you be interested in making soups and their derivatives?
7. Would DVD or audio-visual media back up of the courses offered be of interest to you?
8. How does accessibility of ingredients affect your cooking? eg: Truffles are gorgeous but might be out of the price range for most domestic cooks.

More to follow. Keep the answers coming and any suggestions are most welcome.
G

[nataliiie]

a. What would be your primary motivation?

The fact that I can't cook an entire meal. Can do individual items, like rice, mashed potatoes, etc. Was vegetarian for a long time and therefore terribly nervous about cooking meat. Subsequently I overcook it.
I look after a child and putting together balanced meals for her is easy as she's not fussy about food. However, I really have no idea of what combinations of food would go well together in an entire meal.


b. What kind of food would you like/ love to learn how to cook?

Anything edible


c. What is the amount you're willing to pay for lessons?

I've never done cookery classes, and have no idea the expense involved in this. However more than GBP30 per 3 hour lesson would be too much for my budget. I don't think that food is worth paying more than this.


d. Have you ever attended cookery lessons/ school?

See above


e. Would you prefer 'hands on' or 'demonstration' type of lessons?

I'll watch Jamie Oliver on television if I thought it would help my culinary experience. I don't mind either hands on or demonstration, but demonstration must have the option available for lots of questions.


f. Can your other half cook?

Yes, thank heaven.


g. Would you be interested in doing 'couple's cooking'?

That sounds like a grand idea. He can do the cooking and I'll do the washing up (which is what normally happens). Actually, I'm quite a good aide to a chef. I can chop, cut, pour very well. Just don't have the confidence to combine the lot into a meal made by me.


h. Would you be interested in learning just a few dishes and mastering them or a wider selection?

Few dishes with options on how to make these different by adding different ingredients.


i. Do you panic at the thought of hosting dinner parties?

PANIC??!!?? I start hyperventilating at the thought, then break out in hives, after which follows a rich lathering of measles/chickenpox/ecoli/dislocated elbow/conjungtivitus/etc.


j. Do you cook on gas or electricity mainly?

Gas stove, electricity oven


k. Do you own a professional set of knives (no matter how humble your kitchen is)?

No, but do have miscellaneous knives which are sharp (ish).


l. Would 'knife skills' interest you as a demo/ hands-on?

Yes, I have lost countless fingernails, tops of fingers, sliced through various arteries, etc.


m. Would 4 hours per course be sufficient time to learn?

Yes


n. Does the 'celebrity' factor influence you when choosing ingredients to cook?

No


o. Do you find cookbooks/ recipes easy to follow?

Yes, as long as there are good pictures (Australian Woman's Weekly and Good Housekeeping).


p. Have you ever spent any time in a professional kitchen/ eaten at the restaurant's 'Chefs Table'?

No


q. Do you have a particular strength in the kitchen?

Washing up. Cutting, chopping, peeling, etc. I can cook a great pot of rice, however. I can bake pretty well.


r. What scares you most about cooking?

- Overcooking, never sure when the right time is to remove from heat source.
- Too many combinations of food to put together and some parts of the meal coming to the table cold/cool.
- Venturing out with herbs/spices and putting the wrong combination together, and as a result I end up using the same ones over and over again.
- Cooking for more than four people.


s. What excites you most about cooking?

Having someone say that they must have the recipe to the dish I have just cooked because it's too delicious not to do again.


t. Do you rely on tried and trusted recipes or do you experiment with abandon?

Do experiment within a particular remit. Don't venture out too far from what I know.


u. In general do you find it easy to cook ITO 'Eat to live' or 'Live to eat'?

The eating of food is mostly a functional exercise. It serves a purpose and very often I don't get terribly excited about food, except chocolate mousse.


v. How much of your budget do you devote to cooking?

60% - 70% of my weekly shopping budget.


w. Do you prefer convenience or 'prepare from scratch' cooking?

Prepare from scratch. I prefer to know what goes into the food that is on the plate. Having been a vegetarian for a long time (no longer) it was important to read labels and understand ingredients listed in items bought. Having a child in the house this has become more of a priority now.
However, I draw the line at slaughtering my own cow.


x. What kind of shops do you source your food from eg: Specialist/ super stores/ farmer's markets/ online/ etc?

Farm store, Super store (ASDA), and health store


y. Rank in order of importance the course you'd most like to attend and reasons therefore.

· Knife skills - no fingers left
· Easy cooking methods eg roasting/ braising/ grilling etc
· Tips for cooks - any help would be greatly appreciated
· Sauces and stocks - always handy to know
· Meat and poultry - knowing when meat is cooked is a hard one for me to gauge
· Fish and shellfish - this scares the life out of me and my recycling bin has far too many tuna cans in it
· Seasonal/ regional - would prefer to have tasty fresh food rather than available frozen/storaged food
· BBQ/ potjiekos - is this possible in England? can a woman encroach on this domain?
· Vegetarian
· Entertaining at home - for more than four people, timings, combinations, etc
· Purchasing points – what to look for, how to prepare
· Basic cookery – German/ Italian/ Portuguese/ South African/ Classic French/ British - nice to know but not essential
· Pastries and desserts, sugar work - also nice to know but not essential
· Bread making - yeast also scares the life out of me, and how do you get rid of that awful yeast smell after item is cooked


z. What cookery programmes do you watch and the reasons thereof

Jamie Oliver - he makes it look so easy and enjoyed his tirade against school dinners.


1. Would you be interested in doing this as a 'corporate team-building exercise'?

That is an interesting idea and worth some thought, although I've considered my failings in the kitchen to be a personal issue and have tried not to involve others too much in this (beyond the occasional dodgy stomach).


2. ITO Value-for-money what would be your essential requirements?

A good set of instructions with pictures (if possible) to be given out at beginning of course of all content, tips, ingredients, etc covered. Having hands messy with food doesn't help with taking notes. And it's difficult to remember all things covered otherwise.


3. What (if any) discounts/ deals would you expect from booking multiple courses?

Maybe discounts for others signed into course. Reduced rate for multiple courses, or free set of knives for so many courses booked


4. If you were able to learn and re-produce one thing from each course presented, what is that 'one thing' you'd most like to know?

How to put an entire meal together into something that works.


5. Is there a gender bias towards cooking the meals in your home?

No, only females in my household, but unfortunately for everybody else, I'm the one with the time to do the food preparation.


6. Would you be interested in making soups and their derivatives?

Yes, please


7. Would DVD or audio-visual media back up of the courses offered be of interest to you?

A good idea, but filming has to be involved (close-up) and not from a distance at the back of the room.


8. How does accessibility of ingredients affect your cooking? eg: Truffles are gorgeous but might be out of the price range for most domestic cooks.

I'm happy to substitute or leave out ingredients.

[Strawbs]

My answers are as follows:

a. What would be your primary motivation?
To be able to experiment more and be able to whip up all sorts of delights

b. What kind of food would you like/ love to learn how to cook?
Fish and also baking cakes

c. What is the amount you're willing to pay for lessons?
Eish.. free from you :rofl: probably around £10-£15 to start

d. Have you ever attended cookery lessons/ school?
Got an "A" in Home Ec :duh:

e. Would you prefer 'hands on' or 'demonstration' type of lessons?#
Definitely hands on

f. Can your other half cook?
Does burning water count??? Peanut butter sarmies???

g. Would you be interested in doing 'couple's cooking'?
Definitely

h. Would you be interested in learning just a few dishes and mastering them or a wider selection?
A wider selection... eating the same dishes all the time can get boring

i. Do you panic at the thought of hosting dinner parties?
Not at all..... Roasts always work a treat! :p



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