12-04-2006, 06:01 PM
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.
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.