Passionate about Food: The Early Years

Food is a very important part of my life. It is far more than just fuel, more something to be enjoyed at all stages of interaction with it - growing it (if you have the set-up to do so), shopping for it, cooking it and eating it. I struggle to understand those who don't take pleasure in it, those who claim that they are 'too busy' to take an interest, and those who think it's all just too much of a chore. (I wish I had my copy of Bad Food Britain with me in Australia so that I could quote some stats).

I remember being taught how to bake simple things (Rock Cakes, Scones, Shortbread) at Primary School at around 5/6 years old. From memory, it was a rotating collective of Mothers who would take groups of us, help us mix the ingredients, and load our efforts into a small oven. I can remember feeling very proud when I brought home the fruits of my labour to my family at the end of the day, and angry if my biscuits burnt. There was also trips to both sets of grandparents (thats me in the middle with Nanna Vi on the left, and Nanny Joan on the right), where there always being some kind of baked goods on offer. And as I learnt recipes at school, I'd recreate them at my Nanna's on the weekend, with my cheese scones being a particular specialty (and Colmans Mustard Powder the secret ingredient.). And I always had good role models - my paternal grandfather did all the cooking after my Nan had a heart attack at 50 because he didn't want her to push herself into another, and my Dad and brother are both keen cooks.

At Secondary School, we had a choice of which 'technology' subject to study at GSCE, with the options being CDT (Woodwork, Metalwork and the like), Art, Graphics, Textiles or Food Technology (aka a modernised Home Economics). Having inherited absolutely zero of my (Mechanical Engineer) Dad's manual dexterity , and not being able to draw for shit, I went for the later. From memory, there were three or four boys in a class of just over twenty. We entered the 'Challenge Colmans' contest, making, creating, and marketing a brand new product (ours was a tomato salsa called "It's Hot!" back in 1994 [before Old El Paso had really taken off]), and made up new chocolate bars (mine was remarkably like the Cadbury's Fuse Bar, again, before it launched in 1996). I like to think I was ahead of the curve, and that someone was secretly watching our class and stealing our ideas....

However, for me, the thing that I remember most was recreating a supermarket microwave meal using ingredients from scratch (mine being some kind of cream-based pasta dish), and then doing a taste test. Of course, the homecooked dish won virtually every time for everyone in the class, and I think it was this that made an indelible mark on me.

Years on, we've seen Jamie Oliver attempt to overhaul School Dinners, and teach basic cookery skills to those who think heating up a plastic tray of slop is "making dinner". And now we have the supposed resurgence (in Australia) of Home Cooking, no doubt led in part by households cutting back on eating out in economically challenging times, and spurred on by the phenomenon that is Masterchef Australia and it's assorted imitators. And all of a sudden, we're starting to hear of children wanting to get involved, so much so that Channel 10 are to launch a kids version of the show. I'm curious as to exactly how this will pan out in reality, and whether it'll just be full of precocious little brats from wealthy inner-suburban backgrounds messing around with wagyu, or whether it'll represent an wider spectrum and thus have a greater potential to have a greater social impact (I can but dream). Because it's the influences around us that shape our views on food...the grandparents who let us help make biscuits when we're kids, the trips to the supermarket with your parents, and the shows we see on TV...