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A Hotpoint mobile teaching kitchen will hit the road this summer to arm the nation with cooking skills, in partnership with celebrity chef Jamie Oliver and his Food Foundation.
Teachers from the Jamie Oliver Food Foundation will run daily free classes from the truck, using Hotpoint cooking appliances,
The lessons will be offered in five locations: South London, Bristol, Middlesbrough, Sunderland and Liverpool. Local residents can book classes in advance at www.jamiesministryoffood.org/hotpoint-teaching-kitchen.
A sixth location will be confirmed based on entries submitted using #cookforchange on social media. Entrants are encouraged to nominate a local community group to win a visit, such as a local school, community centre or scouts group. Entrants are required to send a picture of the group, along with their name and which town they are from, to be in with a chance to win.
The truck will be in each community for a week, and will be open to people of any age. There will also be family classes, to encourage parents to cook with their children.
Earlier this month Hotpoint surveyed 2,000 UK adults about their cooking habits with OnePoll.
The research revealed that almost one in five UK adults rely on a diet of takeaways and convenience food due to lack of knowledge in the kitchen, with one in10 admitting they never cook from scratch.
Over half of respondents blamed a lack of cooking lessons in schools and 67% blamed the fact that recipes are no longer passed down through generations.
It appears the majority of Brits are stumped when it comes to whipping up a meal. One in five can’t boil an egg; more than a quarter struggles to cook rice and almost a third say they are unable to cut an onion correctly.
Furthermore, almost one-third of parents say they don’t prepare home-cooked meals for their children on a regular basis, blaming a lack of time (42%); recipes being too difficult and complex (14%); and a lack of confidence (19%)
The top 20 cooking skills that Brits feel least confident about attempting are:
1. Making falafels
2. Making ice cream
3. Making guacamole/salsa
4. Making pizza dough
- Making curry paste
- Making a homemade dip
- Making bread
- Cooking pulses correctly
- Making dough
- Making a marinade
- Making pastry
- Making a salad dressing
- Making a tomato sauce
- Making meatballs from scratch
- Making a white sauce
- Making a batter from scratch
- Baking a sponge cake
- Making gravy from scratch
- Making a cheese sauce
- Making a soup
Jamie said: “We’re all busy, but let’s face it: we’ve got to eat. And if we can take care of the ones we love by sharing home-cooked, nutritious fare, that’s always going to be a bonus.
“That’s why I’m so excited to be working with Hotpoint, taking our cookery lessons on the road to skill up the nation and get people of all ages to have a go at making some delicious dishes – and have fun while they do it!”
Hotpoint senior brand manager Jennifer Taylor commented: “After we discovered the gap in the nation’s cooking skills, we decided to take action. We’re thrilled to have Jamie Oliver on board to help us get the nation cooking together. We want to arm the nation with the skills they need to feel confident in the kitchen.
“With Hotpoint’s easy-to-use appliances, and Jamie’s enthusiasm and talent, we’re taking our lessons to the road to teach communities all over the country. We’re on a mission to change the way UK households view their time in the kitchen for good.”
The Jamie Oliver Food Foundation aims to ‘revolutionise the way people feed themselves and their families’ through local food education programmes and international campaigns.
Jamie’s Ministry of Food has permanent teaching centres across the UK, Australia and America, empowering people to cook from scratch. The programme also provides outreach lessons, and course material for external partners to teach cookery skills in schools, communities, organisations and businesses.
The custom-built Hotpoint mobile teaching kitchen, in partnership with Jamie Oliver and his Food Foundation, will hit the road this summer
