I have found cookery is a way of expressing myself in many different ways. I think the attitude that it’s just like a manual job and it’s not an academic discipline is very short sighted.
I think education is too narrow in its view - in a large part it regards the ability to memorise facts as being the most important thing. But to me that’s not what education should be about. It’s a way of developing personality, and if cooking suits somebody’s personality then it should be encouraged.
It’s a real shame there’s no serious examination for it in schools. I do understand that the resources needed would be quite a problem. But I think the attitude is wrong really. People ought to take cookery far more seriously than they do.
There’s still a sort of attitude that cooking and the catering industry is a second- class job. Speaking frompersonal experience, I can tell you that’s rubbish.
