The FastDay Forum

[carieoates]

Monday channel four at 9. Jimmy Doherty and Kate Quilton travel around the planet discovering the food habits of the average family. Looking at their weekly food shop. Looks like a must see to me.

Hi Carie,Will be interesting to see which countries eat better than Uk and America!

I'll bet most of them!!!

I think the UK and US are guilty of a lot of processed food. When we visit other countries, it's lovely to see the fresh food on offer (Marrakech being the freshest so far with the chickens and rabbits still alive until they are bought!)

[carieoates]

Interestingly when I went to Auckland into the superstore it was more like a cash and carry. Loads of lovely fresh produce theorem fruit, veg, very cheap shell fish yum yum.,,,,.....But like aldi there was not a massive amount of choice ie not thirty different cheddar cheeses, only about five. We have far too much choice, if there wasn't so much choice we may be more inclined to make our own. I also make my own, where I possibly can.

Haha that sounds like my local supermarkets @carieoates. If by any chance they happen to have what you're looking for, they will have one kind, two if you're very lucky or if it's something they use a lot. I'm lost now when I go to Asda or the like with so much choice, it makes my head spin.

[carieoates]

Ha @justdee where are you? It's not on your visible profile details.

I'm in catalunya @carieoates, it's like going back in time. They're only just starting with the ready meals so almost everything here is cooked from fresh. It's the first generation were the parents aren't teaching the kids how to cook. Very sad, I wish they could see how things are in England, then maybe they would know how important it is to teach our kids to cook. It will be completely different here in 10 years, the big food suppliers are moving in and the locals love it. They got their first macD's a few years ago and they all think it's the best thing since sliced bread. My daughter and I will never eat at macD's and they can't understand why. So sad to see the way they are going.

Why can't people learn from other's mistakes. It's so heartbreaking.

[carieoates]

Mmmm yes I can't believe people who travel around the planet and head into KFC and Maccy Ds, what a waste. But having said that I have a fussy son and his 15 birthday treat was to take his mates to Burger King. It was a treat and still is in our household. But I have to confess to being curious how the menus change in these places from continent to continent, ie gravy, mashed potato and the like as sides in KFC in Hong Kong I think it was.
Still we are hoping to go to Miami next Easter now that'll be interesting.
Absolutely love Spain @justdee.

McD's, and the like are a treat in this house too, so is Subway and a big treat is a sit down Chinese buffet. Even the Autistic lad can cook from scratch. I still get the occasional skype call from my daughter along the lines of 'how do I make....'.

I think the not teaching kids to cook is a single generation thing. The ones who were brought up on processed food realise what they are missing and try and do better for their kids. Or money talks. Yes you can get a pie from the frozen section of a supermarket for £2, but its tiny, has no real meat in it and tastes awful. For an extra £ more you can get the ingredients for a much bigger much better flavoured one that will be much better for your kids health.

I self taught my cooking skills as my mother was an awful cook, my kids have ended up unafraid of the kitchen and cooking and are willing to experiment and try out new recipes, to such an extent that the eldest is a qualified chef. Cooking is not that much of a dying art.

Now what I do think is ludicrous is the sale of pancake batter mix. Just add an egg and water. So the packet basically has dried milk power 2 table spoon, and flour 2 tablespoons in it, yet its sold to people who say they can't make batter. What is so hard about whisking together eggs flour and milk? Also when you read the packet it has all sorts of additives because it has dried milk in it which could go off if left to long or opened for too long. Ridiculous I say.

My son is off to Uni this Autumn (fingers crossed), and I have booked him onto a local 2 day Pre Uni "Kitchen Survivors" course. I cook every day, and as has been said Fast Food takeaways are seen as a treat. The reason I booked him onto the course is that time has shown that he is more prepared to learn if he is being taught by an outside "expert"

It was a great moment for me recently when my son texted me to say 'what's the name of those little rolls you make with a bacon onion filling?' 'Piroshkis' and then when I went to see him the next day, there he was with the internet recipe, making piroshkis!

I love Spain too @carieoates but it's not what it was.
We go to burger king about once a year. There is one about 60km from where we live, thank god it's not closer. Subway is the only other fast food we eat, if we're in the UK (haven't got them here). We all have our weaknesses. I tried stopping macD's years ago but couldn't do it. It was only when I heard that because they have no regulation in some countries (India etc) , they pack their maccy food full of even more crap than ours because it's cheaper. I said then I would never give them another penny, and I haven't. DD didn't like it at first and thought she was being punished. Every time we drove past I would say 'evil, poisonous food' . If they can brain wash my child, so can I. Now we drive past and she sings 'da da da da darrr we're hating it', haha my plan worked.
I don't think not teaching kids to cook is a single generation thing @Julieathome, I know lots of people in the UK who were brought up on ready meals and instant food and are now doing the same with their kids. With any luck people will start to wake up a bit.
I cooked loads with my mum as a child and now cook everything from scratch. My brother was the baby of the family and got everything done for him. Couldn't cook a thing, once asked me how to cook carrots. Now he has a son (2 years) he's started cooking at the age of 32. Still has loads of processed crap too but at least he's cooking somethings.
As for the pancake mix, I saw frozen pasta in a supermarket (can't remember where). All you have to do is put it in boiling water haha, can you believe people actually buy that.

I am the cooking from scratch kind as I hate process food with a passion. However I didn't learn my cooking skills from my mum as, even if she's a great cook, uses too much crème fraîche and butter to my taste. Plus, I can't stand heavy sauce dishes and she loves them. How do you think my dad went from 78kgs when they married to 150 kgs 30 years later ?

I really think that, with internet and all the recipes we can find everywhere and videos, it's possible to learn to cook some proper food.

Mac Do here is not even a treat. The last time I went was 2 months ago (didn't eat a hamburger for 2 years before that) and it was only because my nephews were here and we had to eat quickly before going to see my mother in the hospital where she was at the time. I was so shocked by what I found there, the 20 nuggets box especially