Food for thought and talk: 

'Should home economics be reintroduced to the National Curriculum?'

Last week, between the hours of 8pm-9pm each evening, 4 million of us across the nation were glued to our television screens watching ‘The Great British Bake Off’ in aid of Comic Relief. I have since discovered that even the less enthused bakers amongst us were lured into watching, which only highlights the programme’s appeal to a wider audience. There was creativity, with Martha Kearney’s beehive cake; laughter, bought on mainly by Mel’s comical banter; there was tension -when Claudia Winkleman dropped her lemon meringue pie just before the judges descended and there was slander, as Paul Hollywood continued to play the culinary version of Simon Cowell. The Bake Off for Comic Relief has since sparked inspiration across the nation, encouraging people to host their own bake sale; we are in fact in the process of organising one here in Cheltenham, which has already generated a huge array of excitement. It is a great way of encouraging people to take to their kitchens and bake, especially when it’s in aid of a charitable cause.

My passion, inspiration and skill for baking developed from a very early age, where I was taught this fine art by my Grandmother. I spent many glorious hours in her kitchen carefully observing her every move as she whisked together various concoctions. Though I must admit, this level of concentration at the age of 4 was only achieved mainly in anticipation for licking the bowl “clean” of its remaining contents, which, as a child and even an adult, is arguably by far the best bit!

However, at the time, cake baking was something not to be taken lightly; even though there was fun and laughter throughout, Grandma still took it seriously. It was ‘critical’ to master the vital techniques of “creaming” and “folding” the mixture, in order to achieve a fluffy and spongy cake – this was something we had to pay close observation to, so any dreams of licking the bowl were temporarily pushed to one side. We were bought pink miniature mixing bowls, spoons and aprons for  Birthday’s and Christmas’s to encourage our enthusiasm during the many hours Mum would spend with us in the kitchen teaching my sisters and I to make a variety of puddings, jellies and cakes,  with each process bringing more fun than the last, especially when we reached the decorating stage! These are some of my fondest memories of childhood, with the stories of our mishaps still laughed about amongst the family today.

At the tender age of 6, I personally felt I had mastered these techniques down to a fine art and happily took to the kitchen, quietly confident I could create something both my Grandma and Mother would be proud of. When it comes to baking cakes, inspiration came to me not just in the form of Grandma – I was too young at this point to fully appreciate the influential works of Mary Berry, but instead via the television with an old film some of you may have heard of called ‘Pollyanna’, starring Hayley Mills. The stereotypical plump cook made the most tremendous cakes for the local fair that were at least a foot high, with filling oozing out the sides, causing an outburst of excitement amongst the local children. 

'Pollyanna' - the cake which inspired me

Now that's a proper slice of cake!

To me, that was a cake that would not only satisfy my sweet cravings, but also become the talk of the family as well as the playground for at least a week, creating the perfect culinary triumph, or so I thought.

I set to work, having commandeered the kitchen whilst the coast was clear, which meant no fights over licking the bowl – my first triumph was in the bag – I was off to a good start! Remembering Mum’s special baking rhyme, ‘first the oven, then the tin, wash your hands and then begin’ - I was off. A few hours passed before I was discovered with more mixture on myself, the dogs and the work surfaces, not to mention in my expanding belly, than the cake tin and to my dismay, a cake which had failed to rise even a centimetre high, to the great amusement of my sisters – I would never live this down. It was at this point, my Mother decided both supervision and further training were required not just on reading a recipe (at 6, I was more into ‘Where’s Wolly’ and ‘Kittens in the Kitchen’ rather than Mary Berry’s step-by-step guide to the perfect Victoria sponge), but also teaching me the vital element of “cleaning up as you go along” – dishwashers were clearly out of the question.

The cake I had envisaged  ('here's one I made later '!)

Around that time, I joined the local Brownies, to the delight of my Mother, who was more than happy to pass the responsibility of cleaning up over to the Brown Owl, who had to deal with 30 odd Brownies covered in cake mixture and had her work cut out (she took early retirement not long after.) As well as learning the basic survival skills of the great outdoors, at Brownie’s, we enjoyed many occasions where baking was the main focus from Pancake Day to the annual cake sale at the local fete, we may not have improved our skills, but our level of excitement towards baking was definitely increased.

These early experiences aside, it was the home-economics class at school where I learnt the majority of my baking skills. As a child who was rather hopeless academically , this was the one and only lesson I looked forward to that would not result in a trip to the headmaster’s office - I paid close attention. We were taught how to make the perfect scone, Victoria sponge, pastry and bread, amongst other recipes such as cottage pie and a Sunday roast as well as being given the opportunity to invent our own menus – which for once, turned out right!

Nowadays, schools appear to miss out home-economics in their curriculums, which I think is a great shame. For me, it marked the development of knowledge towards home cooking, making learning fun and encouraging us into the kitchen as our confidence grew. Home-economics being the one lesson I enjoyed, resulted in me passing the exam with flying colours and in the long-run proved beneficial in my university years - I am proud to boast that each time the fire alarm went off in university halls, it was down to someone else’s cooking and not mine.

I recently came across an article written by ‘The Great British Bake Off’ Queen herself, Mary Berry, in which she highlights the importance of teaching children the skill of cooking from an early age before they enter the world, remarking upon how shameful it is that more schools don’t embrace home economics:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2263578/Mary-Berry-Want-happy-children-Make-play-pastry--Play-Doh-Its-scandal-youngsters-taught-cook.html

Do you think home-economics’ should be put back into the curriculum?

Have your say below!

Phrase for additional photography and contribution: Daily Mail, The Great Comic Relief Bake Off, Pollyanna Cakes my Mother's photo albums