How do you get
teenagers into a kitchen, cooking? They have increasing academic obligations;
and social needs, and yearnings for independence. These are the years during which the extra-curriculars are
dropped - when music and sport teachers find their teenage pupils falling away.
Why would a
young adult want to do Root Camp?
Another lesson, another commitment, another adult-led course…? That is the challenge - to capture
their interest and promote cooking into the realm of fun, or even 'a night
out'.
Last month we
launched our first Supper Club in my kitchen. My kitchen isn’t small, but it is a domestic one, and only
allows for six students - so it's cosy.
Also, I have an Aga - a very particular beast, which you have to know; pots must move strategically
between hot plates, warm plates and simmering ovens, in a dance of sorts. Not ideal for teaching.
But, to some
extent, we like it that way. It's
not a bad thing to manage difficult cookers and awkward spaces: after all,
that's what most kids face when they leave home. Student digs and cheap bedsits, shared houses all mean bad
cookers, blunt knives and missing utensils. We don't go as far as replicating the grungy
atmosphere of cheap housing (in fact, we provide multiple chopping boards and
knives, gadgets, and smart Root Camp aprons) but it's definitely not the
stainless steel, multi-oven environment of the traditional cookery school.
The six students
arrive in dribs and drabs, from their various schools - friends and
strangers. They partner up, put
their aprons on, and are assigned recipes. Any initial awkwardness in the room quickly dissipates. There is a lot to do, a fact which
immediately breaks down any shyness barriers.
Throughout the evening, there is
friendly jostling for equipment and space, and fast-talking banter crisscrosses
the kitchen. Good collaboration is
key: the vegetable stock is made collectively, with those making fish soup simply
adding bones to their pot.
Mike's focaccia
turns to biscuit - did he add cold
water to the yeast? We snap pieces
off the loaf and it tastes good in a rusk-like way. Mock criticism and good-natured competitiveness plays out between
the teams.
Sylvain demonstrates how to chop an
onion and the art of filleting a fish - everyone has a go. The fish-gutting produces responses of
disgust and fascination.
Sylvain remains
unruffled.
The apple
slicing for the tart seems relentless, while the amaretti crust is produced
lovingly by Bel and Albi.
Petra makes
chocolate sauce…
…while her
partner Eli steals it.
Click here for the full menu
In retrospect,
the menu was too ambitious. We
didn’t sit down for supper until 9pm, which was officially home-time. Consequently, home-time actually turned
out to be after 11 o’clock. The
lateness of the hour wasn’t school-friendly (or parent-friendly) which I
regret. But it was so seductively
convivial around the table that I couldn't bear to break up the party. And it was a great meal - especially
the three soups. We all had a
small portion of each.
Next time we will
make faster food. Everyone in their pairs will prepare
the same dish so that we can analyse the differences between them. That will undoubtedly excite opinion
and competitiveness - both good for developing the palate. And streamlining the menu will leave
time for washing up. As it was, I
was left with the mess.
Root Camp After School is
about independence and learning to cook on the go, away from the formality and
pressure of the school experience.
As Blaze said at the end of the evening: “who wants more school after school?” It is about socialising with
friends and peers over chopping boards, steaming pots and a table strewn with
tempting dishes. In this way, Root
Camp meets the preoccupations of this unwieldy age group in a positive and
constructive way.