Kids taught how to use local food
A former Australian chef wanted kids to be able to use Taranaki’s ‘‘beautiful local produce’’, so she has started after-school classes for junior chefs.
Helen Flitcroft, formerly from Queensland, has worked in fine dining in the French Alps and wanted to pass on the appreciation of food, and the people, processes and places behind it, to her students.
‘‘I am on a mission to bring real food and real food skills to the people of Taranaki,’’ she said.
‘‘There will be an emphasis on using local produce and learning basic chef skills which will enable children and adults to easily create delicious, fresh, nutritious food.’’
Her business, Cook Learn Love, offers a number of cooking classes for all ages, from public sessions to private tuition.
On Wednesday, the children were learning how to make a salad with vinegarette dressing, whisking the ingredients together and checking for taste.
Flitcroft talked the kids through each step and demonstrated the process.
‘‘It tastes good because it’s balanced, because you’ve got the fat and the acid,’’ she said. ‘‘And it tastes good as well because you’ve got good ingredients, and that’s important.’’
She also introduced the children to different herbs including lovage and onion weed, telling them to imagine the flavour in combination with chicken.
‘‘A lot of the time that’s what we do as chefs, we take the ingredients in our heads and think they will go well together.’’
Ashley Lewis, 10, just wanted to learn to cook rather than be a professional chef.
‘‘Being able to make it myself is really good,’’ she said.
The Junior Chefs classes run from 4:15pm to 5:15pm on Wednesday and Thursday for under 12s and Friday for over 12s. It is $15 a session and runs for nine weeks.