alasdair

Hmm. Not sure about reheating. On one level you could but if the rules are too lax then it becomes difficult to define food "preparation". What's the difference between waiting for the microwave to reheat a ready-meal and waiting in line at Burger King?

Hello. Thought I would share my thoughts on this one. Certainly in the UK cooking is on the decline but 27 minutes per person per day seems quite a lot to me. I like to think of myself as a keen amateur cook so I was trying to work out how much time I spend cooking. I usually have toast for breakfast, often shop bought but this morning I had home-made sourdough toast. If you don't count the weeks (months!) spent maturing the starter it took me approximately 1 hour total time yesterday (10 minutes for the refreshment, 20 minutes kneading then 30 minutes oven time), plus two minutes toasting time this morning. I made two loaves which will feed the family of four for a day, so that's 15 minutes each yesterday. Tomorrow I'll buy Warburtons because the children like it. I skipped lunch today and spent the afternoon making two sets of evening meals. First was Cullen Skink, a Scottish soup/chowder made with smoked haddock and potatoes and cream. I often make my own fish stock but today bought ready-made. The rest was made from "scratch" with a mirepoix of shallot, carrot and fennel, sweated with garlic then white wine, stock and water added. Potatoes (home grown) were dug up, peeled and diced. Fish fillets were skinned and diced. Then the whole lot was simmered for one hour before adding cream and seasoning. At the same time I made cod fillets with a gremolata crust, steamed new potatoes (again, home grown), cauliflower cheese and steamed sprouting broccoli. Both meals (for 4) took two hours. Divided between all of the family this works out at 15 minutes each per day for two days. I enjoy cooking but, like most people, struggle to find the time during the week. I buy a sandwich for lunch at work so probably won't cook again for three or four days. I certainly don't make my 27 minutes each day, but must be doing a lot more cooking than some people. Cheers. Alasdair.

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