Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution

Cooking Class In The Run Up To Food Revolution Day

Story by Elizabeth Mulry
 

This past Tuesday, four of my flatmates and I were fortunate enough to attend a cooking session with the Food Revolution Team as an event gearing up for Food Revolution Day in May. As I was currently interning with the Team, this was a special treat to bring in my friends and do some real cooking outside of our tiny central-London sized kitchen. We decided to make the recipe of the month, spaghetti and meatballs, which is a great recipe; simple and so delicious.

Cooking With The Team

The small setting of the lesson made it the ideal environment for hands-on learning. Kicking off with a demonstration comparing packaged meatballs to homemade, we really got to see up-close the difference in quality of foods from scratch versus processed ones. With that in mind, we were ready to try it for ourselves, and got to work smashing saltine crackers to add a crunch to the meatballs (something we were all a little wary about, but turned out unbelievably tasty — a must-do in the future). We then began forming the meatballs (saltines in the mix, in place of the more traditionally used breadcrumbs) while the sauce was cooking on the stove.

Once the meatballs were in the pans, we divided ourselves into two groups: one to prepare the sauce, and the other to make an everyday green chopped salad for the side. I was in the salad group, and got to work chopping scallions, cucumbers, and lettuce, as well as mixing the ingredients for the dressing. The team showed us proper chopping techniques, as well as telling us about good herbs and veggies to use when cooking.

It’s All About The Experience

With all of the cooking finished (the pasta being boiled while everything else finished up), all that was left was to enjoy the meal! We each grabbed a plate which was so vibrantly colourful from the sauce and salad, and tucked in around the table. The experience of cooking the delicious meal ourselves made it that much better. We could really taste everything that went into it, and felt proud of the beautiful plates in front of us.

Some of my flatmates had not done much cooking before this, and were inspired to do more in the future. Others had family meatball recipes which they had previously sworn by, but were swayed to make these again for their families when we return to the United States (particularly with adding the crackers).

This class was such a terrific way to learn first-hand about real food and making healthier choices. It showed just how easy it is to make homemade meals with fresh ingredients. I had a fantastic time cooking a delicious meal with friends and colleagues, and can’t wait to continue cooking with friends and family in the future.

About the author: Elizabeth is heading into her sophomore year at Villanova University in Pennsylvania. She is currently studying abroad in London where she interned at the Jamie Oliver Food Foundation with the Food Revolution Team.

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