Meet the cookeryskills.com team!

Hello – welcome to cookeryskills.com!  We’re a small but friendly bunch – it’s very much a family affair!  The most important thing is that we are passionate about great tasting food and helping as many people as possible ‘create a stir in the kitchen’.  We’re based in Wymondham – a small but welcoming town Norfolk in the UK – a part of the world most famous for Colman’s Mustard, the strange Norfolk dialect and for being the driest county in UK!

I’m Jeremy and setting up the website was my idea – the problem was, I needed an expert chef to work with.  The good thing was I didn’t need to look very far- I enlisted my father-in-law, Gerald, who fitted the bill perfectly!  After working as a chef in the army for many years, Gerald had decided to hang up his apron and take things easy – that was until a particular Sunday afternoon when I suggested we set up a cooking website!  It all took off from there and we’ve had great fun since!  The rest of the cookeryskills.com team, including my wife Emma, consists of experts at washing up, tidying up and amusing the children while we are hard at work in the kitchen…..

Our kitchen becomes a film set

Our kitchen at home becomes a film set to rival anything you’ll see at Pinewood studios or Hollywood!  The oven is primed and warmed up, the chopping boards are readied and the kitchen knives sharpened.  We use a standard gas and electric oven – nothing special – and use all the normal pots and pans you’ll find in any kitchen.

Something we are often asked is ‘Have we had to do more than one take?’.  I can honestly say that the only recipe we had to redo was that for sauté potatoes where we (sorry, Gerald) inadvertently left a wooden spoon in the pan, which quickly turned the kitchen smoky!  Oh, and the very first day of filming saw some eggs get smashed on the floor when they decided to roll off the counter, but apart from that, we’ve been very lucky!

What is a typical day for cookeryskills.com?

A typical day involves us filming anything up to three different recipes, depending on what type of food we are working on at the time – my favourite days are those that involve cakes, chocolate and lots of cream!  Salads were a particularly tough period of filming (only kidding – you can make some delicious salads!).

I set up the camera and lights, make sure the cooker is nice and clean and that the pots and pans are ready whilst Gerald measures out the ingredients and reminds himself of the days recipes.  We then work our way through the recipes, right from the start to the very end, filming at regular intervals throughout.  The kitchen quickly descends into a riot of colour, smell and steam for the rest of the day.  As different recipes are being filmed at the same time, it can be difficult to keep track of where we are with each dish!

As soon as the cooking is completed and served on a plate, I photograph the final dish (avoiding the temptation for a quick taste) while Gerald goes and has a well earned cup of tea.  As soon as this is done, we bring all the family together and tuck in!  Nothing ever goes to waste and it’s great that we all get to try such a wide variety of foods!

The worst bit is at the end when the mountain of washing up and tidying away needs to be done!  After that, the kitchen is returned to it’s normal appearance and you would never had guessed that cookeryskills.com had been in town!

What are our top tips for cooking?

We’re often asked what our top tips are for cooking!  There are so many to choose from but a selection of our favourites are as follows:

• When the time comes to start cooking, put on some of your favourite music, pour a drink or make a mug of tea and read your recipe again. And, if you really want to look the part, buy a striped apron – it will save getting splashes on your clothes!
• Follow your chosen recipe and enjoy yourself, adding each ingredient as described.  Watch your seasoning though – season food slightly, to your taste.  Always remember that you can add a little more salt but can never take it away
• Don’t forget that some recipes, such as stir-fries, are cooked very quickly, while others, such as stews or a slow-roasted belly pork, take longer
• When you have completed your recipe it will take time to plate up – try to do this as neat as possible.  Don’t pile your plates sky-high, but try to make your food look light and very appetising, using a little garnish.  It’s nice to serve the main course of your meal on a plate with your chosen garnish and sauce and serve your lovely fresh potatoes and vegetables in small separate dishes.  Remember, in the first instance we all eat with our eyes!
• Enjoy eating the fruits of your labour.  Enjoy it, you deserve it (and I hope someone will do the washing up for you as your reward!)

Cooking should never be a mundane task, but something of great enjoyment and fun to do on the days when you have lots of time to do it properly, and I’m sure you will enjoy it even more.  Good luck and good cooking!