By Sofia B, Year 10 Journalist Lead

Last week as part of our DofE practice afternoon, the majority of the year group sat in the cold to eat our ‘cooked’ pasta we had made ourselves on a stove outside in the rain. So it was a great relief to be a part of the cooking enrichment group that same week to learn how to cook properly in the St Stephen’s church kitchen with Mrs Manderioli! During the three weeks we made a range of foods including gluten free spaghetti and tomato sauce, bruschetta with tomatoes and even the Italian dessert fragolata. It was great fun learning the basics of how to cook which I think is very important for when we are older and cooking for ourselves in university or in our own homes. 

On week one, we had a special dessert day where we made raspberry frozen yogurt, fragolata and pineapple carpaccio. First to make the frozen yogurt we used some raspberries and crushed them until they made a paste. Then we used a sieve to take out any of the seeds for the texture and mixed it with some Greek yogurt in the ice cream maker. While that was churning all ten of us took turns in cutting up the pineapple with help from Mrs Manderioli and coated it in the sugar and mint. It all ended up tasting delicious! I would rate the pineapple an 8/10 and the fragolata a 10/10. Then we had a week of theory where we all discussed our favourite and least favourite things to eat and even what we already cooked at home, which I enjoyed a lot. 

The final week was my personal favourite, making the pasta and the bruschetta! We had small groups work on different parts of the meals. I was put in the bruschetta section and helped cut up the tomatoes and put some salt, olive oil and oregano on top. The other tasks included cutting the bread into fine slices, putting garlic on the bread and toasting them but making sure they don’t get too burnt. For the pasta we used a stove to boil the water and put the gluten free pasta in for 15 minutes. The results were amazing! I would rate both 10/10 and would definitely make them myself at home now I know how easy it was. I also was fascinated that we used gluten free pasta, as I would never normally go for that type of pasta but it tasted amazing and I would eat it again! 

Others in the group said about the food:

“I really enjoyed cooking the pasta the most and would 100% cook that recipe again”

“My favourite part of cooking was when we all went to try the fragolata for the first time – we were all shocked by how good it tasted!”

“Cooking enrichment has been my favourite activity so far as it has helped me learn life skills while also being really fun!”

Cooking is also just one of the Year 10 enrichment activities that take place every Monday afternoon which is set aside for students to try out some new activities and learn new things!

Other enrichment activities include: Robotics, Cooking, Volunteering, Eco, Choir, Photography, Filming, D of E, Public Speaking, Sewing  

So far I have only taken part in cooking, sewing, public speaking and robotics but they have all been really interesting and fun. I am particularly looking forward to the photography and filming from what my friends have told me, but everyone else I have talked to have also loved each activity, so I can’t wait for the next one!