Fake-Away Cooking Project at The Valley Youth Club

Last term, 24 young people at The Valley Youth Club learnt to make their own takeaway-style food from scratch in a 12-week cooking project run by our community partner, The Bread Club.

The project encouraged young people to think about what makes a balanced meal. Before they began cooking, they laid out their ingredients on a huge Eatwell Guide, which shows the proportions of different food groups you should try to eat.

There were lots of interesting discussions about whether some foods are a starchy carb or a vegetable, and what you can use to add flavour if you don’t use much salt. Thanks are owed to Nicola from the Royal Borough of Greenwich’s Public Health team, who kindly loaned the guide.

The young people became adept at adding fruit and veg into their recipes to make their dishes more balanced. They were also very creative and made an impressive effort to create distinct and decorative, beautifully presented dishes.

Learning about kitchen hygiene and safety was a key aim of the project. Sustainability was also considered, and participants used environmentally friendly cleaning liquids, and re-usable aprons and tea towels.

The young people took pride in sharing the spoils of their cooking sessions with their families and other youth club members. At the end of the project, everyone who had taken part was presented with a certificate celebrating their enthusiastic participation in the project.