PARTICIPANTS in Jamie’s Ministry of Food Mobile Kitchen shared a home-cooked meal for the final time last week, after they celebrated the conclusion of their five-week cooking course.
The van left its Kay Street, Traralgon location yesterday following a 10-week stay that was too short for some.
“We’re very sad to see it come to an end,” participant Melissa Tatterson said at her group’s final class on Thursday.
“It’s such a friendly group and we work together well. It’s good to see people from all places and lifestyles can come together to learn and cook.”
Food trainer Ashley Mariani said 23 classes of 12 participants went through the van weekly during the two five-week cycles and developed their cooking skills, as well as their food knowledge.
“We had a huge cross section of people coming through… couples, parents with their kids, the elderly who may have lost their life partner and need to learn to cook, plus groups (Latrobe City Council) thought would benefit,” Ms Mariani said. “It’s all about giving people the confidence and skills to get back into the kitchen and start cooking, and moving away from over-processed foods and take-away.
“People were surprised at how easy, quick and cheap it is to cook, compared to take-away, which people think is saving them money, but when they add it up, fresh seasonal produce is much cheaper.”
Ms Tatterson was one person who realised she spent a “ridiculous” amount of money buying fast food and was now cooking a greater variety of healthy meals for her family.
“I stuck a lot to the basic meals and wasn’t brave enough to experiment, but now herbs and spices have become more accessible and I feel like I can play with food,” Ms Tatterson said.
Fellow participant Heather Wheeler said she had enjoyed learning the steps and processes during the 90-minute lessons and was now more mindful of the food choices she made.
The participants cooked roast chicken and vegetables and ate together before they received their graduation certificates and watched a special congratulatory video message from the Naked Chef himself.
In the video, the world-famous chef encouraged the cooks to share their newly acquired skills and knowledge with friends and family.
