Young Brits have lost touch with traditional foods and basic culinary skills needed every day, such as preparing breakfast, a new survey has found.
The findings come ahead of Farmhouse Breakfast Week, from January 20-26, and despite the efforts of producers to promote the UK’s food heritage.
The survey of 1,950 UK adults shows that many young people do not know how to cook a healthy breakfast, with no idea how long to soft boil an egg, name different cuts and types of bacon, nor identify regional breads and other regional foods.
The research also showed that many older people do not recognise some of the more up-to-date foods, such as granola.
A total of 49 per cent of 18-24 year olds and 35 per cent of all those surveyed did not know that a soft-boiled egg should be cooked for three minutes when brought to the boil from cold, and 52 per cent did not know that it takes six minutes to cook bacon under a preheated grill.
TV chef Brian Turner said: “Breakfast is the most important meal of the day and everyone should be able to serve up a healthy cooked breakfast - it is a fundamental skill for life. But this survey shows just how far people have lost touch with Britain's food heritage and many are not capable of boiling an egg or grilling bacon or cooking sausages correctly.”
Peter Kendall, president of the National Farmer’s Union, added: “As producers of some of the best-quality food in the world, we want our customers to know as much as possible about where their food comes from, how it is produced and, crucially, how to cook it. And that goes for basic staples such as eggs, bacon, bread and porridge as well as for more glamorous ingredients. The starting point is a healthy breakfast - it’s quick and easy to prepare, sets you up for the day plus there is a wealth of local breakfast foods to be found right on your own doorstep.”
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