My vote

I’ve got a friend who many must think has more money than sense. Tradesmen see him a mile off and make a beeline for his door. It’s not as if he’s stupid; in fact he’s actually very successful at what he does and has made quite a lot of money.

However, when it comes to the practicalities of life, that’s where he’s sadly lacking. I used to say that he didn’t know which end of a screwdriver to use to knock a nail in. Now it seems a local builder got wind because it appears he’s been taken for a ride by an apprentice from Rogue Traders with whom he’s signed up for more work than he needs, in a way that could be done so much better, so much quicker and so much cheaper.

I’m lucky when it comes to things like this. I may not have had the success in business that he’s had but, thanks to my engineering background, when I employ a builder, I have some idea about what’s going on and therefore I’m not at his mercy. I’m not an expert but I know my ridge tile from my rafter. Whereas my mate thinks the former is found in the bathroom and the latter designs lifeboats.

I’ve also got something else over my mate because, while watching the job being done and when standing back once it’s finished, I can gain a certain pleasure from appreciating the level of workmanship because, after all, I might have been able to have a go myself.

Musicians must be the same. While most of us like listening to a bit of music and find it a very important part of life, someone who’s been professionally trained, or at least knows a bit about the subject, will be able to get that extra bit of pleasure from understanding the technique and appreciating the skill used.

And so to food. Eating’s an even more important part of life than listening to music and yet fewer and fewer people seem to have an understanding about what they’re eating. Content to nod acceptance to our government’s missives about eating less fat and consuming our five a day, we rarely seem to question such supposed wisdom and its origins. But could you imagine our reaction if our leaders told us what sort of music we should be listening to – even if we’re not musicians?

As a restaurateur, if I’m not careful it can become irritating when a customer questions the way we cook or source something. But I have to remind myself that that customer is actually taking an interest in the subject and may know something about it – maybe more than we do. That’s a good thing.

A bad thing is people stuffing food into their mouths that’s been grabbed off the shelf, maybe being passed through some sort of domestic oven along the way, with little regard to any list of ingredients or their method of processing. And as if to exemplify such lack of thinking, I recently had a letter from someone disputing our interpretation of a traditional dish and suggesting that to get the correct recipe, we visit a particular national fast food chain of takeaways. Which is a bit rich when you realise there’s little chance of their knowing the provenance, makeup and constituent parts of food from such a place.

It’s obvious that we, as a nation of eaters, do need help. But instead of hearing simplistic messages about fruit and veg and fat that promise an easy solution to long life, perhaps if there were a political party that promised they’d make A levels in cookery mandatory for every school child – and make the law retrospective by 30 years - they’d get my vote.