Cooking with Lewis

Although ACT have been ahead of the curve and offering online blended learning for some time, the pandemic has forced many of us to adapt overnight to a totally new way of working.

Lewis Jones, our Catering Tutor/Curriculum Co ordinator has found all sorts of interesting approaches to engage learners during class time. One of these approaches includes online cooking tutorials, where learners cook alongside Lewis as they prepare nutritious and easy to cook meals together. Not only are the learners learning valuable practical lifelong skills in the kitchen, but they are also able to share the tasty results with their family. Lewis commented, “The learners really enjoy the relaxed approach to the live sessions. Recently we explored cooking in the context of ‘Fire & Smoke’. The drama we created, from lighting the fire, through to cooking was always going to be engaging as who doesn’t enjoy a primitive style BBQ? Other live cooking sessions like exploring seafood and bread making have really helped add variety to the sessions too. We also did a session on how to prepare Neapolitan pizza from scratch. We looked at the history behind pizza - ’who knew a margarita was named after the Queen of Italy?’- and through some great YouTube videos and online resources met the producers of the classic toppings. These include buffalo mozzarella and the Pièce de résistance of a good Neapolitan pizza, San Marzano tomatoes, grown at the footsteps of Mount Vesuvius. Seeing how excited the learners were to then start making their pizza from scratch for their dinner made it all worth it.”

Even for the curriculum learning elements of his workshops, Lewis strives to provide a variety of learning opportunities. One popular class topic was ‘sushi’, which saw Lewis and the learners explore all there is to know about the subject. They took online tours of busy Japanese markets where the produce is sourced, learnt what it takes to be a sushi master, as well as the knives and tools used and the sustainability behind the fish.

Lewis commented, “What was great was that the sushi topic took us on interesting tangents where we ended up looking at religion and geography. It allowed myself and the learners to explore sushi through many different avenues.”

Never take for granted a practical skill that can in turn be taught and passed on in live delivery - however strange it may seem!

Keen to ensure learners aren’t just glued to a screen all day in live lessons, Lewis has also provided focussed delivery where learners explore topics beyond catering as well as develop new skills. Some of this learning has included: upcycling rubbish at home into useful objects, Welsh photography challenges, healthy eating challenges combined with exercise and Black Lives Matter education. However, like everyone, the pandemic has also presented challenges for Lewis but even these have resulted in some unexpected positive results! “Working with two young children under three has been a challenge! Especially when my son Otto forces his way into a session. Interestingly, it actually sparks the other learners to engage more - the wonders of children! Otto’s presence puts them at ease and this really helps in the virtual classroom.” Reflecting on the past year and what it’s taught him, Lewis’ tip to other colleagues out there delivering on the front line is, “Never take for granted a practical skill that can in turn be taught and passed on in live delivery - however strange it may seem!”