Best Gift for Foodies? A Hands-On Cooking Class They’ll Love

Ilove to cook. Not all the time - the twenty-four/seven and "here's yours" type, which I seem to do much too much of, can make cooking into a bit of a drudge. This is the moment I start to trail through recipe books and Pinterest - who are rather good at a pudding. Put in the words "lemon cake" and the most heavenly concoctions pop up. I only have to do a couple of new dishes to feel re-inspired. Old recipes remind you that actually you can cook, and that you have also improved. I love to re-read books that are well-thumbed, covered in detritus of the kitchen. Books that I struggled with when I began are now old friends, guaranteed to produce the goods.You want to get to the stage where you don't have to follow the pages line by line; you already understand where the writer is coming from, then it's not so stressful.If you want to get back into cooking the best way to do it is by trying different classes, learn some new tricks without all the washing up. Just go home with ‘here’s one I made earlier’.

From mastering Ethiopian cuisine to pasta made from scratch (how impressive is that?) and it’s worlds apart from the dried packets. London really has the best cooking experiences that make for a brilliant gift.

I was given a patisserie masterclass by The Head of Everything a couple of Christmases back. This was slightly terrifying as it included things like génoise sponge and chocolate ganache. I started off with a queasy feeling that I wouldn't be up to it. Yes, I did need to concentrate, but I went home with my newfound skills in a large box, and although I haven't repeated the recipes, it was huge fun.

Being able to cook is a life skill. It enhances family life. Food doesn't need to be complicated. Just choose the best ingredients you can afford: a proper chicken, free-range eggs, vegetables that require chopping rather than pulling open a bag. I started to cook when I was about sixteen. My friends and I would gather together and make stews and bolognese sauces; it seemed the thing to do, and now I am glad that we did. We used to all join in doing this or that, without competing, just settling into the rhythm of preparing a dish. Not just girls, by the way. Brothers and their mates would add to the mix, and it made for a very easy time together.

I am proud of the fact that I don't waste food. I like to use up the ends of stuff for soups or salads. I am pleased that I can make a simple sauce, for why would I want to buy a cauliflower cheese or a ragout when it takes only moments to make one?

I cannot imagine my life without food or cooking. One of the best things to teach a child is how to cook. My grandson, aged 8, stopped with me a few months back and asked if we could "do cooking." I asked what he would like to make. "Strawberry tart," he said. Well, I hadn't done one of those in a while, but once he makes up his mind, that's kind of it. I tried a few other rather speedier suggestions, but strawberry tart it was.

So we did. It was pretty rough and ready. We started late in the day, and I was definitely under pressure to get him to bed, but hey ho. He gave it to mum and dad when they turned up, and he was beyond thrilled. Those are our initials on the top, in case you wondered.

His other suggestion was "ceviche," so I guess I got off pretty lightly.