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Cooking with Chorlton

Marie Burchill
20/ 3/2008

COOKS in Chorlton are taking on the might of TV’s most popular chefs by producing their own online cookery channel.

Food enthusiasts from across the suburb are revealing their kitchens’ best-kept secrets, by posting step-by-step video cookery guides on the hit internet website, YouTube.

On the channel – called Chorlton Cooks – there’s a series of complete guides on how to cook everything from lip-smacking sticky ribs to tasty butternut squash risotto, as well as sweet flapjacks for dessert.

The videos have been submitted to the Chorlton Cooks channel by local residents who have taken the bold step of revealing their most secret top tips for cooking.

And the channel is proving a massive hit with aspiring chefs, as the site counted almost 3,500 visitors who had logged on to the site to watch the best-rated tricks of the trade. Beth Creedon, of Longford Road, Chorlton, has posted her own message on the new ‘TV channel’.

She said: "There are so many great cooks in the area and I think it is great that we’ve found a way that we can share our best dishes.

"Who needs celebrity chefs? There are people around here who could teach them a thing or two."

Beth, who runs her own Chorlton-based organic food delivery company Dig Food, added: "What’s really nice about it is that it’s also getting local kids involved and showing them that cooking can be fun.

"It takes the stigma out of attempting to cook something for the first time, because if people see someone that they recognise rustling up something good, they then think ‘Well, I can do it too!’"

So far there are a total of six videos on the site, including recipes for those dishes mentioned above, as well as ones for beef stroganoff, Spanish omelette – the obvious favourite so far with 2,921 hits.

The ‘channel’ has been set up by Chorlton resident Jessica Symons, as part of her Love Good Food Project.

Ms Symons said: "We kickstarted the YouTube channel for Chorlton to remind people that cooking is meant to be fun.

"After carrying out a local survey we found that many people were put off from cooking fresh food due to a lack of time.

"We decided to set up this fun project so that we could remind people what a pleasure cooking can be. It’s really taken off and we have had people from all over Chorlton who have posted their videos on the website."

To view the Chorlton Cooks cookery channel, visit www.youtube.com/chorltoncooks, or see one of the recipes below ...

For those who have a recipe that they would like to share and post on the website email chorltoncooks@krata.co.uk.