When an Au Pair says she can cook on her application form, this can be read in a number of ways. She may be able to cook in her country of origin, ie national dishes that we don’t see in the Uk. Foods commonly eaten her for children such as fish fingers are baked beans may be as foriegn to her as salt cod and goulash may be to a uk family. In our job descriptions to Au pairs we state that the minimum level of cooking is preparing meals for children, and this is a basic requirement.
Au Pairs & Cooking Duties
Cooking for the family is a different matter – We advise that in the early days of having you Au Pair cook things in advance that she can heat up in the oven, or if you have the time, go through some simple dishes with her and show her how to cook them. demonstrate things more than once, draw diagrams, write simple instructions down – anything to make sure it has sunk in.
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When you come to the freezer explain very carefully the importance of defrosting and re-heating. in some countries the frezer is not as widely used as it is in the uk, so take care with this, children tend to turn their noses up at a plateful of chips, soggy round the edges and still frozen inside!
Part of our registration form that outlines au pairs level of cooking
if you want your Au Pair to go shopping, take time to go through the list, naming the fruit and vegatables and making sure she understands and recognises them, always give her the money to shop with, don’t expect her to use her own money. a lot of Au pairs come from homes where mother does all the cooking, and making meals for the family in some countries can be a full days job, therefore the concept of fast food may have to be explained. She her how to look after kitchen knives, if you like them hand washed instead of being in the dish washer, say so. The same goes for the non stick frying pan, On our application form we ask au Pairs thie level of cooking skills as you can see here. When an au pair says “good” please just bear in mind the above information, typically after a month or two if you are willing to spend time with your AU pair in the kitchen they could cook your family meals for you, au pairs are supposed to feel like part of the family, so if you make them feel that way nothing should be a problem!
