German food industry experts lament dwindling cooking skills
The novel coronavirus pandemic has exposed poor cooking skills in Germany, according to the the Federation of German food and Drink Industries (BVE).
"We've known for years that cooking competence has drastically declined in Germany," BVE General Manager Christoph Minhoff told dpa.
Minhoff said this was causing problems for a lot of people as restaurants have closed their doors in line with social distancing measures.
"People are rather dramatically forced to rely on their own culinary skills now that the offerings of fast food restaurants, French fries stands and the Italian restaurant around the corner are not an option," said Minhoff. "And they are limited."
In a work-intensive society, many people get accustomed to eating pre-prepared food, from fast food restaurants, canteens or bakeries, he added .
"Now people stand in supermarkets and ask themselves, 'OK how do I make a burger myself?" This explained the run on certain supermarket products at the beginning of the crisis, he said.
But there are easy options, Minhoff points out. "Anyone can put a ready-made pizza in the oven, and cooking pasta with pasta sauce on top is not too much for most people."
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