Tender Oven Care

WHEN your typical youngster enthusiastically offers to rustle up dinner, the best most of us might hope for is a well-done pizza followed by a sneaky trip out later for a takeaway.

At worst we'll be "treated" to some bizarre concoction using every available kitchen cupboard ingredient, deep fried and served with a side salad that's been lovingly drowned in dressing and quite possibly even stewed.

Probably the last thing you'd expect, but certainly tastier, is a mouthwatering dessert of poached fresh rhubarb with spicy ginger cheesecake, a portion of meaty halibut or delicate sea bass displayed on a bed of tagliatelle vegetables, all bathed in a sumptuous creamy sauce.

Yet dishing up precisely that kind of winning meal is pure child's play for Rachel Notarangelo. The talented 14-year-old has just won through to the national finals of a prestigious cookery competition with her delicately flavoured fish and dessert dishes.

Soon the Holy Rood High schoolgirl will represent Scotland at the FutureChef finals, cooking for a demanding judging panel of top chefs.

Few of her teenage peers may be as competent at filleting a fish as her, but Rachel's far from the only youngster excelling in the kitchen. An increasing number of youths are taking inspiration from television chefs and fighting their family for kitchen work-top space to practise their own impressive cookery skills.

New research from spice firm Colman's claims 50 per cent of Scottish parents agree their children have become more adventurous with food thanks to the rise in celebrity chefs. Among the children quizzed, 74 per cent revealed highly sophisticated taste buds, claiming they could easily detect different seasonings and herbs used in their food.

The downside for parents, concludes the survey, is that children's gastronomic demands are raising the kitchen stakes even higher, leaving the adults struggling to dish up meals to match the television cooks.

At least for some, the pressure is off. For a boom in children's cookery classes in the Capital means they can simply pass the task of making dinner over to junior.

A rising number of youngsters are perfecting their cookery skills at child-only classes which teach everything from basic kitchen skills to hosting a dinner party. Meanwhile, in secondary schools across the country, a soaring number of children are opting for home economics or hospitality courses - 20,000 in Scotland last year, which is more than double the figure from five years ago.

Lizzie Fletcher, from Edinburgh School of Food and Wine in Newliston, which runs week-long courses for teenagers during August, agrees there is a spin-off trend among youngsters thanks to television cooks.

She says: "You can't turn on television without seeing a cookery show. Children regard television chefs like Jamie Oliver as real celebrities.

"Some are already very knowledgeable about food when they come. Courses aren't just about how to cook, it's about products and flavours and being creative. Kids love it."

The school runs courses for teenagers from 14 years upwards.

Meanwhile, Cookingmania on North West Circus Place runs regular children's classes - some for children as young as six - and the Edinburgh New Town Cookery School on Queen Street has classes for primary school children and teens.

But most youngsters, like Rachel, hone their skills closer to home. "My nana is Italian and she's a really good cook and so's my dad. I think I take after them," she says. "My two brothers cook and we've lots of recipe books at home."

She agrees that television programmes have fuelled her interest. "I think most people my age probably quite like cooking. Since I've been in this a few of my friends have been suggesting things I could make.

We've all been talking about food," she says.

Rachel, who lives with dad Raymond and mum Liz in Argyle Crescent, won the South and Central Scotland Regional FutureChef Final with her dish of crusted halibut served on a bed of tagliatelle vegetables and cold berry crumble with Chantilly cream. For the London final, she'll swap halibut for sea bass and her crumble for the rhubarb and ginger cheesecake dessert.

"I never really thought I could be good enough to get to this stage," adds Rachel. "Now I can't wait until the final."