Mix dried apricots with sugar and a bit of lemon juice, add some rosemary twigs and let it all boil in water for about 15 minutes - is this supposed to turn into a tasty lemonade? Many things and processes in the kitchen of Karl Romboy from Karl’s Restaurant seem to be such new stepping ground for the young people who found their way here for a cooking workshop.
This comes as no surprise: Even though many Germans value healthy food highly, one out of four gets snacks like burgers, sandwiches or pizza several times a week, as the government’s annual nutrition report states. Preparing a burger menu all on their own - from bun to patty to fresh lemonade - this is something none of the students from Elly-Heuss-Knapp-school has done before. They came here, because they won the cooking workshop at the interactive exhibition METRO unboxed - and they brought their growling stomachs.
We have to show younger generations, that our resources on this earth are limited and that we have to value our food with the utmost respect.
Karl Romboy
So, the students and top chef Karl start cutting fresh vegetables, working the self-made dough, shaping the minced meat, whilst learning to appreciate not only food and its preparation, but also how to save resources at the same time. And the restaurateur Karl has quite some tricks on that: Water is being collected and re-used, vegetable-peels are made into broth, leftovers are taken home in the "Beste-Reste-Box".
How important food-education is considered, can be seen in the Nutrition Report 2018: 9 out of 10 Germans wish for a school-subject dedicated to this field and rate it as important as German, Math or English. Teaching young people about appreciating food would maybe also solve another issue of the gastronomy sector: recruiting more youngsters for jobs in the HoReCa-Sector.
