Abstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner.

The project was researched and written as a doctoral thesis. It came about in response to rising concerns during the 1990s over domestic cooking practices and people's cooking abilities. It provided a critique of the popular and academic discourses surrounding cooking and cooking skills at the time, challenging current theoretical explanations of the impact of technology on domestic cooking and food provision and the de-skilling of the domestic cook. The research was designed to be exploratory and to provide systematically researched insights and understanding, a 'framework for thinking'. The research took a qualitative approach in order to produce intricate detail about people's domestic cooking practices, the skills they use and their beliefs and opinions about cooking in the home. Thirty cooks, defined as people who prepared food, to any extent in the home, took part in the process of data generation. The research was structured in two phases. Phase one consisted of keeping food diaries, semi-structured interviews, and guided kitchen tours with seven middle-aged, diverse occupation, cohabiting couples in Greater London. Phase two consisted of semi-structured interviews with sixteen informants chosen for diversity of cooking experiences, interest in food, household structure, children, and work patterns.

Purposive selection/case studies

Face-to-face interview