Rhyme and Rhythm to Inspire Food Shoppers
Roses are red
Violets are blue
I can write poetry
And make cooking easy for you
Morrisons, one of the U.K.'s so-called Big Four supermarket chains, has embarked on a novel way of encouraging customers to cook. Dubbed "Food Laureate," the scheme combines specially written poems by some of the best known and loved poets in the country. The poems, along with recipe cards and recordings, are available in Morrisons' 415 stores. Morrisons' website features video demonstrations of the instructions given.
British poets Ian McMillan, John Mole and Peter Sansom are the first to participate in the program.
Harking back to childhood days, the company reckons that rhymes help us remember facts and figures more easily. The poems offer prompts to what needs to be done in the kitchen. The idea has been supported and endorsed by the Poetry Society, whose director Judith Palmer explained to the Guardian that rhyme is "great for instructions and advice, making it the perfect tool for remembering kitchen tips".
The following is one from Mr. Mole:
Better Batter
Are a bowl, a deep fryer, flour and ale.
Stir the mix in the bowl, give your fillets a coating,
Heat oil in the pan then watch the fish floating.
Turn up the heat, hear the sizzle and spit
Serve them with chips and hey presto that's it!
Also included in the first collection of eight poems are "Curry in a hurry" and "Use your loaf" explaining the technique for making bread. Others explain the fine arts of "crumble" and roasting as well as the batter advice (above).
To prove that poets can cook and cooks can be poets, consumers are being encouraged to contribute rhyming recipes to the collection. "Use them as inspiration in the kitchen or let them inspire you to write your very own recipe rhymes," says the introduction to a rhyming recipe competition on the website. Prizes on offer include £500 worth of shopping, not to mention fame as shoppers march around the store reciting your poem while they collect ingredients.
Discussion Question: What do you think of poetry as a cooking learning tool and perhaps a differentiator for Morrisons? Do you think a bit of fun will likely be more successful than previously tried methods to teach consumers some much-needed cooking lessons?
[Author's commentary] OK, so it's a bit of fun and may provoke our own Poet in Residence but viable instructions they are not. More to the point, being amused might encourage a few people to actually make an effort and that, in itself, would be a plus.