Come dine online

You’ll need

Device with access to the internet
Cooking equipment
Ingredients

Before you begin

Use the safety checklist to help you plan and risk assess your activity. Additional help to carry out your risk assessment, including examples can be found here. Don’t forget to make sure all young people and adults involved in the activity know how to take part safely.
Make sure you’ll have enough adult helpers. You may need some parents and carers to help if you’re short on helpers

Staying safe online

This activity’s designed for you to run during an online session. Take a look at our advice on using Zoom and other popular digital platforms, as well as guidance to help everyone to stay safe online.

Make sure that the person leading the game is the meeting host and that they know how to use the waiting room function on Zoom.

Planning the meeting

Arrange to make contact with Scouts from another country. There are lots of ways to get in touch with Scouts in other countries.
Explain that Jamboree on the Air and Jamboree on the Internet (JOTA JOTI) is an event specially designed to connect Scouts all over the world – it usually happens in October each year.
Everyone should chat about how they’ll introduce themselves and get to know a bit about the other group too.
This is a great time to remind people about staying safe online and not sharing personal information. If they’re uncomfortable or unsure about anything, they should chat to a trusted adult.
Let both groups and everyone’s parents and carers in all groups know that you’ll be cooking. You may need to adjust the recipe for dietary requirements or allergies.
If you're doing this from people's home, explain that they may need to help their young person with this activity. Make sure everyone has a copy of the ingredients and equipment (or a link to this activity) so they can prepare.

Get cooking

Welcome everyone to the meeting and mute them.
Everyone should show that they have their ingredients, equipment and an adult to help.
Decide whether you’ll include a quick recap of kitchen skills or hygiene at the start of the session. A virtual cooking session can be a great way to tick off some badge requirements.
Everyone should wash their hands.
Show everyone how to do each step of the recipe. Everyone should follow along. The person leading the activity could ask people how it’s going and ask what they've been doing in Scouts.
Once everyone’s finished their recipe they should try their creation.
People could put their hands up if they’d like to share something about the activity or how their finished product tastes.
The person leading the activity should unmute people one at a time so they can share.

Top tips

Think about where you’ll put your camera. How will you make sure it’s out of the way of the mess, while still making sure everyone can see what you’re doing? For example, maybe you could make a tripod out of cookbooks, have a photo PowerPoint of steps for people to do, or have a pre-made video to watch?
We’ve suggested cooking along with everyone, but you may want to prepare some things in advance, so you can focus on leading the conversation and helping anyone who’s finding it tricky.
Find a good time to check in with people and ask how they are – it’s good to keep the conversation flowing, but people probably won’t want to unmute themselves if they have messy hands.

Recipe suggestions

Looking for some inspiration? Why not try one of the international recipes below:

Taiwanese tangyuan

Celebrate the winter solstice with these simple sweet rice treats.

Tangyuan time

Madagascan meal

Whip up a refreshing glass of ranovola, a Madagascan toasted rice treat.

Rice, rice, tasty

Swedish snacks

Cook up some kanelbullar with this simple Swedish cinnamon roll recipe.

Four ingredient fika

Reflection

This activity was all about building confidence in the kitchen by cooking up an exciting recipe. Reflect on this online culinary adventure with a few quick questions:

What food did everyone make? If people chose what to make, why did they choose what they did?
Who had heard of, eaten, or made this dish before?
Was the food similar to another popular dish? What was similar (and different)?
What meal could you create with the ingredients from this recipe and three more ingredients of your choice?

Safety

All activities must be safely managed. You must complete a thorough risk assessment and take appropriate steps to reduce risk. Use the safety checklist to help you plan and risk assess your activity. Always get approval for the activity, and have suitable supervision and an InTouch process.

Cooking: Teach young people how to use cooking equipment safely. Supervise them appropriately throughout. Make sure it’s safe to use and follow manufacturers’ guidelines for use.
Fires and stoves: Make sure anyone using fires and stoves is doing so safely. Check that the equipment and area are suitable and have plenty of ventilation. Follow the gas safety guidance. Have a safe way to extinguish the fire in an emergency.
Food: Remember to check for allergies, eating problems, fasting or dietary requirements and adjust the recipe as needed. Make sure you’ve suitable areas for storing and preparing food and avoid cross contamination of different foods. Take a look at our guidance on food safety and hygiene.