We set up Great British Chefs as a business in 2010 because we believed that there was an audience for inspirational food content that went beyond the more mainstream offerings of Jamie Oliver, Delia and the like. While the general public might lean towards convenience over quality even when it comes to cooking for friends, we have always believed that there were some who aimed higher. Laurent Tiersen, country marketing manager for IKEA UK, noted recently that ‘these days we seem to be focused on convenience and 42% of Brits claim they can’t cook at all.’ While this may be the case for a large section of the UK, our audience couldn’t be further from this. Whilst we regularly reach for the ready-made pasta sauces and ingredients during the week, it’s when our readers are cooking for occasions that they really pull out all the stops.
Six years into our journey, we have conducted a piece of research to understand how the one million people who visit our site every month cook dinner parties. It has to be said that the results have surprised even us! It seems the majority of you are an amazing and really committed group of home cooks. While this may not be the case for your average Brit, we have attracted an audience who are avoiding the shortcuts and investing time and money to create great dishes. Over 1,000 of you let us know how much time and effort you put into hosting fantastic dinner parties, reaffirming the fact that you’re part of a community of home cooks who go above and beyond the general public in the kitchen. In fact, an incredible 70% of you make everything from scratch for a dinner party, boiling up carcasses for stock, resting your own pastry and oven-drying fresh tomatoes. Half of you host between two and six dinner parties a year, while a keen quarter of our readers will invite people round for dinner parties between six and twelve times a year.
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Come dine with us: the modern dinner party