One in five British people can't do this simple thing

You might be surprised

After visiting the Pantheon in Rome, I remembered thinking to myself, if people were capable of building this in 118-128 AD, how come I don't even know how to [insert skill here.]

And, I remember my friend looking over at me and saying that without the distraction of modern life, maybe we'd be as skilled, too.

So, when a recent study of 2,000 people found that Brits are seriously lacking basic kitchen skills, it did make me wonder about how much lazier we are these days.

One in five admitted that they couldn't boil an egg. They admitted they ended up with yolks that were too hard-boiled to dip, whites that were still runny or burnt eggs.

And, that's not all, over a quarter of Brits struggle to cook rice and the same amount are unable to cut an onion correctly.

It's no wonder people are signing up to Hotpoint's Teaching Kitchen to learn essential cooking skills like how to make a simple cheese sauce or how to make batter.

Shockingly enough, one in ten people said they never cook from scratch and one in five admit to relying on takeaways and convenient ready-meals for their dinners instead of healthy recipes.

Jamie Oliver has said: 'We're all busy, but let's face it, we've got to eat, and if we can take care of the ones we love at the same time by sharing home-cooked, nutritious fare, that's always going to be a bonus.'

Most of the participants blamed a lack of cooking lessons in school while 67 per cent said that these skills were no longer being passed down through generations as they once did.

Top 20 kitchen skills people struggle to master

1. Making falafel

2. Making ice cream

3. Making a guacamole/salsa

4. Making pizza dough

5. Making a curry paste

6. Making a homemade dip

7. Making bread

8. Cooking pulses correctly

9. Making dough

10. Making a marinade

11. Making pastry

12. Making a salad dressing

13. Making a tomato sauce

14. Making meatballs from scratch

15. Making a white sauce

16. Making a batter from scratch

17. Baking a sponge cake

18. Making gravy from scratch

19. Making a cheese sauce

20. Making a soup