The celebrity chef who visited the Border as part of the Albury HomeXpo at the weekend said even doctors and nutritionists didn’t know the importance of learning how to cook.

Gate said cooking was a basic life skill everyone should learn to live a healthy and independent life.

“It’s self-help, it tea-ches people how to look after their body,” he said.

“At some stage everyone needs to cook, if even if it is just when their partner goes on holidays.”

Gate said many young people were growing up without learning basic culinary skills — not even knowing how to crack an egg or peel an apple.

He said while it was inevitable beginners would make mistakes, they would never learn if they were banished from the kitchen.

“The easiest way to learn how to cook is to choose a dish that appeals to you and your level and cook this dish more than one time within a month,” he said.

Gate said it was never too early to introduce children to cooking, and he suggested involving them in the process by giving them small tasks in the kitchen.

This was the way Junior Masterchef Contestant Lucy Bonanno started.

“My mum realised I loved getting in there and creating so I starting helping mum with mixing, and then I learnt along the way,” she said.

She appeared with Gate at the HomeXpo.