Cooking at EWH

EWH Kitchens

You will have a lot more responsibility for keeping yourself fed here at Oxford than at Williams. You will probably eat in College a fair amount and at restaurants occasionally. Remember to watch your budget, as eating out too often can become expensive. There are organised meals throughout each term, both at EWH, Exeter, and at particular events & trips.

Everyone will likely do at least some cooking here for your normal day-to-day meals. Cooking and eating together can be a great way to get to know your fellow students, and learn an essential life skill. Be creative, the internet is full of recipes and you live in a house full of people. At least one of them is likely to be a fabulous cook. Team up to cook for each other, invite a friend for dinner, or organize a 'buying essentials' rota (sharing bread, milk, etc.).

If you want to order take-out, there are delivery apps that deliver from restaurants and fast-food places all over town. The most popular are Deliveroo, JustEat, and UberEats. Some restaurants, like Domino's, will do their own delivery too.

Every kitchen is equipped with a good range of cooking utensils and dishes, particularly the ground floor kitchens in each house, which tend to be the largest. You will find a 'cheat sheet' in each kitchen that will explain common differences in cooking between the US and UK (eg. we use Celsius on ovens here), so please reference those before using any appliances. If you are unfamiliar with how an appliance operates, please speak with a member of staff for help.

Please remember never to leave the stove or microwave unattended.

You must wash your utensils and dishes immediately after you finish using the kitchen, or put them in the dishwasher. It will be your collective responsibility to ensure that the kitchens remain neat and clean and to report problems to the Director of Administration. While it is the job of the Scout to keep the premises in order, it is not their job to clean your dishes. There will be a cleaning rota posted on each kitchen for the entire academic year. If there is an issue with a kitchen not kept tidy, whomever is responsible on the rota that week will be called upon to clean. Please hold each other accountable to ensure this doesn't happen.

If kitchens are not kept suitably clean, fines may be imposed or kitchens may be locked for student access.

The UK takes recycling very seriously. No food (even bones and tea bags) is to be thrown in the trash. Each kitchen is equipped with separate receptacles for trash, recycling, and food waste. We'll go over this during orientation so you know which items are disposed of/recycled, and in which bin.

Grocery Stores

We have three main grocery stores in Summertown, all just a couple of blocks up Banbury Road. All of them offer loyalty cards/membership if you want to take advantage of coupons throughout the year.

The main grocery stores and other food shops in Oxford are as follows:

• Tesco (and Tesco Express)- there is an Express branch in Summertown. This is a mid-range, standard UK grocery store.

• Sainsbury's- there is a branch in Summertown. This is a mid-range, standard UK grocery store.

• Marks and Spencer- there is a branch in Summertown. This is known to be a higher-end grocery store famous for their own-branded products.

• Cook- there is a branch in Summertown. Cook is home to all frozen, high quality food.

• Summertown Farmer's Market- On Sundays from 10am-2pm on Banbury Road.

• Waitrose- the nearest is in Botley, just south of the city centre. This is another higher-end grocery store.

• Aldi & Lidl- both 'discount' grocery store chains. There is an Aldi in Botley just south of Oxford.

• Co-op- This is a cost-effective grocery option in the UK.

• Open Air Market- a farmer's market every Wednesday from 11am-4pm at Gloucester Green

• Covered Market- a permanent market in the city centre with a variety of shops and cafes.