Food Adventures: For Kids

By JULIETTE ROSSANT What do food writers feed their kids? The mother-in-law and daughter-in-law author team of Elisabeth Luard and Frances Boswell have strong opinions on the matter. Their new book, Food Adventures: Introducing Your Child to Flavors from Around the World (Kyle 2006) takes a firm stand. First from Frances: As with most things in kids' lives, parents set the tone. Kids are picky eaters as long as parents let them be. When you say that your toddler won't eat anything except white bread, the reality is that you, the parent cannot tolerate the storm. But you have more control than you think. Replace the white bread with something good, cut into small bits – not too daunting, not to overwhelming – just so you both know they can do it. Then from Elisabeth: There's an explanation for the window of oportunity. It happens when a baby becomes a toddler, no longer dependent on mother for milk, but not yet able to stray too far. Take advantage while it lasts: once independence is established, every unknown food is likely to be rejected, in case it is poisonous. Practical, really. The more we learn to trust our taste buds when we're young, the more adventurous we'll be as we grow up. The book starts with first foods, even adventurous ones like Quinoa and Butternut Squash (p. 19) and Red Lentils with Spinach (p. 20) and leads parents all the way through childhood, to Cooking Together (p. 121) and Off to School (p. 139). The duo has plenty of good advice and good recipes for those kids who are beyond that window of opportunity and have already become less adventurous. There is still hope! There is a chapter called Life is a Game (p. 63) with recipes like Fairy Dust (broccoli and parmesan) to tempt the playful, picky eater. Throughout the book there are recipes that are just fine for adults, like Macaroni with Wild Rabit (p. 46), Chick Pea Stew with Chorizo (p. 55) or Baked Eggplant with Lamb (p. 60), and the recipes will make enough for the adults in the family. The best chapter for getting to the heart of how to create adventurous eaters is The Restaurant Table (p. 105). They present a recipe from each region of the world, like an Omlette Fines Herbes (p. 106) from France, and they explain table manners in France - the same with China, India, and so on. The recipes are fairly authentic, and the table manners sections that go with each explain how children in other cultures eat with their families from an early age and how a meal is composed and eaten. Food Adventures is smart and fun to look at, with all-too-precious photos by Ngoc Ninh Ngo of the dishes and children eagerly eating. Two cooks didn't spoil this pot: they doubled experience and international knowlege into a fine cookbook without overspicing. Book details: Publisher Amazon.com Barnes & Noble Other reviews: Sacramento Bee Previous articles: Christmas Remembered: Tomie dePaola Nora Sands: Nora's Dinners Back to School: Mollie Katzen's Salad People Annabel Karmel: First Meals [Cookbook Reviews - complete] Technorati Tags: superchefblog, Juliette Rossant, super chef, celebrities, chefs, food, restaurants, cooking, branding, cuisine, blogging, food blogging, cookbooks, cookbooks superchefblog --> back to superchefblog