Jane Yolen: Fairy Tale Feasts

By JULIETTE ROSSANT Do you think about whether Jack's mother found any beans on the bean stalk and what she did with them or what went into Little Red Riding Hood's Picnic Basket? Fairy Tale Feasts: A Literary Cookbook for Young Readers & Eaters (Crocodile Books 2006) is for you. Veteran storyteller Jane Yolen retells the tales. Her daughter Heidi E.Y. Stemple provides the recipes. Phillippe Beha drew the fun, and naïve yet sophisticated illustrations, reminiscent of Paul Klee. The front paper has wonderful pictures of small witches playing with giant turnips, apples and pears. They must have had a good chuckle cooking up this book. In the introduction, Stories and Stovetops (pp. 8-9) they comment on how often food is part of fairytales and stories were traditionally told at a meal (think of Homer strumming his lyre at a feast): A storyteller never tells the same story twice, because every audience needs a slightly different story, depending upon the season or the time of day, the restlessness of the youngest listener, or how appropriate a tale is to what has just happened in the storyteller's world. And every cook knows that a recipe changes according to the time of day, the weather, the altitude, the number of grains in the level teaspoon, the ingredients found (or not found) in the cupboard or refrigerator, the tastes or allergies of the dinner guests, even the cook's own feelings about the look of the batter.(p. 9) Of course these stories are written down (though they could be embellished) so it is the recipes that can be changed when they are made. The book is starts with a chapter on Breakfasts, which includes The Runaway Pancake and a recipe for Runaway Pancakes. There is plenty of mixing and measuring for littler children and of course, great pancakes to devour. There is also a side panel that discusses pancake facts, such as their origin and uses in different cultures. The recipe includes plenty of variations. Under Lunches, is a retelling of Little Red Riding Hood. The recipes for Little Red Riding Hood's Picnic Basket of Goodies include Deviled Eggs (p. 56), Granny's Potato Salad (p. 58), and Chicken Salad Pockets (p. 60). There are plenty of extra facts in sidebars about other variations of the story, and picnics. The Aesop's fable, The Fox and The Grapes, comes with a simple recipe for Fruit Salad (p. 74) and plenty of facts about grapes in a side bar. It would be fun to take the book along on a picnic after fixing all these recipes. The recipe for Jack and the Beanstalk is Jack's Magic Party Beans with the subtitle: No humans were harmed in the making of this recipe, and still it's hearty enough for a giant.) (p. 152). The beans are in a rich chili with beef and bacon. The Soup chapter includes a retelling of the old Stone Soup tale, this time set in Portugal. The recipe for Stone Soup includes an actual stone, "1 rock big enough not to be mistaken for food" (p. 106). Though many of the recipes are a bit complicated for children, they can help prepare, measure and mix food. The fun is reading the story, then fixing a meal, and then reading the story again! This would be a great book for an older child who still loves fairy tales, and can appreciate the wit and whimsy of the illustrations and sidebars. Book details: Publisher Amazon.com Previous articles: Lois Ehlert: Pie in the Sky [Cookbook Reviews - complete] [Kid's Reviews - complete] Technorati Tags: superchefblog, Juliette Rossant, super chef, celebrities, chefs, food, restaurants, cooking, branding, cuisine, blogging, food blogging Del.icio.us | Digg | Technorati | Blinklist | Furl --> back to Super Chef