One Writer's Take On Kids & Cooking

Stumbled onto this on Slate today:
Too Many Kiddie Cooks Spoil the Broth - Why the child foodie movement has got to go.

Not sure how I feel about the overall premise, but an interesting read nonetheless.

"Kids would be excellent culinary guides. For food for other kids."

This is the premise of kid culinary site, Spatulatta: http://www.spatulatta.com/

Kids have good (innocent, unvarnished, apolitical) things to say about food, but any adult who lets a child guide them in their food choices is probably making a mistake. My experience with my own kids is that they go through radical and sometimes swift phases (I love peppermint...I hate peppermint), and they're frequently just too conservative in their tastes. Most importantly, they like the same thing for week's on end (cf: Teletubbies, "again, again"), and range of eating is usually a goal for us (Italian for breakfast, Mexican for lunch, Ethiopian for dinner).

This seems like one of those bogus trend stories railing against something that is not even really that widespread or new, and certainly not a "movement." One could only hope to experience the irony of Jack Shafer taking this one apart in the (electronic) pages of the same publication.

I suppose that kids cooking has greater exposure in the YouTube era, but so does everything else, including adults cooking, kids as movie critics, kids playing guitar, etc., etc.

I get what the author is saying about the over-load of cutesy kids pretending to be professional chefs in mainstream media. While I agree with most of the points, especially that much of the coverage is geared towards adults, I think it sets a good example for other kids. For example, if Spatulatta was around when I was a kid, maybe that would have inspired me to cook at a younger age and learn better eating habits (I was that kid in high school whose lunch consisted of a giant chocolate chip cookie and a cherry coke).

I don't have kids myself so I can't personally attest to what they will/won't eat at home, but I do teach cooking classes to 10-year-olds and have found that at least in class they'll try what they make. I think it's about exposure the interesting foods and getting their hands dirty, and if watching these other kids cook or reading their recipe helps with that, then all the better.

I found the article amusing, especially the dig at Chowhound.

I personally wouldnt watch/read, or take any of the kid cooks or reviewers seriously(these kids are still wet behind the ears and do not have the life experience yet. With that said their early interest in food, if it truly is their interest, is admirable) , I guess if they entertained my daughter, and got other kids aware of what they are eating it is a good thing.

My daughter is still too young to be in the kitchen for all tasks, a kitchen is a dangerous place like the article stated( hot pans, gas burners, boiling liquids, sharp knives, etc, ) but to help roll out some cookie dough, taste a sauce, or soup I am making, or to be lifted up to smell or see what is in the stock pot, is great bonding time. I think it is my role as a parent to teach my daughter as much as I can about the world, and expose her to as much as I can, that includes food. Sure she likes chicken nuggets, cheeseburgers, etc, but she also likes alot of things I wouldnt have touched at her age, or even at an older age.

Do I want her to become a chef/cook? Nope(been there, done that, I want her to have a better life than I have) I want her to be a doctor or a lawyer, and be the one going out for dinner enjoying the food, not the one cooking the food.

I think the entire piece falls into the "straw man" category, as I don't know a single adult who would rely on the opinion or guidance of a child when it comes to food. It's a bunch of bluster about a dynamic that, frankly, doesn't really exist.

As for parents who want expand their childrens' culinary horizons (myself being one), the motivation doesn't often seem to be the offspring's eventual stardom (though, I'm sure there are some parents . . .), it's more about teaching children to develop open minds, to openly explore other cultures through their cuisines and to be respectful of those cultures. It's about being healthful and -- if one is so inclined -- socially responsible. There are lessons to teach at the table that are important long after the eating is over.

Beyond all this, though, eating is the ultimate entry-level shared experience. What parent wouldn't want -- as often as possible -- to share the experience of eating rewardingly with their child? My family has bonded over so many different ethnicities of cuisine, I can't even count them. And as a parent, I love to see my son try something new and enjoy it (or even hate it, as my son recently did with pig brains). I take pride when he makes good food choices for himself. When he chooses to order fish from the regular menu instead of chicken fingers from the kids' menu, I'm happy that he 'gets it' and feel like part of my mission as a parent is being accomplished. Yeah, he's still a kid and he enjoys McDonalds but he understands its place as an occasional indulgence in our food routine. Teaching our children to care for themselves is our primary purpose as parents and eating is a huge part of that. I think Ms. Schrambling misses the point entirely.

=R=

Fine! I'm going to take down my Facebook video.

Seriously, the premise of this article is silly. I seriously doubt anybody is looking to these kids, prodigies though they might be, for cooking tips or culinary direction any more than we're looking to eight-year-olds for economic policy, but it's good to have somebody out there countering the omnipresent "kids don't eat vegetables" or "kids don't eat (fill in the blank ethnic food)" rhetoric.

Not that I have a horse in this race...

David Hammond wrote:"Kids would be excellent culinary guides. For food for other kids."

This is the premise of kid culinary site, Spatulatta: http://www.spatulatta.com/

Speaking of which, per an email from the person who runs Winter Markets in the area:

"Gaylon Emerzian, creator of Spatulatta--a webcast where kids teach kids through video recipes--will be at the Sunday market in Park Ridge. She'll do kid-friendly cooking demos at 10:30 (corn chowder) and 11:45 (build-your-own wrap sandwich). Come for either demo or both. Parents are welcome, too. "

Sun., Mar. 8 ~ 9:30am to 1:30pm
Park Ridge Community Church
100 Courtland Ave.
Park Ridge, IL 60068

This is an interesting discussion: No other art would think of denying child prodigies.
Music? Absolutely not.
Dance? Almost a requirement.
Graphic arts? Perhaps fewer than musicians, but they're there.
Stage? Plenty out there.

But in food there's this idea of the "refined palate" -- that an inexperienced person couldn't possibly be able to have the senses to be a fine chef.
Perhaps food is closer to engineering? Do you need experience, apprenticeship, understanding of the classics before you can do something original?

I can see where this can get annoying.