Kids and Cooking

[snowangel]

My daughter Diana, age 13, is good in the kitchen. She can open the fridge and larder, and look at what's there and imagine a meal. She can use a knife somewhat proficiently.

My son Peter, age 8, is hot to trot in the kitchen, but I sense a different direction in him.

I have started him out on making things like scrambled eggs. Looking at the butter or oil in a pan and knowing when to add what.

Were you to teach kids to cook, what would your first "lessons" be? Where did you start?

[Mario Batali]

food and cooking starts as soon as a child realizes something is truly good... having the family in the kitchen is the building block to traditions which lead to memories, which lead to more traditions... kids are ready to have jobs in the kitchen when they are ready to stand, the responsibility of fire and knives is something that each parent will know about when the moment comes, but stirring and mixing and tasting and smelling and serving and cleaning up are part of the essential fabric of our sensory experience smell, taste, hear, touch and see the food and it is real

mb