Help me write a gourmet children's story

[Schielke]

Another format that you could do is have a child character who is traveling around New York to all the different shops that sell food from many cultures.

Something like:

"Our next stop was at a place that served food from France, the man gave me a sandwich that had melted ham and cheese (note: you can elaborate here for the sake of imagery) and he called it a Croque Monsieur. I really loved how the cheese oozed out of the side!"

[Fat Guy]

It's a dog and he globe-trots with his food-critic human.

[tony h]

Has a "and this little piggy..." theme been done?

this little piggy was spit roasted

this little piggy was used to make chiterlings

that kind of thing?

[bigbear]

It's a dog and he globe-trots with his food-critic human.

Bulldogs globe-waddle.

[tony h]

It's a dog and he globe-trots with his food-critic human.

if you do Korea you've got the perfect snack

[Fat Guy]

You're going to have to apologize just like Jay Leno if you're not careful.

[bigbear]

this little piggy was spit roasted

this little piggy was used to make chiterlings

that kind of thing?

Yeah, and this little piggy went, "oui, oui, oui" all the way to l'usine de saucisse.

[LaurieA-B]

I think it's always interesting to kids to look at where people eat with utensils vs. fingers and what they are eating--eating with fingers and sticky rice in Thailand, or injera in Ethiopia. American kids tend to be surprised by the idea of eating only with fingers. Since it's a website, it'll have a global audience; maybe kids in some countries would be interested the idea of having to use a fork or spoon all the time. (And chopsticks can come in here as well.)

Rachel's idea is a good one, to talk about breakfast foods. I remember being amazed to learn that French children ate bread and chocolate for breakfast. (In retrospect, I'm not sure why this was so surprising, since I had things like hot chocolate, pancakes with syrup, and Pop Tarts.)

What about featuring some of the cities, esp. in Asia, with lots of street food? "In Taipei, when you walk down the street you can buy green onion pancakes, grilled pork, and shaved ice with red beans on top."

[Fat Guy]

Excellent.

[cakewalk]

Sounds like fun.

Is there going to be an actual beginning-middle-end type of story? Or will it be sort of a picaresque-type thing, where there's no real connection between the different parts of the tale? If it's web-based, will you have the possibility of continually adding new pages to it? Or do you see it as something more finite? Have you thought of adding blank pages, and asking the readers to use their imagination in inventing a dish of their own? I would add a science fiction element to it. (Bear with me.) Instead of traveling around the world, the dog and his master/critic can have occasional forays to different planets in the solar system, and you/they can invent recipes depending upon what you know about each particular planet and its imaginary inhabitants. I know it sounds crazy, but I'm trying to imagine a kid sitting through a book of straight info about food and different cuisines, and I'm having trouble with it. (Adults, on the other hand, would probably love it, particularly adults without much of a culinary background. Moi, for example.) But I think it's a great idea, and wonderful for brainstorming.

[cabrales]

Did you know that in China, they put dumplings and soup (jook) together and call it breakfast? (Dim Sum)

Note Dim Sum is not generally viewed as breakfast necessarily, although it can be taken in the morning in certain circumstances.

Other obvious examples (with significant simplification, in view of the children) --

Did you know that in China they put rice and water together and call it Congee/Porridge? Note "jook" (not formal translation from Cantonese) is generally congee, and it is generally eaten during breakfast.

Did you know that in France they put apples and pastry together and call it Tarte Tatin?

Did you know that in Spain they put rice, seafood and spices together and call it Paella?

Did you know that in Germany they put cabbage and salt together and call it Sauerkraut?

Did you know that in France they put ortolans with their own dripping fat and call it 'incroyable'?

[Varmint]

Maybe you could do a bit of a spin-off on the How Stuff Works concept:

How do grits work?

How does red-eye gravy work? (Did you know that people add coffee and salty ham to make red eye gravy?)

How does pot likker work?

On another notion, you could ask questions such as why is it that children in Northern US eat a white, warm cereal (Cream of Wheat) that you add sweetener, whereas children in the South eat a savory cereal (grits) to which you add butter?

The possibilities are endless, even if one were to look only at breakfast foods.

[bigbear]

.... and wonderful for brainstorming.

This is what it's all about.

[cabrales]

Did you know in [applicable Latin American country/Mexico] they put raw fish and citrus juice together and call it Ceviche?

Example involving Chip Butty -- see A Balic thread

Does Baked Alaska have too many potential ingredients for an example to be based on it?

[Jaymes]

How does red-eye gravy work? (Did you know that people add coffee and salty ham to make red eye gravy?)

Not to mention, "Do you know why they call it 'red eye' gravy?"

[Jaymes]

I know it sounds crazy, but I'm trying to imagine a kid sitting through a book of straight info about food and different cuisines, and I'm having trouble with it.

Which of course brings up the obvious question as to what age kid you are targeting?

Obviously, something meant for grades 1-3, for example, should be far different than something intended for older children.

[Varmint]

Not to mention, "Do you know why they call it 'red eye' gravy?"

[Lesley C]

"Did you know that in Quebec they put French fries and cheese curds together and call it Poutine?"

[Jaymes]

Not to mention, "Do you know why they call it 'red eye' gravy?"

There's a few tales regarding the source of the name, all probably apocrypha:

I've also heard it mentioned that the eye was where the ham bone was.

[jaybee]

FG, you neglected to mention the age range you are shooting for. This is critical in determining the material you can use. As you know there is a huge difference between a four year old and a seven year old in terms of conceptualization, literalness, attention span etc. Also girls tend to be more advanced than boys in the early childhood years with some kinds of material.

[Fat Guy]

Lesley C: I had that one almost exactly!

Now as for these hard questions like plot and audience, well, I'm now in way over my head. I could certainly use some advice. This is new territory for me.

[Schielke]

About the eating instrument post:

There is a children's book written about a mother and father (japanese and american) who were telling their child about how they met. The whole crux of the story was that the father did not know how to eat with chopsticks and the mother did not know how to use flatware properly.

They were both affraid that they would embarass themselves at the meal, but they eventually worked it out.

Yay!

[Fat Guy]

It is particularly hard to eat with chopsticks if, like our protagonist, you operate without the benefit of opposable thumbs.

[jaybee]

Jaymes, notice the usually omniviposting FG ignored both of us asking about the age of the children he is after. What does that tell us?

[Jason Perlow]

my choices:

Do you know that in Brazil they grill all different kinds of salted meat on swords over a fire and call it Rodizio?

Did you know that in korea that dog is a delicacy?

Did you know that in Israel they crush up chickpeas with various spices, fry them, stuff them into bread pockets and call it falafel?

Did you know that in Spain, the most commonly served dish is a potato and egg pancake called a Tortilla de Patatas?

Did you know in Mexico they make a sauce called Mole that is made with smoked hot chile peppers and chocolate, that is served over chicken?

Did you know that in Vietnam, they sell a type of noodle soup called Pho from street carts that is eaten all times of the day?

Did you know that in Louisiana, Alligator meat is made into a kind of sausage, or used in gumbos?

Did you know in Italy they make a kind of ham called Prosciutto that takes months upon months to dry and cure?