Cooking with the kids
do you cook with your kids?
Do they like to cook and try new things?
Growing up, I had a very distant relation with cooking. My Mom and Grandma used to do the cooking for all of us, and for me, cooking was something heavy and boring … so I did put more attention on books, games, and playing with my friends rather than spending time in the kitchen.
Looking back, this had a big impact on my life. This made me discover many fruits and vegetables (that today I love) really late in life. I became very “picky” with food and didn’t enjoy trying new plates or new ingredients. Salads, healthy food, and grains were followed always by a face of disgust 🤢…. and this is something that I have set myself to correct for my boys.
Why cook with the kids around? Why make it more difficult? In general, I see 3 great things that I appreciate the most about cooking with the kids:
1- Curiosity
The great Italian chef Massimo Bottura talks in the Netflix series Chef’s Table about how his childhood spent in his grandma’s kitchen kickstarted his career by providing him with a unique perspective towards food and these experiences remain an inspiration for his best dishes. I do see things similarly with my kids. The fact that my children are around in the kitchen when we are cooking, that they are surrounded by the aromas, sounds, and tastes of each ingredient are offering them the opportunity to be curious…. to experience the cooking process and to learn about how the flavors and textures change.
When making a pizza, the boys are always trying the topping ingredients while preparing the dough. They discover what they like and what they don’t like, and their choices are then used in the pizza. When they see a new ingredient, we systematically give it to them so that they try it, smell it … and discover if this is something they like or dislike.
The same goes for textures and mouthfeel. Trying pasta readiness is also something that gives them an active role in the kitchen and makes them decide from an early age if they like something or if they don’t.
2- Patience + Trial and Error
A big thing with cooking is learning to wait, then trying, correcting and trying again… and sometimes failing. This is for me also a great learning experience for the children. They have a simple opportunity to experience correcting mistakes and learning from them.
A great example is sauce making. Sauces are expensive, frequently difficult, but they are soooo important! They are at the heart of a dish and can complement it, transform it, or elevate it. But that requires practice… it requires patience … and considerable trial & error. By sauce making, we find ourselves having to frequently taste the sauce during the cooking process, and the kids really enjoy deciding if it is ready… if it is too salty, too spicy, or too sweet. This easy “critical thinking” exercise is very helpful and I believe it helps them develop their own judgment and figure out what their own opinions are.
3- Learning New skills
How to cut something with a knife? Why do I cry when cutting an onion? How to prepare cookie dough? How is pasta made?
What a great way to learn new skills entertainingly! Yes, to comfortably and safely cook with the kids requires attention, nerves of steel, and some mental capacity to abstract yourself from the mess…. but it is in fact an exciting experience to actively participate in the children’s development.
To be able to do this, we had of course to prepare by buying the right things to make the experience really safe. We bought children cutlery and made sure that we always had a lot of space in the kitchen to be comfortable….and then it is just a matter of picking the right idea, the right dish to cook together and enjoying the experience with them.
