Lucky dip part 2 - Cooking with/for kids

"Kids can get involved in all sorts of ways when it comes to cooking. There's so much more to learn from food than eating it. I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw a piece of dough doubled in size and looking like The Blob! It was alive and I was absolutely mesmerized."

Jamie Oliver

I know I talked about this a little bit yesterday but I am revisiting because last night we babysat one family of grandchildren, and during the course of the evening one of the girls - aged 8 - cooked us some chocolate chip cookies - all on her own. I sort of hovered every now and then just in case she needed help, but when I once offered her a bit of advice - cut the butter into pieces before beating it in the mixer, I was told that there was no need - the beater did it on it's own. So I retreated. And they were very good - the cookies. Crisp on the outside and gooey in the middle. David was also shown up because he said the second tray needed a bit more cooking - against the advice of our cook's 11 year-old sister. And she was right. This lot were a bit too crisp. David's fault.

I also know that the older sister makes a mean bruschetta - again, all by herself and also falafel. I think they have also recently mastered carbonara. We commented to their parents when they returned that the cookies were wonderful and that their daughter had done it all by herself, at which we were told that the girls are cooking dinner one day a week now. No doubt mum or dad hovers but I am pretty sure that they are capable of doing this.

And when I think back to my childhood I vaguely remember that by their age I was peeling potatoes - with a knife, not a peeler. I also remember podding peas which I mostly loved doing - it was great to eat the occasional pea fresh from the pod, although I always was mildly fearful that there might be a maggot in the pod. And we grew things in the garden like radishes, strawberries and carrots. My Yorkshire aunt grew many more things. So I am really rather ashamed of my own efforts as a mum. As I said yesterday I was too impatient and I didn't do anything much more adventurous with them than making the aforesaid cookies and icing birthday cakes. I was so bad at this that it was OK to have the kids do it and make a mess.

I also remember when visiting France for the first time, being amazed at the fresh food shopping skills of Monette (Simone) my French exchange friend. She would prod the camembert looking for the one at the right consistency, smell the melons, and select the ripest looking peaches. I learnt a lot from her. Mostly that you should be choosy when shopping. But then the French are much more hands on than the English when it comes to food shopping. And this is still true I think. English supermarket fresh fruit and vegetables comes mostly prepackaged - no opportunity to pick and choose, and I don't know that there are that many markets these days. I could be wrong on that front though.

And indeed I am. I thought to look up Romford Market where we used to shop at the weekends and I see that it is still going. This is what it looked like in 1950 - a couple of years before I would have been going there. There was even a cattle market though we never went to that.

But I digress. Somewhere in his chapter on kids' food Jamie Oliver suggests that kids could cook anything in his book, although sometimes they might need a bit of supervision and/or help, and that it would be a good idea to let them choose a recipe to cook from time to time. A good idea. Pick a book that is mostly simple stuff with lots of glossy photos and ask them to choose. Obviously you would not choose Heston Blumenthal or Yotam Ottolenghi, but Donna Hay and Nigel Slater are usually pretty simple - as are Jamie and Nigella and Delia - and heaps of others too. Maybe start with Coles Magazine even.

And it's true that we tend to only expect kids to be interested in making cookies and cakes and other sweet things - and yes they are - but look at the look of quiet pride on this little girl's face as she holds the pasta which she has made. How cool is that!

And here in Australia we have our own kids' food missionary in the form of Stephanie Alexander. She began with getting schools to create kitchen gardens and then when they started to have actual produce she began cooking classes with the kids. The

Kitchen Garden Foundation was set up, the Victorian government became involved and now there are lots of schools with kitchen gardens. I don't know whether they all cook as well though. Although you would think that is an essential life skill to learn wouldn't you? Stephanie Alexander has also, of course, written a cook book especially for kids well two really to accompany the school program. There is the Kitchen Garden Companion and also Kitchen Garden Cooking with Kids, both, I am completely sure, available wherever they sell cookbooks. And obviously the food she cooks is pretty adventurous and the kids look like they love it.

The recipes in her book are laid out pretty clearly too.

Though maybe we shouldn't adapt recipes. Maybe we should just teach them to read recipes first so they understand the process before beginning. Though I have to say the layout of the book looks really good. And what an interesting, but simple recipe.

Getting your kids to eat a wide variety of foods is another area where I failed dismally, although, in my defence, the few dishes that I was allowed to cook were varied and multicultural - spaghetti and meatballs, roast beef, tandoori chicken, goulash, Indonesian style kebabs, pizza and hamburgers ... So now that I look at that list I wonder why they would not try other things. However, they obviously learned from my mistake because here we have my younger son with two enthusiastic girl cooks - and probably a son too, although he is only three so not able to do quite as much. Mind you his sister was all for getting him to crack the egg! We dissuaded her - oh dear, maybe I shouldn't have. And the older son, father of two boys, is a good cook and probably he and their mother also involve the children.

So well done Jamie - we all know how zealously he has campaigned for improving school dinners in England and also teaching those with no confidence in their cooking skills to cook amazing stuff. Because, as Yotam Ottolenghi says, "If you can read, you can cook."