Gourmet Kids, Mini-gastronomes, Gastrokids. Whatever you call them, they're here. I just hope we're not creating tyrannical little emporers of the kitchen. Or living our urban foodie dreams through our children.
The NY Times reports on a new food trend, or maybe it’s the next parenting trend: creating urban foodies out of our toddlers. From mini chef cooking classes in the meatpacking district's Paradou restaurant to camps at Batter Up Kids Culinary Center in Austin Texas - kids and cooking is hot. This is a new twist on what I wrote about in Cooking with Kids.
Haute cuisine or haute parenting?
I thought one quote was a bit snarky, aimed at the “raising of precious children.” Then noticed it came from the lips of the editor of a so-called “high-end parenting magazine.” Oops. She later explains, “It’s a badge of urban sophisticate honor to have your kid be an adventurous eater.”
Kids have a natural curiosity about many things. Food and cooking can be a great way to explore and learn. Even a toddler can help tear salad greens or beat an egg with a mini-whisk.
Whose palate are we talking about?
As with parents who force sports on their children to compensate for their own frustrated ambitions, these parents might be trying to resolve some of their own issues in this new area. One even admits to having made their child sick by feeding him a medium rare burger at 18 months. He didn’t want him to spend his life eating well-done meat, after all. Quel horreur! Another fed their kid steak at 8 months. 8 months!
I’m all for introducing kids to the joys of food and cooking and believe in age-appropriate restaurant experiences, but let’s not put our own food snobbery above pediatricians’ advice.
Mini-gastronomes across the pond
Restaurants across the pond, like London's>Roussillon have introduced mini-gastronome menus designed to introduce kids to fine dining. Whether through mini-chef classes or mini-gastronome menus, introducing kids to a broad array of foods can only be a good thing, as long as we set some ground rules.
Gourmet parents here
New resources for parents are cropping up every day. See Kidfresh, for example.
Here are my Ground rules for creating gastro-kids. So we can all dine in peace.
