teaching cooking to a child who wants to be chef

[Julie of KY]

I have a nine year old boy who has talked for years about growing up to be a cook. He experiments with recipes and makes up new recipes and is working on what recipes he wants to make for his restruant some day. He loves to learn to cook new things and to bake fancy things. ... anything is great if it's in the kitchen.

 

I have looked for any cooking classes in my area (kids or adult) and I'm not finding anything. I am looking for ideas of how to nuture this passion and where to go to find help teaching him.

[starwarsmomma]

I think that's GREAT!

 

My youngest has said he wants to be a butcher so he can have all the meat he wants. LOL He just doesn't quite get the whole raw meat thing. He kinda still thinks all meat is magically cooked for him. :P

 

Anyway, our area has a young chefs academy that teaches kids to cook... it's $$$ though.

http://www.youngchefsacademy.com/index.php they have locations all over. Maybe they have one by you?

[Annabel Lee]

A friend of mine did this with her son - same age - last school year. They called it Kitchen Chemistry but he ended up doing some really fancy stuff and learning many new techniques. She used a book for the spine and a few others... I'll ask her what the titles were.

[Rosie_0801]

Does he need anything beyond you being willing to buy and try weird ingredients? By the sounds of it, his skills would be beyond most cooking classes I've seen (or experienced.) Introducing him to new ingredients and being willing to eat his creations will probably keep him inspired for years to come :)

 

Rosie

[Aludlam]

Couple of ideas to check into: non-credited classes at the local Community College or University (Ours offers cooking classes, etc, etc, etc) or the 4-H.

 

hth

[mathmom]

I would agree that he would be beyond most of the kids cooking classes that I have seen. My son was just like yours. Those kid classes were frustrating to him. He is happy to be old enough to attend adult classes now.

 

We have been using the Free Culinary School series on this website. Maybe it will help you. Does he already watch Good Eats on the Food Network? I would also recommend that show.

[johnandtinagilbert]

Honestly, find a Better Crocker cook book and go through the entire thing. It will teach him every kind of preparation, info. about the variety of meats, veggies, etc and give him a firm foundation in the basics of cooking. From there, he can create his own pieces. Foundation laying time! How FUN!

[woolybear]

Are there any hsers (or others) in your area that have professional cooking experience and might be interested in working out some kind of trade? Someone from the business can really help him learn more than just home cooking skills. There really is a difference. Of course, he's very young right now and just learning basic cooking skills is fine, but he would probably enjoy having a professional teach him. Cooking was my profession and it is fun to nurture someone at any age who is really interested in learning.

[shehmeth]

Julie,

 

Two ideas:

 

1)

The idea of picking up a Cooking book that includes different techniques not just recipe is great.. I"m doing this with my kids (we picked a mommy & me bok, a toddler book, and a Kids's cooking book - since I have a 2 and a 6 year old (now and 1/2 I need to update their ages - LOL) I decided to start off like that - each Friday we'll cook a recipe from the "Mommy & Me cooking book" until we're done with it, then we'll move through the Toddler cooking Book and so forth - as their skills (cutting, sifting, separating, etc.) improve and we go through the books, we'll continue and pick books that continue to challenge them...

 

You can do something similar with your child - and start off with a book that has some skills he already knows and many that he should learn - but again focus on making sure the book covers skills not just recipes...

 

2) Look for a professional Cooking school many have one day classes open for the public and kids your child's age are usually welcome when accompanied by an adult (the adult also has to register)... By my house we have Le Cordon Bleu - and they started this series this year, the classes are one saturday a month- you don't have to come each saturday - you just register to the one you want - since each month they have a different theme - this month was all about french cooking and the month before that was all about grilling... The classes are from 10-1PM and are taught by the same instructors that teach the chefs and right at the cooking school - and focus on skill... and considering all you get and the experience they are fairly priced.. If you do not have a Le Cordon Bleu in your area then take a closer look at the cooking school that is in your area and see if they have Community Classes or a similar program..

 

Kate

[Punchie]

I don't know if this is beyond what you're looking for, but two of the best basic cooking reference books we have are:

 

How To Cook Everything by Mark Bittman

http://www.amazon.com/Cook-Everything-Completely-Revised-Anniversary/dp/0764578650/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1280326072&sr=8-1

 

Martha Stewart's Cooking School (great pictures)

http://www.amazon.com/Martha-Stewarts-Cooking-School-Lessons/dp/0307396444/ref=sr_1_6?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1280326137&sr=1-6

 

And for history:

 

On Food and Cooking: the Science and Lore of the Kitchen

http://www.amazon.com/Food-Cooking-Science-Lore-Kitchen/dp/0684800012/ref=pd_sim_b_54

[eight_gregorys]

We have Martha Stewart's Cooking School. So far it looks great. It goes through the basics like how to hold a knife, truss a chicken, and make a pie crust. It also goes into how to make stocks and sauces. You could always check your library first before you buy it. Ours had it available so I was able to check it out before I purchased it.

 

HTH,

[Holly]

about.com has some great cooking videos. My DH was watching a series of them, but I can't remember which ones. Here are links to a few:

http://busycooks.about.com/od/cookinglessons/u/Cooking101.htm

http://culinaryarts.about.com/od/culinaryreference/tp/culinaryvideos.htm

 

They also have great ethnic sections. I've been teaching myself how to cook different types of food over the years...Italian, Chinese, Japanese, Indian. I'm hoping to go to culinary school at some point. :001_smile:

[NanceXToo]

4H here has a "cooking club," so I'd give that a shot!

[LaissezFaire]

Honestly I would just have him in the kitchen as much as possible helping you. Prepare a broad variety of meals and talk to him while he helps you. Mauybe buy him some of his own tools and cookbooks.

 

I teach all of my kids how to cook from about age 5. By 9 they can usually cook several meals and this is all thorugh just having them assist me in the kitchen, I teach them terms and how to measure, follow a recipe, substitute items for another one. It's a lot of fun and sometimes they even volunteer to make dinner. :)

[2cents]

I'd do a "Julia & Julia" type thing with him. Get a good cookbook (Julia Child maybe). I'd look for one that has term definitions and goes into detail. Then I'd start going through it step by step. You'd both learn and it would make some great memories! :)

[Alessandra]

I'd focus on basics -- how to handle a knife, how to chop vegetables uniformly, how to saute, how to make a perfect omelet, etc. Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking has multi-page recipes that describe everything in detail. There are two volumes, but Vol I is fine by itself.

[Whereneverever]

I'll third (fourth?) the idea of picking a comprehensive cookbook and working all the way through. Sounds like something fun to photo-blog or scrapbook. ;)

[Roxy Roller]

I would recommend going through 'The All New All Purpose Joy of Cooking' by Irma S. Rombauer, Marion Rombauer Becker and Ethan Becker.

 

It is a big cookbook - over 1000 pages, but it gives you so much information. It really is an encyclopedia, as well as a cookbook. For instance, in the Vegetable 'Pepper' section, the first 6 pages are devoted to explaining the different types of peppers, with black and white drawings. Then there is a page about different ways to roast and prepare peppers, before going into the recipes.

 

My DD, almost 11, reaches for it first if she wants to cook or bake something. She really likes it, because the recipes are written in the order you do things - not a list of ingredients, then the instructions. She is already asking for her own copy so she can make her own notes in the margins.

 

You can probably check it out at the library to take a look.

[Amy loves Bud]

I would get America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook and America's Test Kitchen Family Baking Book.

 

The front materials give excellent explanations of cooking or baking basics. Just looking at my baking book now and it explains about different types of flour and when it should be used, storing, sifting, measuring. Different kinds and uses of leaveners, etc.

 

It gives a section on equipment, what is really necessary, and what to look for when shopping for it.

 

The recipes have all been tested in the test kitchen and they give not only the best recipe, but other tips they have learned from the testing. For example, chocolate chip cookies will stay more chewy after cooling if you used melted and cooled butter rather than simply softened butter.

 

If he works through these books he will have a very solid foundation of knowledge to build on. Plus they have the website with lots of info and videos, and teh tv shows.

 

A fun thing would be to watch Alton Brown who goes a bit into history and science of cooking.

[PhunandFonics]

I just wanted to thanks for this thread! I am a NON-cooking mom with a daughter that wants to also be a chef. I've been online reserving everything I can at our library this morning! This is fabulous! I've never watched the Food Network in my life and rarely crack the cover of a cookbook, so I keep wondering why God gave me a child who wants to learn to cook? We do have a place right across the street that offers classes but they are WAY out of our budget. So who knows, maybe we'll both learn to cook! :lol:

Edited July 28, 2010 by PhunandFonics
typo

[Joy at Home]

Dd13 aspires to be a chef also. We have looked at community college classes. They have all sorts of one evening community classes on all aspects of cooking. I thought it would be a fun night out for us. I was surprised how many different kinds they offered, from basic to gourmet cuisine. They are relatively cheep and most feature guest instructors who are owners of restaurants themselves.

 

Good luck,

lisa

[CathyT]

I don't know if it has been already suggested (I read a bunch but not all the posts) but another idea is to tape some of the cooking shows on tv and then cook along with them once you have all the ingredients and have written down the instructions. We have done that with my teens. Some of the shows have a website too that give the recipe as well (Rachel Ray, for instance).

[woolybear]

I just wanted to thanks for this thread! I am a NON-cooking mom with a daughter that wants to also be a chef. I've been online reserving everything I can at our library this morning! This is fabulous! I've never watched the Food Network in my life and rarely crack the cover of a cookbook, so I keep wondering why God gave me a child who wants to learn to cook? We do have a place right across the street that offers classes but they are WAY out of our budget. So who knows, maybe we'll both learn to cook! :lol:

 

 

Please don't take this the wrong way but I always used to joke that I learned to cook because my mom didn't. Her favorite cookbook was called The I Hate to Cook Book. Her school lunches are still legendary. She made the sandwiches for the whole week on the weekend and then froze them. Each morning she would take out a frozen sandwich and put it in our lunches. Because it was still frozen in the morning, she would put a piece of iceberg lettuce in a separate baggie. By lunch time you would have soggy bread which stuck to whatever was in the middle (bologna for example) because it never defrosted all the way. It was always still frozen in the middle. So you couldn't really put your wilted iceberg lettuce in the sandwich without ripping the bread. But who wanted to anyway? By junior high I subsisted on yogurt, ice cream bars and cookies that I bought at school. I have no memory of eating in high school (except after school snacks of a bag of chips and a coke). By college I started learning to cook. Geez, I think I was just hungry,lol!:lol:

 

Sorry to get so OT.:001_smile: I think it's great these kids wanting to cook. You've had lots of great suggestions.

 

Oh, and lastly, my mom is a great woman and can cook some things when she wants to.:D

[WishboneDawn]

Honestly, find a Better Crocker cook book and go through the entire thing. It will teach him every kind of preparation, info. about the variety of meats, veggies, etc and give him a firm foundation in the basics of cooking. From there, he can create his own pieces. Foundation laying time! How FUN!

 

Agreed. Even better, an older copy (60s to 70's) of The Joy of Cooking. I just recently sat down with my copy and learned I've not been a fan of pork tenderloin because I was cooking it entirely the wrong way.

 

Joy of Cooking will detail how to cut meat, what spices go with what meals, etc. All the basics. Then just experiment and add good cookbooks with good technical tips and instructions to your library.

[Annabel Lee]

Here's the names of the books my friend used: I'm Just Here for the Food Vol. 2, Alton Brown

On Food and Cooking : Harold McGee. She had her son work his way from beginning to end like others are suggesting w/ the other cookbooks.

[OrganicAnn]

What has already been suggested, work through a good basic cookbook.

 

You know a couple of additional things I would do.

 

1) Maybe once a year on his birthday, I would take him to the most expensive restaurant you can afford and let him have a really good meal.

 

2) I would do those blind taste tests with him. Blind fold him and then feed him something (individual ingredients like mango, turnip, etc) and he has to figure out what it is.

 

3) You can include the history/geography/science of food, cooking, chefs restaurants etc into your other studies.

 

But if he gets tired of 'going to be a chef' don't make him stay on that path. Kids do change their mind.

[keptwoman]

I'm in agreement with others that the best thing to do is use books. I also find You Tube fabulous for learning different techniques.

 

I'd focus on basics -- how to handle a knife, how to chop vegetables uniformly, how to saute, how to make a perfect omelet, etc. Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking has multi-page recipes that describe everything in detail. There are two volumes, but Vol I is fine by itself.

Yes, I agree. I was going to suggest Cook with Jamie by Jamie Oliver for the same type of thing, but there are any number of books which will do the same.

 

Once he has his basic skills, I'd get books on different cuisines, get him to learn the main French, Italian, Chinese, Thai, Indian etc dishes. French is a great place to start, I'm often surprised just how simple some of the really classic, classy dishes are.

[rieshy]

I thought this book worked as a great cooking class for my kids when they were pre-teens. It's written for adults:

 

How to Cook Without a Book: Recipes and Techniques Every Cook Should Know by Heart by Pam Anderson

 

It explains different sauces, cooking techniques, categories, and how to create everything from scratch. We checked it out from the library but Amazon carries it.

[Catwoman]

I have a great idea -- send him over to my house and he can be our personal chef! ;)

 

I think it's wonderful that your ds has such a passionate interest in cooking! I learned the most about cooking from Julia Child's books and videos. She "really cooked," without all of the timesaving shortcuts that most of the current tv cooking show hosts use. She was incredibly thorough. I have several of her videos from her original tv series, and I think I recently saw a bunch of them on DVD at BJ's, so Amazon probably has them. Your ds could watch one of her shows each day at lunchtime as part of his school day. It would be even better if you could find the videos at your local library or find some clips on YouTube to see how your son reacts to the "old style" of video. Julia had other shows in addition to the original series, but I don't think the instruction was quite as good. Her shows with Jacques Pepin were a lot of fun to watch, though! She also had a show where she and a guest chef did some interesting baking; Julia was mainly an observer in that one, but the guests were usually pretty good.

 

Your ds might also enjoy watching chefs like Emeril, because he's so enthusiastic, and also because he's a guy. He may not be the best person to learn from, but he's fun.

 

Jacques Pepin is excellent, but I didn't like his show where he did all of the "quick and easy"-type recipes, because they were too much of a "throw stuff in a pot and cook it." A show like that could give your ds a lot of confidence, though, particularly at this age, because most of the recipes are easy, and success is almost guaranteed.

 

Cat

[skueppers]

I agree with many of the suggestions on this thread (Harold McGee's "On Food and Cooking" is brilliant), but wanted to add a couple more:

 

Julia Child's "The Way to Cook" would be useful to your son because it emphasizes basic techniques and master recipes. For example, in the first pages, it describes how to make chicken stock; then it gives things you might do with chicken stock. The book has lovely photography that really helps make things clear.

 

Rose Levy Beranbaum has a number of books about baking -- "The Cake Bible," "The Bread Bible," and "The Pie and Pastry Bible" -- all of which are useful. They explain not only what to do, but why.

 

Lucky you, having a budding chef in the kitchen!

[Beach Mom]

I have a couple of budding chefs at my house. We use some of the ideas mentioned by pps. Another fun thing we do is each week at the grocery store my youngest (who always shops with me), picks one new ingredient from the store (usually a produce item, but sometimes a protien or spice).

 

When he gets home the three of them do online research and find a recipe that they then make using the new ingredient. It has taught them lots of good techniques as well as opened them to trying new things.

 

I love to listen to them talk about the restaurant they will open together when they are older. They say older sister will do the hiring and firing "because she's the bossiest!"

[King Alfred Academy]

I, too, have a child who wants to be a chef...a pastry chef actually.

 

I just found some great sites that someone may find helpful...

 

http://www.kids-cooking-activities.com/index.html

If you look on the sidebar, there is a section called "Kids Cooking Lessons" that looks pretty interesting. There are also some great teaching videos on this site.

 

http://www.spatulatta.com/

This has several videos of kids doing different things in the kitchen that budding chefs can learn from.

 

Anyhow...I am excited to look through these with my little chef and I thought someone else would be too! :001_smile:

[Steven]

The book you really want for your son is "CookWise: The Hows and Whys of Successful cooking with over 230 Great-Tasting Recipes" by Shirley O. Corriher. It is available from amazon: http://www.amazon.com/CookWise-Successful-Cooking-Secrets-Revealed/dp/0688102298/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1280439927&sr=8-1

 

The author is a food chemist who consults to all the great chefs. The book is organized by chemical principles, with recipes to illustrate the discussion, e.g., the Wonders of Risen Bread (what makes bread rise, why different kinds of flour work better than others, what additives help yeast work, etc.). The book includes desserts, meat, poultry, fish, vegetables, chocolate, etc.

 

My wife gave this book to me. We call it the Chemistry Cook book. I highly recommend it to any aspiring cook. It is especially useful for understanding things like why your cakes fall, why your vegetables are turning an unappetizing color, or why your bread did not rise.

[Caitilin]

Agreed. Even better, an older copy (60s to 70's) of The Joy of Cooking. I just recently sat down with my copy and learned I've not been a fan of pork tenderloin because I was cooking it entirely the wrong way.

 

Joy of Cooking will detail how to cut meat, what spices go with what meals, etc. All the basics. Then just experiment and add good cookbooks with good technical tips and instructions to your library.

 

 

:iagree:The Joy is the best. :D And it has menu lists at the beginning, so you can see what different foods complement each other well, and organizes them by ethnicity and occasion too.

[kalanamak]

I'd show the kid some Julia Child-type cooking shows, too. Jacques Pepin.

 

For an overview of some "ethnic" cooking, Jeff Smith is very enthusiastic. He sold cooking to me decades ago, when I was young.

 

The Joy of Cooking has some lovely English in it. Pick you something like cake making and read her "about" section. Even the lovely details of prepping a roast are nice to read.