cover image Cooking for Your Kids: At Home with the World’s Greatest Chefs

Cooking for Your Kids: At Home with the World’s Greatest Chefs

Joshua David Stein. Phaidon, $39.95 (240p) ISBN 978-1-83866-252-3

Stein (Il Buco) draws on his chops as a food writer and father of two in this spirited look at the ways professional cooks feed their families. The dishes reflect a cross-section of cultures, as well as an enviable willingness among the budding gastronomes who are served. As Mexican chef Elena Reygadas says of her daughters, “We have a very clear rule: ‘Try it.’ This... has made them very adventurous eaters.” While chefs’ touches elevate the familiar—such as Manoella Buffara’s zucchini bread made with chickpea flour, flaxseed, and rosemary—they also introduce foods far more refined than chicken fingers. Jock Zonfrillo turns fried kangaroo tail into a cooking lesson for his Australian brood—showing them how to braise meat and build a balanced hot and sour sauce—and the young daughter of French chef Marie-Aude Rose loves calf’s liver. Chile’s Rodolfo Guzman roasts kelp as a snack for his four kids, while New York chef Danny Bowien—who “tries to limit the amount of sugar” his six-year-old eats—tops a roasted purple sweet potato with condensed milk, peanuts, and maraschino cherries. While most of these recipes demand a commitment of time and resources, parents who are game might just succeed in expanding their youngsters’ food horizons. (June)