I've been looking for a while for a cookbook for Connery or some kind of "lunch idea" cookbook for us. Unfortunately, the books out there tend toward the "celebrity chef" side--please, God, save me from more Rachel Ray!--or toward the very specialty, i.e. when you are a gluten-free vegan who wants to eat only foods local to the upper northeast side of Berkeley. That's why I was glad to find this at the local Barnes & Noble last weekend. While it does feature a celebrity chef of sorts in that it features characters from Ratatouille, it also has classic French recipes given an easier twist to make it possible for kids to help out in the kitchen. We've already made three recipes from this book already, which has to be a new cookbook record.
In looking at other cookbooks either for kids or for parents cooking for kids, I've found other problems besides the aforementioned celebrity-specialty conundrums. There's a huge subset of "cooking for kids" books that make liberal use of the four kiddie food groups--hot dogs, chicken nuggets, pizza, and cookies--as if those foods are the only ones that will ever appeal to a child. The opposite extreme is the OMG CHILDHOOD OBESITY EPIDEMIC OF TEH FAT!?!?! cookbook designed to appeal to moms who want their kids to eat "healthy," wherein healthy means without any sugar, fat, or taste.
Now, I'm all for kids eating good food. In fact, if you ask my mom--who was in her day the strictest mom on the block in terms of what was in our cupboards--she'll call me a food nazi when it comes to what Connery gets to eat. I'll cop to being very, very label-conscious and anti-processed-foods to the extreme. But that doesn't mean I'm going to raise him on low-fat margarine and sugar substitute (See above: anti-processed-food.). What I love about What's Cooking is that I see nary a fake food anywhere in the book. Eggs, veggies, fruit, cheese, bread--basic, good food prepared in a tasty and imaginative way--predominate. Beyond that, food is presented as a real joy to prepare and consume. There are pictures of each recipe and an unabashed invitation to make the recipes together and enjoy them together.
Our society is so fraught with food issues that it's nice to see a cookbook that is trying to keep those out of our kids' heads. It's unlikely a single book can counteract the toxic celebrity culture that berates Britney Spears for being too fat and photoshops America Ferrara beyond recognition, but it's noteworthy that somebody is trying.