Children enjoying kitchen experience

The children join the "Kids in the kitchen" course with Mr Pizza at Little Italy restaurant (Hue)

Junior Chefs

"Chef, give me another knife, please!", "Chef, how to create eye-catching decoration with these vegetables?", "Chef, is this amount of salt enough for seasoning?" Kids from 5 to 10 continuously raised dozens of other questions, making the chef of Texas Tech Club in Texas, where I was working, rather occupied.

Here, every summer, the club always offers a 4-session course for children of club members to come and eat. Although the price is overpriced of $39.95 per member (not including taxes and service charges), a large number of children are eager to join.

The event is held right at the processing area of ​​the club kitchen. All kids wear aprons, chef hats and officially become apprentice chefs under the chef’s guidance. All types of activities such as tremblingly chopping vegetables, turning over a marinated fish fillet as if the fish is about to jump out or spelling the names of kitchen gadgets make all participated members curious and interested.

Or every summer, the department of nutritional sciences at Texas Tech University always send their students to Lubbock County Youth Center to share knowledge of nutrition and food with children in the city. Along with it, children are also instructed to make healthy breakfasts with enough daily nutrient requirements. Since the event is free of charge, and so many families have joined, online registration in advance is required by organizers.

The "Kids in the kitchen" class is divided into 4 sessions with practical topics such as "Getting to know kitchen tools", "Food safety",  "Things to keep in mind when you go to the kitchen," "How to choose good food" and so on. Each topic is demonstrated by vividly animated short clips with compelling explanations from instructors, making all children amazed as if the whole experience of walking into the kitchen with knives and cutting boards is like entering a paradise of a wonderland ...

Kids having summer funs in the kitchen - why not?

That there were over 1.6 million results displaying related content when typing the keyword "cooking with children" astonished me. This means teaching children to spend time in the kitchen is of interest of not a small number of parents. This is also a "thriving market" for professional culinary arts training, large restaurants, English language centers or even Internet training during summer.

Classes for little chefs with such funny names as: Start to cook, EZcooking, Junior chef cooking classes, Baking with kids and so on have been held in big cities like Hanoi, Da Nang, and Ho Chi Minh city.

Little Italy, a restaurant located at 10 Nguyen Thai Hoc Street, Hue City, has pioneered a course called "Kids in the kitchen with Mr Pizza" in the last two years. The course is hosted by the restaurant chef, with support of about 10 other staff members to show children how to make delicious pizzas. These children dress like little chefs, knead and roll the dough by themselves, then choose their favorite toppings. After baking their pizza, they can enjoy it right at a reserved section of the restaurant.

Ms Phan Thi Lai, the manager of Little Italy, says hundreds of children have joined us since this exciting course started, especially during summer. This not only helps promote the restaurant but also helps children love what they make with their own hands.

Hue is known as a culinary paradise. Hopefully in a near future, local specialities  like banh khoai, banh in, beo-nam-loc ... will also be introduced to children in kids cooking “summer tour”. This is also a way to help children have independent lifestyle, learn gender equality in the kitchen and equip children with knowledge of food safety, so they gradually become "smart consumers" in the future.

By Phan Quoc Vinh (Lubbock)