Cook With Confidence
Lianne Castelino of WhereParentsTalk.com speaks to Corby-Sue Neumann, mom of two and Head of Culinary at HelloFresh Canada about how parents can teach their children meal planning and preparation basics, so that they can cook with confidence.
Corby-Sue Neumann
Chef
Culinary Head, HelloFresh Canada
Single mom of two
Podcast excerpt:
Q: What are some general tips that you can share with how parents can support their kids in the kitchen?
In my own 20-year history, one of my great loves has been sharing the language of food with children. I ran a food program from 2006 to 2016. across various preschools where I’m from originally, which is Sydney, Australia.
And it really grew out of my own experience as a child of a chef, where I was taken to markets early. You know, in the morning, where I understood, when was the best time to buy Ontario corn, when was the best time to you know, source fish. I already had that I was very lucky. And then once I had my own children, I thought, gosh, I can’t take for granted that what I know they’ll know. They’ll only know if I talk about it. So really, from the moment my children were conscious, any opportunity to talk about ingredients in the kitchen, putting them you know, literally in their little high chair. Here’s an apple, what is it? What’s the colour? What does it smell like? What does it taste like? What’s the texture, so you really start from the shopping experience and if you’re someone who uses a meal kit, when that box arrives, you know, one of the things our customers tell us on a regular basis. It’s like receiving a present every week. So when you want to pack groceries however you receive them, there’s a ceremony to it. And that was an opportunity to talk about the ingredients as they start to get a wee bit older and they don’t need to be that old. By the way, craft scissors are such a great utensil for Kids in the Kitchen. So if you’re putting together, let’s say you’re putting together a pastor, and you’ve got some bell pepper craft scissors are actually great for cutting bell peppers. So you can get your little ones engaged really from the get go.
And the other thing I say to parents too, is, sometimes we put our own bias, we bring that into the kitchen. So if you’re someone who doesn’t like mushrooms, and your kids are never going to taste mushrooms, right, if you’re the person responsible for cooking, so I would say having kids is an opportunity for you to even challenge your own food barriers, and incorporate some foods that you wouldn’t have traditionally used.
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