KIDS COOKING

Kids all over are eating foods from different countries, as people from various cultures settle everywhere.

In Santa Fe schools, children experience global cooking with healthy ingredients thanks to the organization Cooking with Kids. Visiting chefs teach kids dicing, cutting, chopping (with butter knives), measuring, stirring, using a mortar and pestle, and mixing. The students learn about grains, vegetables, and spices used in international cuisines. The adults handle the stove and oven tasks. In his latest photo essay, Ancona features diverse kids and adults as they prepare Moroccan root vegetables with a cilantro-based sauce called chermoula and minted orange pieces, Chinese-American fried rice with sweet and sour cucumbers, Italian minestrone soup with homemade breadsticks, and Mexican salsa, tortillas, and tamales. (Readers tantalized by these descriptions will find recipes on the publisher’s website.) Each page has a slightly different layout, and children’s crayon drawings are also incorporated. Everyone gets a chance to taste the finished products, learning expressions such as “Chi fàn luo” (“Good eating” in Chinese) and “Buen provecho” (“Have a good meal” in Spanish). Teachers or librarians can gather program ideas such as using a globe to indicate a recipe’s origins (although there is no map) or reading a story to introduce a recipe. Kids will sense the excitement that accompanies these classes and clamor for cooking lessons.

Spice up school, library, or home cooking projects with this beginning guide to the fun of cooking.