Starting from Scratch (updated edition): What You Should Know about Food and Cooking

by Sarah Elton, Jeff Kulak (Illustrations)

Starting from Scratch is a food manifesto that helps young readers relate to what they eat, inspiring both budding chefs and budding food lovers in the process. Beginning with an exploration of taste and how it works, author and food activist Sarah Elton explains how ingredients have been on the move for centuries, resulting in the unique fusion of flavors we love today. She breaks down the science of food and cooking into bite-sized and easily digestible pieces of information that cover the chemistry of heat versus cold, fat versus acid, and salt versus sweet. Both practical and philosophical in its approach, Starting from Scratch demystifies food and cooking by boiling it down to the basics. Young chefs learn to make sense of recipes, measure and substitute ingredients, and stock a pantry, and discover that food is more than just a prepackaged meal. Using simple and universal examples, Starting from Scratch inspires children to eat better, try new flavors, and understand what’s on their plate. Even reluctant chefs will gain an improved sense of where food comes from and be able to join in on a conversation that continues from snack time to dinnertime.

Genres: Food, Cooking, Nonfiction, Cookbooks, Childrens, Education, Canada

96 pages, Hardcover

First published March 11, 2014

About the author

Sarah Elton is an award winning and bestselling author and journalist.
Sarah has written four books and edited one anthology. Locavore: From Farmers’ Fields to Rooftop Gardens, How Canadians Are Changing the Way We Eat and Consumed: Food for a Finite Planet both explore sustainability and our food.
Her latest book is for young people and is titled Meatless? A Fresh Look at What You Eat.
The first book she worked on is an anthology of writing titled City of Words: Toronto Through her Writers' Eyes.
Visit Sarah online at sarahelton.ca or on twitter @SarahAElton.

Reviews

[Barbara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although it does contain four recipes in the back, this book is not a cookbook but rather a primer on food and various ingredients that can be combined to make foods taste even better. The chapters are brief and filled with engaging text and lively illustrations. Readers may enjoy learning about the importance of preparation and gathering the necessary utensils and ingredients before beginning to cook. Although it is easy to eat out nowadays, the author reminds readers that using fresh ingredients grown locally may end up offering consumers a healthier choice. One of the things I liked about the book was how the author considers cooking to be somewhat experimental. Not every recipe will be a success, and not every single word on a recipe must be followed. It might have been nice to have illustrations of some of the ingredients described in the book, and while I liked the encouragement to be creative and experiment, often it is hard to do so when on a tight food budget.

[Shannon · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a pretty basic book as its title indicates. Just skimmed through it, but enjoyed the section on chicken dishes of the world 🙂

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great way to learn about food, I would say this is for kids but me as an adult learned as well. I even bought a copy for my shelf as I refer back to it. Simple, visual and super practical

[Odessa Constance · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fun and beautifully illustrated introduction to cooking! Like Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat for a younger audience

[Toppie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Super well-crafted book for kid cooks and new/nervous cooks! The information is accessible, encouraging, and presented with great illustrations and spreads.

[Whitney · Rating 4 out of 5]

I won a copy of this book in the Goodreads First Reads program.

This is a book written to introduce children to some basic concepts about food, nutrition, and cooking. It starts with understanding how taste and our senses determine how we experience food and if we like it. It covers tools commonly used in cooking and how to use them safely. It also explains how to use a recipe, replacing ingredients, what flavors work well together, and how to measure everything correctly.

The book brings up issues such as: eating local, vegetarianism, eating healthy, budgeting, where your food comes from, and how it is produced or grown. The author does a fairly good job staying neutral on these topics, and just tries to explain what each term means.

This is a great way to get children involved in cooking, and understanding concepts that will help them as long as they cook. My one issue with this book is that a few times the words used were almost like baby talk, such as: "thingy" when referring to a tool used in the kitchen. Fortunately, it only happened a few times.

There are some simple recipes that the beginner can use to try their new skills with.

[Deb · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great book for children learning more about food, cooking, and nutrition. The book is well organized, and uses a one or two page spread to thoroughly explore each subtopic of the chapter. This method makes it convenient for young readers to read only short passages at a time, and finish that concept.

Beginning "chefs" will learn a lot from this book about food and cooking. This book is designed to teach the fundamentals to young children, and whet their appetites for more. Because the book explains so much about cooking, it is a great introduction to helping mom in the kitchen.

[Jillian (Peapod Historical Bookery) · Rating 4 out of 5]

The title sums this one up nicely: "what you should know about food and cooking." It's not a cookbook, but rather an explanation of how to cook, what makes a good meal, and how ingredients work together. I thought it was pretty interesting (disclaimer: I'm an adult reader with not much knowledge about food or cooking... I'm ashamed to admit how often I go out/order in). The layout and illustrations were great and worked well together to make the text more eye-catching and appealing. I think this would be a nice book for an older child or tween who's starting to show an interest in cooking.

[Crystal · Rating 2 out of 5]

It's a good book if you just want to know how to flavor and taste your foods but I was under the assumption that it would have recipes and tell you how to make everything yourself. I honestly wouldn't have even entered to win this book if I had known more about it. But if you want to know flavors and smells this books for you.

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book looks like a great way to introduce young children to cooking, and healthy food! I look forward to being able to use this with any future children I may have. Or I can use it with my younger cousins.

[Suzanne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book for kids interested in learning more about food and cooking.

[Gabriella Powell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good for people who love cooking