What's Cooking?: A Cookbook for Kids

by Thomas Keller (Introduction)

Kids can be the big cheese in the kitchen with this cookbook of kid-friendly, Ratatouille-inspired recipes. The concealed wire binding allows the book to lie flat for ease of use while preparing such fun dishes as Remy's Famous Omelets and Emile's Sewer Sandwiches. This silly cookbook is sure to please...down to the last crumb!

Genres: Cookbooks, Cooking, Childrens, Nonfiction, Food and Drink, Food

64 pages, Spiral-bound

First published June 1, 2007

About the author

Thomas Keller is an American chef, restaurateur, and cookbook writer. He and his landmark Napa Valley restaurant, The French Laundry in Yountville, California, have won multiple awards from the James Beard Foundation, notably the Best California Chef in 1996, and the Best Chef in America in 1997. The restaurant is a perennial winner in the annual Restaurant Magazine list of the Top 50 Restaurants of the World.
In 2005, he was awarded the three star rating in the inaugural Michelin Guide for New York for his restaurant Per Se, and in 2006, he was awarded three stars in the inaugural Michelin Guide to the Bay Area for The French Laundry. He is the only American chef to have been awarded simultaneous three star Michelin ratings for two different restaurants.

Reviews

[G · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is so cute! And Thomas Kellar does the intro and provides a recipe! Wow!

[Theresa F.]

Reading this book as an adult, I had a mixed reaction to it. Because it's a kids' cookbook, it contained a number of recipes where the makeup and taste of the finished dish seemed less important than how the food looked visually. Certain entries, such as an Eiffel Tower replica made from wafer cookies or the English muffin pizza wedges that were topped to resemble the rat characters from the Ratatouille animated film, seemed specifically designed to 'look cool' to young readers. The "Desserts" section in particular was largely composed of these 'kid pleaser' type recipes.
However, there were also a number of recipes that taught basic cooking skills and produced food that might appeal to older readers as well as kids. Some of the more complicated recipes might even be well suited to young adults who are living away from home for the first time. (The ranking system used to rate the difficulty level of each recipe was, I think, a helpful addition for first time cooks.)
Several recipes from the middle of the difficulty scale also presented simplified versions of classic French dishes, such as crepes and Quiche Lorraine. Since I am largely unfamiliar with French cooking, reading these recipes was actually educational for me.
Overall, I felt that this book had its weaknesses, but also its strengths.
Did I like it? It was worth reading.
Would I reread it? Not as a whole, but I am tempted to try a few of the recipes.
Would I recommend it? Not sure. It's definitely best suited to readers in the recommended age group. However, whether adult readers would be able to bypass the more childish material and appreciate the other content is more a matter of personal preference.

[Meredith · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great cookbook for kids and their adults. Divided into five sections (breakfast, lunch, sides, dinner, desserts) with four to six recipes per section, all the recipes are easy to moderately easy to make, and you can involve the kids in making all of them to one extent or another (and some of them the kids can make all on their own once you've walked them through it once or twice!). Best of all, ALL of the recipes are something that you (adults and kids) will enjoy making -- and eating! -- more than once, and some of them have become staples in my kitchen. Not only is this one of the best children's cookbooks I ever seen, but it's also become one of my favorite cookbooks too.

[Dana Al-Basha | دانة الباشا · Rating 5 out of 5]

The movie was so good, delicious and a favorite add this book on your cooking shelf and you get yourself a great easy meal. Every meal is just YUMMY!! It's one of the first books that taught me to cook, I couldn't cook to save my life! The recipes are easy, step-by-step for amateurs and kids alike.

[Katherine · Rating 4 out of 5]

OK, so I'm a Disney nut and really loved this sweet little book with kid-friendly recipes. Good stuff if you have kiddies around.

[Sharon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Simple and entertaining at the same time -- and, frankly, contains the best ratatouille recipe I've ever used.

[Tiffiny · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had hoped this book would get my son interested in different foods but it really didn't. But it had a lot of fun recipes.

[Abraham Ray · Rating 5 out of 5]

nice Disney cookbook!