Source
r/KitchenConfidential•
WSatin

Good beginner cookbooks for my 6y/o cousin.

So I'm a chef (pastry) and have been doing this a good amount of time. My cousin's kid is totally into it and his mom wants to start his "training" ASAP with her in the kitchen and make recipes from the Costco cookbooks (actually decent). I want to expand his mind as early as possible so he can get in there and realize what it all means. Dude he was just enthralled with what I do and was staring at me all night a d asking questions.

Chefs of reddit, what were some cookbooks that you totally memorized and loved as a child that may have started it all for you?

Mine was this silly Borders produced baking book that had huge photos and I marked the hell out of it and I can still recall each recipe in my head. Its a treasure of mine.

Danke.

Edit: cool, guys! Thanks for the info. Yeah, I never get to see this kid; he lives far. I might send him "cooking with master chefs," or something with Julia and pictures are a great idea. Thanks!

Posted May 4, 2015, 5:00 AM UTC · edited

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WSatinOP•

Might I add that new has no TV and has no knowledge of master chef Jr.

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Cyno01•

Master Chef Jr is fucking adorable.

2
Nomuza•

I honestly did a lot of cooking when I was around his age, and the only thing that really mattered to me was whether or not a recipe had a picture to go along with it. The included pictures helped to show me what I was trying to make, and as such, I was more interested in making that specific item.

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OmniClam•

Take him to a farm/make him grow some herbs.

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BlackMantecoreModerator•

Silver Palate Though my memory of it now thirty ish years later isn't very good.

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[deleted]•

[deleted]

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Feldew•

No PriceZombie, they said it's a BAD book.

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PriceZombie•

:(

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Feldew•

I'm sorry, PriceZombie, you did a good job. Don't be sad, have an upvote.

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Feldew•

I had a book called 'young stirrers'. Some stuff was cool and made me look at cooking differently, and some stuff was lame and made me want to come up with something better. Either way, I feel it was a good starting point for me. That was almost 20 years ago, it probably actually sucks lol

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oginrider•

Get him a subscription to rouxbe.com. all videos on HOW to cook. Then buy him a copy of joy since even if he finds out he dosent like it he will always have his skill set and a recipe for anything he could ever want to make.

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haaducke•

Send your portfolio. I can only imagine you and your cousin's kid over a phone conversation. "Remember your mise en place...". I'm so jelly.

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starlightprincess•

I had a Betty Crocker book. 6 is pretty young, but he might pull off "toad in a hole" or a baked potato. My kids were happy just to make a bowl of cereal at that age.

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Sinjos•

Cookbooks are for people who know how to cook.

Teach your nephew how to cook when he gets old enough. Six is way too young to be getting him into anything. Especially something you want him to enjoy.

By eight years old, he may pull a 180 and like something completely different. That's not to even mention ten and thirteen. Wait a little bit. And then teach him some recipes. Show him you can change it up with different ingredients. Foster imagination rather than by the books cooking.

Edit: Despite what the internet would have you believe. You can dislike something, and it can still be useful.

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Feldew•

If you're going to want to cook you will. I had my silly little cookbook and made things from that, helped my mom in the kitchen and watched my dad (because he could become a tyrannical rage machine in the kitchen and it was safer to just watch) , but I ended up doing it all of my own accord while using what tools where offered to me. So if he ends up getting exposure to cooking then doing a 180 a couple years later, it probably means he didn't have a long lasting interest to begin with.

And having a cookbook let me try things from the book but also taught me that if you wait for something to be presented to you you probably won't be happy. So I used cookbooks as a way to get exposure to certain ideas but make them something of my own from the start.

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Sinjos•

I never learned to cook through a cookbook. So the notion that you need one to be able to cook is untrue. I was shown how to cook a few simple meals for my self and went on from there. Adding or subtracting ingredients.

Are cookbooks Useless then? No. As I said. they're great for people who already know how to cook. Otherwise all you're doing is repeating what you've been shown. And that's not entirely cooking. Anyone can look at a book and follow instructions.

Not everyone can read those instructions and think about how they can make it better.

Edit: Maybe you're just from a different school of thought. I cook via feel. it's never been my place to cook based on ounces, grams, Litres or any of that.

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Feldew•

I never said I needed one. However, I expressed that I found some use in it. I cook from feel too, which is why I said before that I check out what's in cookbooks and immediately change the recipe. I also learned how to make meals from watching my parents and working with my mom, as you did. But I guess if you just cook from feel reading isn't your strong suit? (sorry, but the sparky comment was totally necessary. I definitely mentioned this in other posts.) but yeah, I've never just followed the recipes in a book, ever. It's just cool to see what others do because occasionally you get ideas and play off them.

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Sinjos•

Wait.

So that post you made was entirely pointless? As I never said they had no use. I said they weren't good for teaching. They are however great for ideas.

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Madmadisangry•

I started baking around that age and I think my go to book was Betty Crocker or something like that. I know it was called "I Love Chocolate". Still have it too :)

I also cooked out of the Williams-Sonoma cookbooks. The titles are super simple, like Breads and Ice Cream and Dessert but they also have savoury cookbooks in that same line.

Mostly I learned from helping my mom cook at home, but if she's adamant about getting cookbooks, find ones with pictures and more simple recipes. That will help get a good base and then as they get older they can learn the more complex stuff.

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