gastrokid

Parentdish Q&A with Hugh

The excellent parentdish just posted a cool little Q&A with yours truly. While you're there, scope out the rest of the site. Nice conscious parenting content. Check it out here.
—Hugh

Do We Let Our Kids Have Too Many Snacks?

My kids would snack or graze until they dropped, whether its savory or sweet, healthy or downright bad for you (all in moderation of course). Christmas is particularly bad it seems because the snacks seem to be dominated by small repositories of holiday chocolate or candy they've squirreled away from various doting relatives.

So it's interesting to read Jennifer Steinhauer's piece in the NYT on the cult of kiddie snacking, particularly this quote:

"Between 1977 and 2002, the percent of the American population eating three or more snacks a day increased to 42 percent from 11 percent, according to a large study of American nutritional habits conducted by the Agriculture Department with the Department of Health and Human Services.

Further, researchers found, the percent of children surveyed who said they had eaten three meals on the previous day went down, while those who had had a snack went up more than 40 percent.

My kids still manage to eat their meals (most of the time) but I can't argue against the fact that the times when they haven't had a snack they eat with more gusto.

So are our kids snacking too much? Or are we simply given them mini-top ups to fuel their busy little metabolisms?

What do you with Gastrokids think?

- Matthew

Salmon with Soy, Honey and Lime Sauce Becomes Sushi

Regular readers know that we love this sweet and savory grilled salmon dish that we feature in the Gastrokid Cookbook.

This past weekend I made the dish again with a bit of a surprise (for the chef at least). When I served up the salmon, marinated in mirin, soy and rice wine vinegar then grilled along with the rice and honey-lime drizzling sauce, my son Dylan took a taste and said:

"Can I make sushi with this?"

By which he meant he wanted to roll the rice and salmon in a small sheet of Nori (dried seaweed) that we keep for snacks. 

What to say? "How dare you embellish my well thought out recipe!" or "Sure, why not, it might be tasty."

I chose the latter and both Dylan and Zelda devoured the meal.

You just can't stand in the way of progress.

- Matthew

Jamon Redux

Just when you thought you'd learned all you need to know about cured ham along comes this handy Jamon Jamon guide to Spain's finest from the Guardian.

What's more the guide was enabled by our favourite Spanish food producer, London's Brindisa.

After this I promise I'll lay off the Jamon posts for a while, honest.

- Matthew

Jamon Iberico de Bellotta

Acorn-fed Iberian ham.......I think I'm in love.

- Matthew

Gastrokid Global Glossary - The Potato

Here at Gastrokid we're always fascinated by the history and origin of our favorite foods so we've decided to embark on a global adventure (via the Internet at least) to build a glossary that will explain the history of food to kids and parents alike. Enjoy and let us know about any foods, cooking techniques you'd like us to explore and explain. First up...the humble spud.....

We know it by the low-rent nickname  spud, but six centuries ago the humble potato was considered an icon in the land of it birthplace - Peru.

Legend has it that when the founders of the great Incan Empire, Manco Capac and Mama Ocllo, emerged from the waters of Lake Titicacca, the first thing the sun god Wiracocha taught them was to sow potatoes so they could survive. The Inca's relied on potatoes for sustenance (along with corn) and so it's not surprising to lean that Peru is home to over 200 varietals.

But while we tend to boil, saute, fry and bake our spuds, the Incans favored a very early version of mashed potatoes. And not just because they like the cream taste! The Incan nation built up huge reserves of food by freeze drying potatoes and then grinding them up into a fine flour that they would store for the long winter months. To do so they took advantage of the elements. Families would leave newly picked potatoes outside in the heat of the day and freezing cold of the night until they have shriveled and dried up. When they were ready to cook, the women would simply add water to the potato flour.

As with so many of the riches in South America, it was the Spanish that introduced the potato to the so-called Old World. Sailors immediately realized their worth because eating potatoes prevented scurvy but still the tuber was a tough sell to mainland folk who preferred to feed them to their livestock rather than have them for supper. 

Thankfully successive generations of Europeans woke up to potato power so that today potatoes and sweet potatoes are a staple throughout the world. Our favorite? This classic South American dish - Papas Relleno.

- Matthew

Bon Appetit and Gastrokid's Chickpeas

The Gastrokid chickpea bruschetta recipe is featured in Bon Appetit's 5 Things To Do with a Can of Chickpeas.

Go crack a can today!

Holiday Foodie Shopper Alert: Gastrokid Cookbook Signing in Los Angeles

If you happen to be shopping for holiday presents this Saturday in Los Angeles, swing by the super friendly, well-stocked and smartly staffed Chevalier's Books on Larchmont Boulevard where I'll be signing copies of The Gastrokid Cookbook. I'll be there from 1 to 3 with a fresh pen and few pithy culinary quips specially tailored for you or your giftees. If you don't know already, Larchmont is the Mayberry of L.A. with requisite cupcakery, cafes, organic kids boutique, general store, wine shop, and just about every other shop you'd need to do all your shopping while avoiding the big boxes, malls, and other stress inducing retail behemoths. I'd love to meet you and sign a book or two.
—Hugh

Chevalier's Books
126 N. Larchmont Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90004
Tel: 323-465-1334
Fax: 323-465-6093
E-mail: chevaliers@earthlink.net

Thanks Apartment Therapy's TheKItchn: Smartest Gastrokid Review Yet

Apartment Therapy's most excellent food blog TheKitchn sums up our book succinctly, sharply, with a short-attention-span breakdown of the practical and aesthetic charms of our book. They also posted our recipe for High Heat Roasted Vegetables (nicely timed for winter).

The movie poster sum up of the review would be:

"well-designed... highly entertaining... [an] inspiration... wry... love the photos... sensible yet fresh... we wholeheartedly recommend this bracing little book..."

Read the full review here.
—Hugh

New York Post Weighs in on the Kid Foodie Phenom

Our favorite tabloid ran a smart and actually quite balanced story by Carla Spartos on the current cultural craze for all things culinary and juvenile (a few quotes from yours truly and a photo of our book after the jump in the print edition). First time I've read the word "Koodie" to describe Kid Foodies. You can read the story online here.
—Hugh