Learning to prepare and cook food properly is a skill that parents should begin teaching their children at an early age. The best age to start teaching them can only be determined by the parents based on the maturity level of each child. Some determining factors would be attention span, knowledge of the names of basic kitchen items and whether the child will remain calm during the cooking process as an overactive child could injure him or herself if they are too active. Once you’re ready to get cooking, see what Cristian recommends.

Chef Cristian Feher
Tampa Bay Personal Chef Services
P.O. Box 5654
Clearwater, FL 33758
(727) 480-7779
www.tampabaychef.com

One of Chef Feher’s favorite breakfast items to teach children how to cook is eggs. First teach them how to crack and egg without getting bits of egg shell in the pan. Chef Feher states that “cracking an egg on the lip of a pan or the edge of a bowl will push shards of egg shells into the egg.” He recommends tapping the egg on a flat surface, therefore creating a flat crack and no shells in the egg.Start them out with an easy creation, like frying an egg in a non-stick skillet. Then let them proceed to scrambling eggs. At this point, introduce them to adding other ingredients, like cheese, sausage, bacon bits, vegetables, or other ingredients. You can then teach your children to hard-boil and peel and egg. To quote Chef Feher, “This teaches your kids that you can make many different recipes with one ingredient, and gets them to realize that food is like Play-Doh – you can make all sorts of stuff with it!”Related: Best Photographers For Kids In Tampa Bay

Lunch

Chef Feher recommends that parents help children learn to make sandwiches for lunch. There are many different types of sandwiches that require the simplest of ingredients and preparation to sandwiches that require more elaborate ingredients and more detailed preparation. Give children lots of ingredient options to choose from. Place several choices of meats, vegetables, condiments, cheeses and even bean sprouts out from which they can pick. Or teach them to make tuna salad, chicken salad or egg salad sandwiches. Include celery, sprouts, pickles and other ingredients to the salad to expand their taste buds.

Dinner

According to Chef Feher, many children will eat sushi, especially if they help prepare it themselves. Prepare the rice and other fillings of your choice and then simply roll the prepared items into a roll using raw fish, tempura shrimp or fish sticks. Start with simple ingredients that the family is familiar with and enjoys eating. Once they have warmed up to the flavor and texture of sushi, start experimenting with other flavors such as roasted seaweed, smoked salmon and tuna.

About Chef Cristian Feher:

Chef Feher is a professional chef, videographer, food writer and the head chef at Tampa Bay Personal Chef Services. He completed chef training at George Brown College in Canada in 2001. He apprenticed under Chef Michael Rosano at the York Downs Country Club for two years which then earned him the Canadian Red Seal as a chef. Chef Feher treats cooking as though the “kitchen is your stage and your guests are your audience.”

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