You Can Cook

Annabel Karmel
Dorling Kindersley

Review by: Shari Last

Children’s nutrition expert and prolific food author Annabel Karmel has published her fourth cookbook for kids. You Can Cook is a well-rounded and accessible book which aims to give children confidence in the kitchen. Providing invaluable instruction in basic cooking and baking techniques, as well as a range of quick, easy-to-follow recipes, children will be able to create any one of the 60+ nutritionally-balanced dishes.

A lovely big book, You Can Cook looks as delicious as the recipes it contains. Full colour photographs bright, cheery pages enhance the book’s ease of use as well as attracting kids to it in the first place. Some of the spreads appear quite cluttered, which may deter children from attempting certain recipes for fear that they are complicated. However, often, the clutter is comprised of sentences such as “eat it while it’s hot!” integrated into the images, or other forms of encouragement or instruction. Perhaps a bit more white space would have been better.

The step-by-step recipes include pictures of kids cooking – a perfect way to encourage your own to have a go, and to demonstrate that it really is as easy as it looks. Karmel has taken care to indicate preparation/cooking time and serving size, as well as – what is sure to be an appreciated gesture – notes on safety and hygiene in the kitchen.

Teaching your child to cook is not only great in that it imparts a basic understanding about nutrition and healthy eating, but it is also a way to spend time with your child doing something fun and productive. Karmel, awarded an MBE in 2006 for her outstanding work in the field of child nutrition, says, “Cooking is great for boosting your child’s confidence and inspiring creativity… If you are lucky it can be a good way to encourage a fussy eater to try new foods. And you never know, you might ignite a passion for cookery in your little ones.”

As an introduction to cooking, or a passion igniter, or even just a regular good old cookbook, You Can Cook works very well. With a brief section on basic food groups and a progression from simple recipes, such as eggs on toast, to more complex ones, such as Swedish meatballs and marble cake, You Can Cook ensures that children can have fun while progressing steadily, grasping the basics before working their way up to creating full meals. The end result is that your child will hopefully come away equipped with some knowledge about healthy, balanced food, and feel confident enough to prepare it.