Alain Ducasse Cooking for Kids: From Babies to Toddlers: Simple, Healthy, and Natural Food

by Alain Ducasse, Paule Neyrat, Jerome Lacressoniere

Alain Ducasse presents parents with the keys to giving young children healthy food. Alain Ducasse is one of France's best-known chefs and well known for his devotion to healthful eating, as demonstrated in his critically acclaimed and best-selling book Alain Ducasse Nature. Now the multi-Michelin-starred chef goes back to basics and rediscovers the pleasures of preparing simple, locally sourced, natural food for children, from ages 6 months to 3 years. The simple yet delicious dishes included here highlight a range of flavor combinations in which vegetables, fruits, and grains take pride of place, while animal protein is used sparingly. Ducasse casts aside preconceived notions of baby food to reveal that its essence should be composed of the same essential ingredients used in food for adults-locally sourced, seasonal produce and fresh flavors based on a simplified repertoire of recipes without the additives and preservatives found in commercial baby food. Charts, sidebars, and asides containing useful snippets of Ducasse's experience and nutritionist Paule Neyrat's advice are peppered throughout the charmingly illustrated recipes, making for a book that is both useful and beautiful for every parent wishing to start their children out with good eating habits.

Genres: Cookbooks, Family

170 pages, Hardcover

First published March 25, 2014

Reviews

[Cari · Rating 5 out of 5]

It isn't often that I love a book both sincerely and ironically at the same time. These recipes are amazing, and the presentation is so wonderfully French, but it's hilariously impractical. The recipes (for babies, might I remind you) call for quail egg, petit-suisse, tofu, sea bream, duck breast, and leg of lamb. There's a crazy-ass recipe for squid, cucumber, and lime muffins. SQUID MUFFINS, PEOPLE. None of these recipes are freezable—you're supposed to spend 45 minutes preparing these recipes for your six-month-old (while she does what, exactly? Her taxes?)—and then serve them fresh, no leftovers. And god help you if you don't buy organic, or buy out of season, or forget about the presentation OH MY GOD THE PRESENTATION. Does a baby give one damn about the sophisticated interplay of the purple potatoes against the delicate white of the fish? No, because she's THROWING IT ON THE FLOOR. And yet I had such a good time reading through this book, and my kid actually did enjoy the handful of recipes I made, so what the hell. Here are another five stars for Alain Ducasse to add to the 21 he's got from Michelin.

[Kathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book gave me a great deal of ideas and confidence in our son’s first nutrition steps. I believe it played a key role in building up his taste in food. While YouTube is full of videos of children spitting out broccoli making all kind of faces, we could share plenty of him stuffing his face with it and loving it ;)

[Rebecca · Rating 2 out of 5]

My kids are pretty adventurous and diverse eaters. There are some recipes I read off out loud to them from this cookbook that got me twitchy faces and stinkeyes. I mean...Squid Cucumber and Lime Muffins (recommended for 18 months).Zucchini Scallion & Veal puree for 9 months. Hake Grapefruit and Garden Peas...all pureed together (10 months). SOme of the recipes are more complicated (and expensive) than nice dinners I plan as a family meal. Natural and healthy food doesn't need to be complicated. As a general rule, the more ingredients the recipes has, the less appealing the end result is.

BUT on a plus note, we did like the new suggestions for sweet potatoes. The Sweet Potato,Bacon, and Red Onion dish was delicious. It's recommended for 12 months but I fed it to my whole fam as a side dish.

[Paula · Rating 5 out of 5]

Where was this awesome book when my kiddos were babies/toddlers. There a few recipes I might be able to introduce even though there are big kids.

[Masha · Rating 5 out of 5]

I own this book for a little more than a day and I absolutely love it!
I have already prepared 6 dishes!...