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Chef's Table

Make school lunch a learning experience

By GUI ALINAT
Published September 27, 2006

I never really cared about what children ate until I had one of my own. Kids drive you to worry about such things as health and safety, education, finances or the evanescence of romance and other kid-related calamities.

Oh, and school lunches.

My wife regularly gets in trouble about the content of our 3-year-old son's lunch box. Most of the time, though, it's my fault. Teachers wink and say: "Dad packed the lunch this morning, didn't he?" The beef bourguignon tips them off that Dad is a French chef.

As I watch my son grow, I can't help but wonder:

Are kids little gourmets in disguise? Or are they perfectly happy with Kraft Mac and Cheese? I mean, should parents kick school lunches up a notch? Bam the box?

Tampa restaurant owner and chef B.T. Nguyen-Batley has part of the answer. She sends her kids to school with linen napkins and silverware, and wants them to eat "like human beings."

Her 11-year-old daughter and 4-year-old son are appreciative, but not as much as the teachers who, she suspects, eye with envy what she sends: Caprese salad with fresh basil from her garden, olive oil and balsamic vinegar; Hanoi beef noodles; various curry dishes; shaken beef salad or lamb stew.

Chef Laura Schmalhorst, owner of Vagabond Gourmet in Tampa, recalls those times with nostalgia. Her son Max, now 25, used to beg her to stop making beef tenderloin sandwiches, duck or pad Thai for lunch because, said he, "it looked girlie."

But take away the peer pressure, and kids might eat anything given the opportunity. Ariane Daguin, a seventh-generation restaurateur, recalls eating raw oysters with 7-year-old daughter Alix, now 17, on Union Square in New York City, regularly.

And I remember my 6-year-old nephew eating rabbit head, with no more consideration than the spiciness of the Dijon mustard sauce that accompanied it.

Good eating habits have their benefits. Schmalhorst says her son, who watched the Food Network through high school, was ordering duck consomme, buffalo carpaccio and elk in restaurants by age 13. He even ordered the wine for the adults who could drink it, she says. Just like Nguyen-Batley's children, he now eats everything. Both mothers claim their kids have an excellent appreciation for real, nutritious food.

But it takes more than knowledge and creativity. It takes dedication. Nguyen-Batley notes that "people seem to be more aware of nutrition, kids nutrition, but somehow don't seem to make the effort."

It is, indeed, a long-term effort. In France, and I am not making this up, I have seen packaged baby foods sold in regular supermarkets that look like a dinner at Armani's: Roasted Vegetables Provence Style, Trout with Italian Ratatouille, Duck Leg and Peas from Correze, Milk-Fed Veal and even a Lamb-Apple Fondue that sounded delicious.

California restaurateur Alice Waters of Chez Panisse, in her constant dedication to the rituals of the table, created the Edible Schoolyard, a nonprofit program on the campus of a middle school in Berkeley, Calif., that brings real, nutritious food back into the schools. There, children, through a "seed to table" experience, follow a school lunch curriculum that emphasizes the principles of tradition, character, sustainability and diversity.

This concept is, regrettably, not a reality at most schools. Many, out of convenience and budget restrictions, have partnered with fast food companies. Nothing screams "SOS" louder than a school marquee saying: "Thanks for lunch, McDonald's."

Okay, kids will probably reject new "stuff." Children categorically tend to refuse new foods without even tasting them. They want to stick to the tastes, colors and textures they know. But with patience and play, new foods can be offered during other meals, in different shapes or forms, if possible during a meal with family or friends, so the child has a chance to experience a sense of conviviality that should entice his appetite.

Nguyen-Batley reiterates her mission to encourage people to eat well. And by "well" she means great tasting and nutritious food that appeals to adults as well as kids.

Chef Gui Alinat welcomes questions about cooking and will respond to those of general interest in future columns. Sorry, he can't take phone calls or answer individual requests. Send questions to him in care of Taste, St. Petersburg Times, P.O. Box 1121, St. Petersburg, FL 33731, or e-mail him at chefgui@chefgui.com Please include your name and city of residence.

[Last modified September 26, 2006, 08:27:46]