Australian toddlers training to be masterchefs

Standard fare for a cooking class perhaps, until you consider that Luca is just 3 years old.

The dark-haired tot is a regular at the Saturday morning cooking classes in Sydney's inner west, learning to make sweet and savory dishes with other like-minded children at the Little Spoons cookery school.

“Luca loves cooking,” explains mom Madeline Lawandos. “He just showed an interest in cooking so we decided to come in and join the classes.”

For Lawandos, the classes provide a social environment in which her son can practice his fine motor skills — stirring, rolling, making shapes — at the same time as learning about measurement, quantity and hygiene.

“It's not just the food and eating it; it's good life skills for the future,” she says.

The brainchild of mother-of-two Lisa Campbell, Little Spoons is teaching scores of Sydney children how to prepare dishes they can replicate at home such as beef bourguignon pies, apple galette pastries and moon cakes.

Campbell began the business in 2009, in time to ride the explosion of interest in food generated by the popularity of reality television shows concentrating on cooking, such as the hit “MasterChef Australia.”

What began as a small, home-grown enterprise quickly developed into a thriving business which employs some 15 mostly part-time staff and which has a full roster of classes for toddlers through to teenagers.

Campbell, who quit a corporate IT job to start the business she hoped would combine her passion for food with more family-friendly work hours, says the idea is for kids to learn healthy food habits in a fun setting.

“We never use anything with salt in our cooking. We cut out a lot of the butter and the sugar so it's healthier for the kids to eat,” she explains.

Older children can attempt trickier dishes such as Vietnamese squid stuffed with seafood; seared kangaroo skewers with herb and lemon dressing; chocolate ganache, lavender cream and raspberry tarts or snapper en papillote.

Toddlers are more likely to tackle chicken schnitzel or steamed pork buns.

“There's nothing sharp on the toddler table,” says Campbell. “And we do teach them to chop properly.”

Sheridan Rogers, who has run cooking classes for children for a decade, says the rise of the celebrity chef culture and the popularity of “MasterChef” have resulted in a greater awareness of food and interest in cooking.

“There's a huge wave of interest,” Rogers told AFP.

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