Story & Photos by Marianne Salza
Junior chef, Amarah Herzig, combined oil into a bowl of peanut butter, stirring it into a smooth and shiny consistency. The 12-year-old was preparing ingredients for the oat bites – that she described as “a quick, energy-packed, nutritious snack” — to be rolled during GreenRoots’ Kid to Kid Cooking Class on March 28.
Amarah, along with her licensed dietician mother, Aminah Herzig, and 9 ½-year-old sister, Izzy Herzig, instruct the child-friendly program at the GreenRoots Teaching Kitchen (63 Pearl Street, Chelsea).
The Kid to Kid Cooking Class provides recipes and healthy tips while inspiring children to be more involved in the kitchen. Participants are guided through a step-by-step process, discussing the smells, textures, and tastes of ingredients.
“Having fresh, available ingredients is great,” said Amarah, who grew up watching cooking shows. “My parents have always encouraged me to cook. My siblings have been supportive taste-testers.”
To pique children’s interest, Aminah suggests explaining the steps taken while cooking, so that when one does have the time to let little ones take part, they will already have some knowledge and experience.
“As a parent, sometimes it’s hard to encourage kids to cook, especially if you’re rushing home after a long day at work. Everything takes three times as long when you’re walking your child through it,” laughed Aminah. “That can be really challenging.”
Aminah recalled when she began teaching a talkative, younger Amarah safe knife-cutting techniques. She held herself back from interjecting to allow her daughter the opportunity to learn how to properly hold the utensil.
“You have to let your guard down a little bit. There will be a big mess. It’s a lot of learning, trial-and-error, and patience,” admitted Aminah. “You see the value in it. It’s a great life skill. It’s creative – it’s science.”
Aminah, Amarah, and Izzy, of Lincoln, agree that the simplest foods for children to prepare before advancing to cooking are chopped vegetables and hummus, or a fruit salad.
“Another thing we encourage is trying new things, or trying things you love in new ways. The idea is to broaden your food horizons,” smiled Aminah, who works for Healthy Chelsea, a community health chapter funded by Mass. General Brigham.
According to Amarah, learning how to cook is excellent for people who have many interests because it incorporates assembling, chemistry, and plating.
“They’ve been going well,” nodded Amarah about the workshops, offered about once a month. “We’ve done strawberry bread, hummus and pita bread, acai bowls, and fruit bark.”
Amarah shared that instructing the Kid to Kid Cooking Class with her mother can be both comforting and embarrassing; especially when her mother mentions stories of when she was little, excitedly learning how to cook.
“Amarah developed amazing language skills because she talked about food and various cooking methods so much,” beamed Aminah, who reminisced about Amarah’s affinity for the phrase: caramelizing the butter.
Visit www.greenrootsej.org/get-involved/events to register for a Kid to Kid Cooking Class.