Man in the kitchen: kids' grub to grab me

Many parents do not relish cooking for their young children, who tend to be fussy and unadventurous — and that is not a great combination for a chef.

I remember when my two were toddlers. I would pore over recipes which supposedly were popular with even the faddiest. Daughter Lucy would try the dish and, usually, send it over the high chair into oblivion, accompanied by a polite but unnecessary “whoops, sorry”.

Now they are a little older, things are more fun. I go into experimental mode — occasionally with some success. Lucy, 10, will try most things although she remains a harsh critic. I recently served chops marinated in lemon, which went down as well as a king prawn at seder night. I also served up chicken in a mild Indian-inspired sauce which my eight-year-old son, Alex, loved until I made the mistake of telling him he was eating curry, at which point he changed his mind and asked for toast. Apparently the sauce had an “after-taste”.

However, the real joy of cooking for children is that, like most men, I still love to eat kids’ grub. For my birthday I received a pizza stone, which allows you to cook half-decent pizza in a domestic oven. My effort was compared with the output of a well-known delivery chain and fared well, although afterwards the stone itself looked as though it had been involved in a traffic accident. I also make my own burgers, chicken nuggets (er, schnitzel cut into bite-sized pieces) and a fish finger sandwich with a smear of ketchup which always hits the mark.