Kids in the Kitchen

Kids in the Kitchen

This year Crave Sydney International Food Festival (CSIFF) have a new addition to the program, Kids in the Kitchen. Junior cooks and food explorers are about to find out how it's done, with or without mum and dad at a number of the a-list restaurants in Sydney:

Chocolate spectacular workshop: Pastry Kitchen, Shangri-La Hotel - For families and kids - chocolate making workshop. $20 pp.
October 9 and 23 - noon-2pm

Junior Master Baker: Brasserie Bread - Learn about flour, how to knead and shape dough and use the over. $35 pp ages 12-16. October 1 and 4. 1-3pm.
Sparkle kidz bake class: Sparkle Cupcakery Sydney - Bake and decorate cupcakes. Included four cupcakes to take home. $35 pp for tots to teens.
October 1,5,7. 10-11:30am.
October 4,6,8. 12:30-2pm.

Scrumptious samosas, chicken tikka: Nilgiri's - Taste, smell and learn about Indian good and spices, then eat what you've made. $30 pp ages 9-14. October 8 (chicken tikka) 6:30-8pm.
October 25 (samosas) 6:30-8pm.

Go Fish - seafood cooking class: Essential Ingredient Rozelle - Secrets to cooking seafood with the DeCostis. $35 pp ages 8-12.
October 6. 10am-noon.

Pizza making: Grappa Ristorante e Bar - Pizza from scratch, taste your own creations. $25 pp ages 4-12.
October 30. None-3pm.

For more information the CSIFF program can be viewed at www.cravesydneyfoodfestival.com.au


Joanna Savill is a journalist, presenter, linguist and world traveller, with a particular fascination for food, wherever she may find it.

In 2009 she was named inaugural director of the new Sydney International Food Festival, held to great acclaim in October last year. She is also the co-editor of the best-selling Sydney Morning Herald (SMH) Good Food Guide and contributor to a number of Australian and international magazines and newspapers.

Previously Joanna has been an SMH food and restaurant columnist, author of the SBS Eating Guides to eating out and shopping in fifty different nationalities, and co-creator/presenter of the highly-acclaimed TV format, The Food Lovers' Guide to Australia, shown in more than 20 countries (five series, filmed 1997- 2005).

As a highly professional presenter, consultant, moderator and MC, Joanna has hosted and coordinated events and forums for the international Slow Food movement, Melbourne Food and Wine Festival, Business Events Sydney, Tourism Australia and Tasting Australia, among others. She has also designed and led culinary tours to Vietnam with adventure travel company, World Expeditions.

A former international television news and current affairs reporter/producer and accredited translator/subtitler in Italian, French and German, Joanna spent 25 years with SBS TV, Australia's multicultural public broadcaster. She is married to an Italian former chef and has two Italian-Australian teenage daughters.

In 2004 she was named "Best Overall Contributor to the Communication of Food" by the Food Media Club of Australia, the industry's most prestigious award.

Interview with Joanna Savill

Joanna Savill is the director of Crave Sydney International Food Festival.

Question: Why did you decide to introduce the Kids in the Kitchen program into the Crave Sydney International Food Festival?

Joanna Savill: This has been a much-loved feature of the Food Festival for some time - dating back to when it was the Sydney Morning Herald's Good Food Month (and WAY before Junior MasterChef!). It's really important to have 'something for everyone' in the Festival program and it's also very hard to find cooking classes for children and even more so, for young adults. So this is our way of encouraging participation, not only in the festival but also in the kitchen!


Question: What are your hopes for this years Crave Sydney International Food Festival?

Joanna Savill: I would really want to see people going to at least one Food Festival event, if not many. There are some amazing, one-off, exciting dinners and the World Chef Showcase at one end of the scale and at the other, family-friendly events such as the Night Noodle Markets in Hyde Park and dozens of street festivals and food markets all around Sydney, Greater Sydney and regional NSW, which celebrate not only our local food producers but also our cultural and culinary diversity. A great opportunity for people to explore.


Question: What aspirations does the Crave Sydney International Food Festival have for the children participating in the Kids in the Kitchen program?

Joanna Savill: Honestly, it's all about cooking being fun but also easy. The key to a happy, healthy food future for Australia is a generation of young people who can feed themselves and who know that you don't automatically need takeaway when you are hungry, nor all the money that takeaway costs compared to preparing something simple and yummy at home. That's the big picture. The other part is that it is a family thing and cooking should be something everyone can take part in and enjoy.


Question: Are all the classes featured in the Kids in the Kitchen programs hands-on cooking classes?

Joanna Savill: The Kids in the Kitchen program is all about hands-on. But there are other programs including Week of Tastes (www.weekoftastes.com.au as well as on our website) which offers not only educational and inspirational kids' menus in leading restaurants (no nuggets and chips!) but also some great taste education experiences such as Tickle the Tastebuds at the Powerhouse Museum and the Taste Trail Workshop at CarriageWorks where kids visit the Eveleigh Farmers' Market, go on a produce treasure hunt and then cook with their findings. So much fun.


Question: Why do you think it is becoming increasingly popular for kids to participate in cooking classes?

Joanna Savill: I think we all value food more these days. We're more interested in it. Parents are also time poor so they hope this way their kids will gain the skills. And sometimes it's just easier for someone else to teach your kids rather than you. (A bit like teaching my teenager to drive...!) So it's a bit of everything but in the end, it's a great thing to do and everyone loves it.


Question: What positives do introducing cooking and the kitchen have on young children?

Joanna Savill: Confidence in the kitchen, an interest in fresh ingredients and a more positive attitude to tasting something new. If you've cooked it yourself you're more likely to try it.


Question: Overall, do you have a favourite recipe to cook?

Joanna Savill: I love baking and now my daughters bake a lot. They just grab recipe books and make stuff for afternoon tea. My elder daughter is a part-time nanny so she has learned lots of basic dishes like lasagne, roast chicken, minestrone, chicken pie, cauliflower cheese etc. I love all that but nothing really beats a great roast chicken with roast potatoes and vegies. I'm a sucker for things like that - just make sure you use a really good chicken, lots of garlic, herbs and lemons for flavour. Lately I've been roasting spatchcocks (small chickens) as they have great flavour and take no time at all to cook.