Want to impress your family and friends with a restaurant-quality meal that you made entirely on your own?
Title: The Complete Cookbook for Teen Chefs: 70+ Teen-Tested and Teen-Approved Recipes to Cook, Eat, and Share
Author: America’s Test Kitchen Kids
ISBN: 9781507215852
Publisher: Penguin Random House
Publication date: 2022
Genre(s): Nonfiction
Available format(s): Print
Reading level/interest level: Age 13 and up, according to Amazon
Summary: The Complete Cookbook for Teen Chefs really does feel complete – it is a comprehensive guide to cooking designed to empower even the newest of young chefs to become experts through tips and recipes tested by their peers.
About the author: The America’s Test Kitchen television program and its associated magazine, Cook’s Illustrated, are well-known and highly respected because expert advice is provided in clear and digestible instructions, and these brands might be recognizable to teens whose caregivers are avid home cooks.
Critical review: In addition to photographs of finished dishes and teens enjoying them, this cookbook also contains high-quality photographs of various utensils, cookware, and appliances. But I was especially impressed by the photographs demonstrating culinary and safety skills, such as knife techniques, accurate measuring, testing for doneness, safe frying, and more. These are the skills I’m still trying to master as a twenty-something and definitely ones I hope teens practice early and often.
Photographs and recipes are arranged in pleasing layouts with bright pops of color and succinct text that are visually pleasing. Alongside recipes are encouraging notes and additional tips for beginner cooks. The book includes nutritional information, conversions and equivalents, and a recipe index.
I deeply appreciate the fact that “each recipe was only included in the book if at least 80% of the testers considered it a keeper” (Kirkus Reviews, 2022). Collectively, the recipes cover a diversity of cuisines and culinary traditions and vary in complexity, meaning there are plentiful opportunities for exploration.
Related programming ideas: This could be another great book to promote during a cooking class in the Teen Center, such as the one I suggested in my entry for the graphic novel Chef’s Kiss.
Brief booktalk: Want to impress your family and friends with a restaurant-quality meal that you made entirely on your own? You’ll want to arm yourself with a copy of this extensive guide for aspiring teen cooks like you. Written by professional chefs with years of expertise, these recipes have also been tried, tested, and approved by teens just like you – so you know they’re good!
Potential challenges: While I can understand caregivers’ hesitance to have their teens experiment in the kitchen, I do not foresee this cookbook being challenged in schools or libraries.
Reason for inclusion: I wanted the nonfiction I include in my mini-collection to be practically applied to teens’ daily lives. As they are growing in independence, especially in the kitchen, it seemed like a cookbook was an appropriate choice for this purpose.
References:
Kirkus Reviews. (2022, March 1). The complete cookbook for teen chefs [Review].
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