Wednesday, April 30, 2008
I'm a big Top Chef fan (I've watched every season) and last night's episode was kind of an eye-opener for me regarding the way the culinary world still thinks "kid food = peanut butter."
The chefs' challenge was to cook a low-cost nutritious meal for kids. They had kids as their sous chefs from a very good program here in Chicago that helps teach kids about good nutrition. At least 2, and possibly 3 of the chefs used peanut butter as a key ingredient in their dishes. In other words, even chefs, who should know all about food and certainly about peanut allergies, went straight for the Skippy. (Actually, since the chefs shopped at Whole Foods, it was most likely organic and probably pricey.)
I know that they were limited to a budget of $10 and peanut butter is cheap. Still, I wonder if chefs receive food allergy training in most culinary schools--I'm looking into it and will let you know.
In any case, I still love Top Chef but am disappointed in their peanut prediliction when kids are concerned. Luckily, a few high-profile chefs in the U.S. are working to make their restaurants "food-allergy friendly." I'll post about that soon.