Vittles Kids: A Sunday Supplement

A six-part online-magazine about food and children. With Rukmini Iyer, Tim Anderson, Ishita DasGupta, Laura Goodman and more.

Illustration by Lizzy Stewart

Vittles Kids is a special, subscribers-only project all about the relationship between children and food. Think of this as a digital weekend supplement: features, essays, opinion and guides all in one place.

A note from all of us at Vittles: it is impossible right now to think about the subject of food and children without also thinking about the forced starvation of children and adults in Gaza, as part of Israel’s ongoing genocide. There are many individual projects you can donate to, and we would encourage you to donate freely to those you know. The Sameer Project is currently raising funds for tents, food and water in north and south Gaza and you can donate via the links below.

---

Vittles Kids

This morning, I came downstairs at 7.30am and found my partner and my young daughter asleep on the sofa – she woke up at 5.30am and he took her downstairs to play so I could stay in bed. In return, I made French toast for breakfast with bacon and blueberries. They sat down, she put three blueberries in her mouth, spat out two, ate one. She chewed up and spat out some bacon, ate a few mouthfuls of French toast and a few more blueberries. She was mainly excited by the achievement of getting pieces of French toast on her fork, which she then determinedly tried to feed my partner and me, making us into her babies. She was transfixed by seeing maple syrup poured out and kept requesting more be poured pieces of the toast, with no intention of eating it. She was having the time of her life.

What I increasingly understand is that what my daughter gets out of a meal is not straightforward. Sometimes it’s eating a plate of food, but just as often it’s the pleasure of play and discovery. Other days, everything is refused, and I despair. Feeding her is a humbling, depressing, funny, and occasionally rewarding experience that keeps me guessing (and sweeping up). It’s also a privilege to see a child discover texture, taste and a sense of their own autonomy at the table, even and perhaps especially when it means abandoning any sense of your own.

In this month’s Sunday supplement we present a collection of six essays, recipes and a kids restaurant guide, all by writers with varied perspectives on feeding children at home and in public. Rukmini Iyer, author of the celebrated Roasting Tin cookbook series, casts a spell with her formula for a magical children’s party, sharing sage advice and four allergy-friendly recipes to make sure that adults stay sane and kids have a fun-filled time. Laura Goodman’s essay ‘That must be hard’ is a deeply moving and darkly funny account of raising children with serious allergies (once she and the medical establishment had managed to find out what they were). In Scam Patrol! Tim Anderson investigates the marketing maze surrounding children’s food asking himself is this a scam? (and discovers that the biggest scam of all where he least expects it.) In Ishita DasGupta’s essay ‘You need to make less pasta and more rice’, Ishita writes about helping build her daughter’s relationship with the food of her Bengali heritage, and speaks to other parents in mixed race families about sharing their cuisines with children. In a particularly reassuring essay (I almost cried with relief when I first read it!), Rukmini Iyer fesses up on the reality behind the idyllic photos of her children eating her food in a recent Roasting Tin book: The things I cook for work…and what my children actually eat.

And finally – the saviour of nervous new parents and those entertaining children in the holidays – we have the Vittles Kids Restaurant Guide (+ map!) in which writers share 75 personal recommendations for where to eat in London with babies and kids. – RMJ

---

'That must be hard'

Laura Goodman on raising children with allergies. Illustration by Sing Yun Lee.

“Z is being sick fifty to sixty times a day, and over the weekend we’d become so panicked by the volume of vomit we’d taken her to A&E. The doctor is annoyed because as far as he’s concerned Z has a bit of reflux and he’s already told me that; he’s received word that I attended A&E and has taken my ‘ticket’ as a stain on his excellence.”

---

The things I cook for work...

...and what my children actually eat, by Rukmini Iyer. Photos by David Loftus.

“Anyway, as if leaning towards her solidly Anglo Saxon-Cornish-Irish heritage, overnight Alba’s diet shrank to just buttered toast, buttered broccoli (but only tenderstem, and only the stems), buttered pasta, or indeed, just butter, supplemented with fruit (but only expensive fruit), and chocolate cake at the weekly rounds of children’s birthday parties. I despaired.”

---

Scam Patrol!

Tim Anderson finds his way through the kids’ food marketing maze. Illustration by Ming Yue.

“Simply to exist in our unfettered free-market society is to be scammed, all the time, every day. If you’re a parent, you’re doubly scammed, because our kids constantly compel us to buy stuff that we know is a rip-off. Too often, by the time it occurs to me that I might be getting conned, it’s too late and I’ve already bought the thing. So, to try and become less of a chump, I’m investigating four suspicious phenomena in the world of kids’ food, to answer that nagging question: is this a scam?”

---

'You need to make less pasta and more rice'

The joys and challenges of feeding children in a mixed race family. Words by Ishita DasGupta. Illustration by Tomekah George.

“It takes time for me to realise part of my drive to introduce flavour and spice is rooted in the fear my daughter may reject Indian food. When my husband finds me crying in the kitchen after she refuses a bowl of aubergine bhorta (I have equated this to her wanting to deny part of her heritage and, in turn, me), he gently tells me to take some time out. In retrospect, I remind myself of the many flavours and textures I disliked as a child and how, in adulthood, these are elements I now savour.”

---

Rukmini Iyer's Magical Children's Party Recipes

Fun, allergy friendly recipes you can involve children in, and sage advice for a successful kids party. Words by Rukmini Iyer. Illustration by Lizzy Stewart. Photos by Georgia Rudd.

“By far the most important thing I’ve learned is that there’s absolutely no point giving yourself a nervous breakdown over the catering the day before the party (been there). Although I’m providing recipes for four different types of party food here – some of which can double up as activities for the kids – making just one or two is more than enough.”

---

The Vittles Kids London Restaurant Guide

Vittles writers share recommendations for where to eat with children in London.

“During a recent visit where we ate a seafood broth, crispy pork belly and the freshest pomelo salad, our daughter had a stir-fry of chicken with green beans, cucumber and sticky rice. She loved it. It was pedestrian enough for her not to feel intimidated while adventurous enough for her to experience tastes different to what she usually eats – and help her be even bolder in the future. It was a really refreshing middle ground for a children's menu that I wish more places offered.”

Credits

Vittles Kids is written by Rukmini Iyer, Tim Anderson, Ishita DasGupta, Laura Goodman, Edwina Attlee, MiMi Aye, Holly Chaves, Emily Chung, Isobel Clarke, Adam Coghlan, Cordelia Jenkins, Sam Johnson-Schlee, Adrienne Katz Kennedy, Bethan Lloyd Worthington, Lizzie Mabbott, Rebecca May Johnson, Marie Mitchell, Isabelle O’Carroll, Mohammed Ali Salha, Olivia Sudjic, Melissa Thompson, Luke Turner, Tamara Vos, Jonathan Nunn and Karla Zazueta.

It is illustrated and photographed by Sing Yun Lee, David Loftus, Ming Yue, Tomekah George, Lizzy Stewart and Georgia Rudd, and subedited by Tom Hughes, Sophie Whitehead, and Liz Tray.

The full Vittles masthead can be found here.