Written by Gretchen Webster
WESTPORT — A group of young people recently took over the kitchen at Wakeman Town Farm with the goal of breaking into the culinary world.
Five kindergartners and first graders worked hard in a class called “Spring Cooking with Minis.” The young chefs will work on a menu that includes chocolate chip cookies, cheesy calzones and fresh vegetable crudités.
Ingredients had already been gathered by chefs Kathleen Benson and Laura Weinman in preparation for the cooking and life lessons the children would learn that day.
“Chef Kathleen” works with two girls in the class, Lily Fields (6 years old) and Emily Tinoco (7 years old), while “Chef Lola” works with Dylan Eddery (5 years old), They worked with Jack Holler (5 years old) and Everett Warsburg (6 years old).
Benson is the owner of a business called Culinary Kids and also teaches several cooking classes for children at Wakeman Town Farm. Weinman, who is also a volunteer-trained chef, also teaches a spring workshop for adults called “Breading with Citrus.” Other adult classes held at the farm include canning and preserving classes, dinners on the farm, and a class called “Cooking and Cocktails,” which sells out quickly.
click here Click here for a list of Community Farm’s upcoming culinary programs and other activities.
In the “mini” class, the two chefs use fresh eggs from the farm’s chickens and fresh spinach from the garden to teach, and collect scraps from the project as compost to enhance the farm’s garden. Made a plan.
The natural cycle of life on a farm is what drew Weinman to volunteer work in Wakeman after moving to Westport from California. “I fell in love with the farm,” she said.
As she prepares ingredients for the class’s recipes, Benson said the goal is for the youth to create savory dishes, sweets and baked goods, as they do in all of the sessions’ classes.
First, before we leave class, we’ll tackle cookies, which kids love to bake (and eat). To do this, children are taught how to crack eggs, use a mixer, and “rest” cookie dough before baking. Benson asks what the “secret ingredient” of the cookies is, but the girls already know the answer – “vanilla.”
Benson said the class includes not only basic cooking but also a little bit about food science, health and environmental issues like composting and recycling, knife skills, etc., and is designed for very young participants. The content is presented in an age-appropriate manner. The farm also offers cooking classes and a “Summer Culinary Camp” for older children, from first grade through sixth grade.
“Food brings people together,” Benson said. “The goal is for children to learn and have fun.”
In the middle of class, Weinman took the children outside to look at the farm animals and run around a bit. Meanwhile, the instructor’s partner prepared the ingredients for the next menu of calzones and crudités.
Benson, who spent years working in high-end hotels and restaurants across the country, explained why she teaches at Wakeman Town Farm as she prepares the ingredients in five batches (one batch for each child).
“This is a learning environment…Here the kids can watch the chickens lay eggs and make honey and maple syrup. Doing this on a farm is a huge benefit…I’m very passionate about this. I feel that.”
The kids rush in from their field trip and pick up where they left off, this time baking calzones. They love using a rolling pin to roll out the dough, and especially love rolling out the dough by hand before shaping it into a calzone shape.
“I like making pizza and donuts,” Jack said, steadily rolling the dough back and forth, while Emily named cupcakes and dumplings as her favorite baked goods.
Lily loved it all. “I like trying new foods,” she said.
For Benson, one of the most important things about teaching kids to cook is “learning that cooking is fun.” And she wants parents to learn something about cooking with their kids, too.
“Give them opportunities to explore. Let them try new things,” she said. “It’s okay for kids to be in the kitchen.”
Freelance writer Gretchen Webster is a Fairfield County journalist who was the longtime editor of the Fairfield Minuteman and has taught journalism at New York University and Southern Connecticut State University.
