Katy proves 'kids can cook!'

Interview by Pauline Rea

Its no secret that kids love to get messy, and its also no secret that kids can be very fussy when it comes to food. So what better way to get your little ones to try something new than to pop an apron on, roll up their sleeves and let them help to create something tasty in the kitchen?

This idea is the premise behind the new and extremely popular new childrens TV programme, I Can Cook, currently airing daily on the BBCs CBEEBIES channel.

Hosted by newcomer Katy Ashworth, I Can Cook welcomes children into the kitchen to create a host of delicious meals and snacks that are quick and easy to prepare even if the grown-ups dont know their way around the kitchen either!

Katy took time out from whipping up a storm in the kitchen to chat to us about the success of the show and what they hope to achieve: We are really delighted with how well the show has been received, Katy enthused. Its great when there is a show that parents and children can actually sit down and watch together and enjoy. I know some people in their 20s who dont have any kids but watch I Can Cook because they are such great and really easy to do recipes! Like any childrens show there are bits of it every time that are repetitive the washing your hands song, and phrases that are used but kids love repetition, and the show has a lot of genuine humour too.

The kids can spill some of the ingredients or get their hands all sticky, but thats all part of the fun!

Katy is not a professional cook herself, but was chosen to front the show because of her presenting skills and enthusiastic personality: I am not a professional cook, but I really do love cooking, I get a real kick out of holding dinner parties. My mum was a chef and I did do catering at GCSE level, but I am definitely not a chef. The recipes are created by two wonderful women [Kate Morris and Sally Brown] who run a childrens cookery school.

The recipes included in the show are all very straightforward but very tasty. They dont require lots of complex equipment and children can do the majority of the work themselves, with some supervision and perhaps a helping hand when needed.

The children on I Can Cook also find out a little about where their food comes from in each episode. They will visit the vegetable garden for example and see how things grow or watch a short video to see where other foods come from.

I think it is so important for children to understand where their food comes from, added Katy. I was always around food growing up as my mum was a chef, and I suppose most of us take it for granted that our children know about food. But I was in Liverpool with the BBCs Diggit programme recently and was really surprised to find that so many kids didnt know what a courgette was. They didnt know that you could grow them and thought they just came from the supermarket.

Katy added: Cooking is more than just creating a dish, its a life skill. Cooking for children is very empowering they are so excited to be able to cook something, perhaps even for their parents and say I made this. We also use ingredients that sometimes kids would turn their nose up at some of them I would never have eaten when I was 5! But because they are cooking with them themselves, they are more likely to try them.

Katy comes from a musical and theatrical background and has been able to have some input into the show: When I auditioned they said they liked the way I was able to use my imagination to demonstrate the recipes like getting the children to hold a courgette in their hands as if it were bicycle handlebars, or scrunch their faces up and pretend to be a raisin!

The guitar thing [Katy plays the guitar in many of the episodes] happened totally by accident. I just made up some silly songs on the guitar with a friend and had such fun writing them, I just kept on making them up!

If you are stuck for a stocking filler for a little one this Christmas then Katy has the perfect solution the brand new I Can Cook at Christmas DVD! Team it up with an apron or some funky cookie cutters and you could have the beginnings of a little Jamie or Nigella!

There are four episodes on the DVD three of which were made for the TV series and an extra Christmas special. The kitchen is all decorated for Christmas (which was odd when we filmed it in July!) and we cook two recipes a Turkey & Ham Bake and White Christmas Cookies, said Katy.

Theres also a Christmas story and some Christmas songs so there is plenty to get them in the festive spirit.

I Can Cook at Christmas is out now courtesy of 4DVD from all good retailers. You can also find out more about the show and check out the recipes at www.bbc.co.uk/cbeebies/icancook

For a chance to win a copy of the new DVD and for I Can Cook Christmas recipes, check out this week's Weekender.

White Christmas Cookies are just one of the delights on I Can Cooks Christmas DVD.