Just a few weeks ago, Chef Peter Davis’ first cookbook, Fresh & Honest: Food From the Farms of New England and the Kitchen of Henrietta’s Table, won the New England Book Festival award. With its delish recipes, enticing photographs, and handy chart that tells us which veggies are in season when, I love this appetite-inducing tome.
Davis, the Executive Chef of Henrietta’s Table, a popular restaurant in Cambridge's The Charles Hotel, which was named one of America's best "farm-to-table" restaurants by Gourmet magazine, has long been a champion of sustainable cuisine and supporter of the regional fishing and farming communities. More impressively (at least in my opinion as the mother of two boys ages, eight and nine), he’s spending winter Saturdays teaching eager kids how to cook. I caught up with him right before his chicken noodle soup class last weekend, in which I enrolled my two boys.
The Inside Source: When did you start cooking with kids?
Chef Davis: We have been doing the kid’s cooking series at Henrietta’s Table for two years now. I have also done school cooking demos over the years and even did an episode with Curious George on eating local fresh food.
TIS: Do you have kids? Are they adventurous in eating? Did you teach them how to cook?
Chef Davis: My wife I have two children, who are now ages 23 and 21, and who have very different eating habits. My son will eat almost anything and always has. My daughter is less adventurous but is finally opening up and eating many things she never used to. They are both very good cooks.
TIS: You’re known for your love and use of fresh ingredients. Do you grow anything yourself?
Chef Davis: I grow some herbs in a tiny greenhouse at home that I might bring in when I have extra. We also grow herbs on the patio outside the restaurant in planters and flower boxes.
TIS: Do you shop the local farmers’ markets?
Chef Davis: For the restaurant, I deal directly with many farms and get daily deliveries from them. If I’m in a pinch, I might go outside to the Farmer’s Market at the Charles Hotel and shop. For home, I go to there too, as well as the Lynn or Marblehead farmers’ markets.
TIS: What dishes are the most fun to cook with kids?
Chef Davis: I like to do things they are familiar with, like pancakes or chicken soup, but give them a little twist to change it up, so they’re actually trying something new. When we do chicken soup, we actually make our own noodles, and use root vegetables they might not have seen before, like celeriac and parsnips.
TIS: How does you feel about parents bringing kids out to nice restaurants?
Chef Davis: I definitely think kids should be brought out to dinner. That’s the way to experience new foods and be exposed to how to act when dining out.
Chicken Noodle Soup
from Henrietta’s Table
Intredients: 1 cup diced celery, 1 cup celery rootm, 1 cut diced onion, 1 cup parsnip, 1 cup diced carrot, 1 cup diced cooked chicken, 1 cup cooked pasta, 3 teaspoons olive oil, 1 gallon chicken stock, salt and pepper to taste, 4 teaspoons chopped parsley
Over medium heat, sauté the vegetables in the oil until the onions are transparent. Add the chicken stock, bring to a boil, and then reduce to a simmer. When the vegetables are cooked, add the chicken and pasta, and return to a boil. Season with salt, pepper, and add parsley before serving.
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**Image of Peter Davis and book cover provided by Davis.**
Marni Elyse Katz is a Boston-based writer and editor who covers style, art and design for a variety of publications, including the Boston Globe Magazine, Boston Home and her own blog, Style Carrot.
