'I have to force veg down my son'
Gregg Wallace, ingredients expert and Masterchef presenter, knows his fruit and veg and he's as cunning as a fox when it comes to getting kids to eat their 5-a-day. He's passionate about food, makes a great strawberry pavlova and thinks barbecues are an evil Antipodean plot. Here's the first of our two-part interview...
You're helping Walls publicise the world's first probiotic lolly. Why did you get involved in that?
Walls just sent me the lolly and asked if I wanted to get involved. I ate it and thought, it's really delicious - it tastes like wild strawberries. I looked at the GDA - it's really low in fat, sugar and salt. It's only 30p and I thought, for crying out loud, I'm a dad, if your kids are going to snack on anything, then this is really good.
Has the trend to put things like probiotics into food come about because parents want their kids to eat healthily?
Yes. It is a battle. As much as we try, the kids go to school and there's a tuck shop. Or they'll buy chocolate and crisps on their way home. It's just trying to readdress the balance.
Who does the cooking in your house?
I do. I'm a single dad. Tom's 14 and Libby's 11.
Do your kids eat their greens?
Yeah they do. Libby's really good. Tom's very much a meat and potatoes man and you have to force the veg down him, but then he helps me out in the kitchen more than Libby.
How can you get kids interested in vegetables?
If you get them to cook in the kitchen with you, they're more likely to want to eat vegetables. Try playing little games in the supermarket with them. See how many veg they can identify, and then let them bring one home and cook it with you.
What's the best way to get kids to have their 5-a-day?
Take all the chocolate and crisps out of the house and replace it with fruit. And try making your own juices. If you juice up a load of blackberries and strawberries and raspberries to make something really sweet, then you can get your celery in without it tasting of celery. Or add some beetroot. They wouldn't notice the beetroot in the colour among all the strawberries. Just get them to snack on fruit and juice. Who came up with the theory that children have to finish everything on their plate? What a terrible way of introducing young palates to food... Eat it all or you're in trouble... Terrible.
Do you have a great dish that has hidden veg in it?
Shepherd's pie. You can just chop up anything. Who knows what goodies may be hiding under that layer of mashed potato. Put swede in it, put everything in it. Add an Oxo cube and a bit of tomato, they'll never pick it up. They'd need to be Sherlock Holmes himself to pick that up.
By Anna Penniceard
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laurielorette, about 1 year
love greg, what a cunning man he is! Still...celery in smoothies????? :P Completely agree with getting kids involved in choosing and prepping food. My 2 raid the vegetable patch more oftern that not, dissapearing between rows of raspberries canes, hunting for alpine strawberries and...picking baby courgettes on their way (well, one of them). Saying that, you can try all you want and still struggle. Whilst Tom, my eldest (3 1/2) would live on fruits and vegs, Millie, my youngest (20 months) actually hand picks and throws away (on the floor preferably) any microscopic bits of mushrooms or cucumber! My best tip: get 2 portions in their breakfast for a sure head start...we do "funny face breakfasts" each morning, goes down a treat : http://lesrecettesdelorette.blogspot.com/2008/04/le-gateau-des-abeilles-et-la-terrine-de.html
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