As a big sister there’s nothing worse than your little brother being right. But the one subject he can’t be an expert on is parenting. I had my baby Jesse seven months ago, so I can comfortably say that I know more on the subject than he does.
Which is why, despite his job as a private chef, when he told me my pre-packaged baby food was c**p I initially ignored him. After all, it was the expensive, high-end stuff with packaging covered in nice graphics of healthy-looking veggies.
But then the news was flooded with articles about those very packs, based on lab-test findings. ‘Top-brand baby food pouches lack key nutrients,’ reported the BBC. ‘Parents who buy Ella’s Kitchen, Heinz, Aldi and Lidl baby-food pouches issued major warning,’ shouted a tabloid headline. It turns out what I thought were lazy but nutritious options for my son were in fact full of sugar. Ella’s Kitchen Pear and Peach Baby Rice contained just three per cent rice, while fructose made up 60 per cent of its calories. Another pouch had a whopping 19.6g of sugars – about four teaspoons’ worth, more than many fizzy drinks.
It’s fair to say that parents felt misled by these brands, who claimed they were ‘as nutritionally good as homemade’ or had ‘no added sugar’, which, while technically true, doesn’t mention all the natural sugars from the fruit.
So I decided to take Ali up on his offer to come over and cook for my baby.
’Scuse fingers: Jesse gets stuck into Uncle Ali’s freshly prepared lunch
I thought my brother, two years my junior, would work his way up the food chain, maybe start with some simple one-ingredient purées then add something lumpy, but no. The first meal he made was rib-eye steak with sweet-potato fries and a side of asparagus and mushy peas. Any mum will know that there’s a whole lexicon of new words you have to learn when you enter parenthood. There are unfamiliar terms, phrases and acronyms to decipher. One of these is BLW – baby-led weaning. This is the latest way parents try to feed their offspring – we’re no longer spoon-feeding smooth mixtures, but letting the babies grasp the food in their own fists and attempt to direct it into their mouths themselves. The result is incredibly messy, but more than that it can be mildly terrifying for those watching on.
As my son gnawed down on his first well-done steak, his eyes lit up while mine filled with fear. I’d read all the books and heard the podcasts, so when he started to choke on a part he’d dislodged between his gums, I knew not to stick my fingers in his mouth (my strong instinct) but act like everything was fine. One cough, two coughs as I tried to contort my face into a smile, and then he spat out the piece and laughed, eagerly dipping the steak into the peas and going back for more. It was a huge success.
Since then, Ali has cooked up meals I can freeze and defrost throughout the week, as well as the occasional fresh home-cooked dish. So far, Jesse’s favourites have been a little stack of banana pancakes, spaghetti bolognese and a tiny salmon en croute. My seven-month-old is eating better than I am.
When I brought out Jesse’s pre-prepared lunch in front of other mums, they looked on, aghast. For a moment, I considered taking all the credit for the homemade ravioli and sugar-free carrot-cake muffins, but decided against it. Mums constantly feel like they’re falling short compared to everyone else, and that’s only intensified when we hide the hard parts and show off the successes. So I told them about my chef brother cooking for his nephew. I braced for judgment, but none came. A lot of the scrutiny parents feel from others lives in our heads – most are too preoccupied with their own child-rearing to pay much attention to anyone else’s. ‘You’re so lucky,’ commented one mum. Then, after a pensive moment, she added, ‘Is your brother single?’ – presumably weighing up the value of regular homemade baby meals against her loving husband of five years.
My favourite meals are, of course, the ones where Ali makes a version for the baby and one for me, adding salt at the end for the grown-up portion and cooking the meat a little less. Ali’s good at making sure the baby has a nutritious variety of foods. But when he was making mashed potato to go with a veal schnitzel, I suggested he make it even healthier for my growing boy and swap out the cow’s milk for my own organic, naturally sourced breast milk (preservative-free). Apparently, this was a step too far.
Forget farm to table – this is tit to table, I argued. ‘I’d never feed my nephew something I haven’t tried myself,’ responded Ali, ‘and I refuse to taste my sister’s boob juice.’ Fair enough. Unfortunately, Ali’s not around all the time, and while I don’t love cooking for myself it turns out I quite like cooking for my son. Watching his little face discover a fresh flavour is magical. Imagine all you’d consumed your entire life was milk and then someone gave you a chunk of broccoli – you’d lose your mind.
As much as my family disagrees, I actually don’t think I’m a terrible cook, and now there’s one family member who I know loves my cooking – my son. Ali may be creating fancy-looking dishes for him to expand his palate, but when I give him a spoonful of butter beans for the first time, his face lights up like it’s a Michelin-star meal personally prepared by Nigella herself.
So I’ll admit it, my brother might have been right: home-cooked meals are better and more fun to feed than the smooth, fruity pastes. But being a parent is tough so I don’t begrudge anyone for occasionally using a pre-made pack, and in the same way I treat myself to a takeout every once in a while I might occasionally reach for the supermarket pouches. Used sparingly, I don’t see a problem with a little lazy eating – I’ll just keep the empty packs hidden from his uncle.
ALI: THE CHEF’S TAKE
Growing up with a sister like Flora isn’t for the faint-hearted – she overegged the pudding when it came to success. Her standards of achieving set a bar so high most would consider it unreachable. Where my school report cards felt like furious roastings, hers were, of course, top of the country.
When I was getting my second expulsion she became head of her year. And when my headmaster cackled in my face at the thought of me applying to uni, she was just beginning at Oxford. But the one thing she never understood growing up was food.
When I was finding my niche with pots and pans, the only pot she knew was noodle. She stayed culinarily inept into adulthood, with me guiding her on basic recipes so that her dinner guests weren’t served frozen pizza with a side of Crunchy Nut Clusters.
It was the minimal duty of a little brother, but now my nephew is in the picture, I’ve felt more need for an intervention. The least I could do is help his big step into the world of flavour, away from the packaged garbage flooding the supermarket shelves I could sense my sister was drawn to. Now I have high hopes for my little nephew and his culinary future. Judging by how his carnivorous eyes shine as his two teeth suckle on a slice of rib-eye like a lion over its prey, it’s clear he’s in line to uphold the Gill name in the kitchen.
It’s not without a heavy heart that I had to cook a côte de boeuf on the bone ‘well done’ to make it baby-safe. But much of what I do involves coming to terms with my customers’ needs – and I’ve cooked for far bigger babies than my drooling nephew.
BABY FOOD DOS AND DON’TS
- NHS guidelines state finger size is best for first solids (including strips of meat) to avoid choking. Introduce after six months.
- Get them into soft veg before fruit. Young ones won’t be excited about spinach once they’ve tried strawberries.
- Babies love varied textures – serve purées with food to grasp and chew.
- Choose foods such as avocado, eggs and lentils, all full of health benefits and vitamins that are great for babies.
- Overcook veg so little ones can squish between their fingers.
Ali’s baby recipes
CHARRED CORN-FED CÔTE DE BOEUF
Press unseasoned steak on to a piping-hot griddle until seared on both sides. Slice a non-fatty two-finger baby steak off and put in the oven at 190C for 15 minutes. Cook the rest how you like it.
BOILED SWEET-POTATO ‘FRIES’ WITH ASPARAGUS TIPS
Peel and wash sweet potato before slicing into small finger-like chips. Slice asparagus tips to similar size and boil both until fully tender.
CARROT AND POTATO MASH
Peel, wash and boil half a large carrot and a standard maris piper potato, cubed. Whizz to a silky consistency in a blender, adding a dash of olive oil to loosen (or water, if you’d rather).
PEA AND MINT PURÉE
Wash the mint and add to a blender. Add frozen peas that have been rinsed under hot water for a minute, and whizz.
