20th October International Chefs Day

There are many international chefs who have picture book biographies about them. See Joyce Chen, Julia Child, Alice Waters, Niki Nakayama, 
 and Georgia Gilmore.

On this day and given the state that the world is in currently, it is the two books about Jose Andres that I want to focus on here. He is an award-winning chef, food activist, and the founder of World Central Kitchen, a disaster-relief organisation that uses the power of food to nourish communities after catastrophe strikes.

When a terrible earthquake hit Haiti in 2010, chef Jose Andres knew he needed to help. Within a few hours of the disaster, he had gathered friends, flown to the island, and  begun cooking rice and beans for the hungry locals. This trip changed the life of the successful chef and led him to found World Central Kitchen, a disaster-relief organisation that has fed more than 200 million people affected by natural disasters, the COVID pandemic, and war, most recently in Gaza.

These two recently published books give children access to the life of Jose Andres and what motivates him to do what he does.

• Jose Feeds the World by David Unger and Marta Alvarez Miguens

• A Plate of Hope  by Erin Frankel and Paola Escobar

 

If we take the theme  'Growing Great Chefs' to heart, perhaps we should be putting books out on display that encourage the children to contemplate what it means to be a chef. Books like these: