Priya Krishna on Raising Kids Who Love Global Flavors – The Children’s Book Review

A podcast interview with Priya Krishna discussing Priya’s Kitchen Adventures on The Growing Readers Podcast, a production of The Children’s Book Review.

Join us for a flavorful conversation with New York Times food reporter Priya Krishna as she unveils her new cookbook, Priya’s Kitchen Adventures: A Cookbook for Kids.

Explore how Priya’s globe-trotting childhood sparked a passion for diverse cuisines, and discover why introducing children to a world of flavors is a transformative experience beyond just good eating. From easy udon noodles to kid-approved profiteroles, Priya shares how her recipes aim to instill curiosity, empathy, and a love for culinary diversity in young cooks.

This episode is a must-listen for parents, foodies, and anyone interested in playing a pivotal role in shaping the next generation of open-minded eaters.

Priya Krishna Talks About:

• Her role as a food reporter for the New York Times
• How her family’s love for travel shaped her culinary interests
• The inspiration behind creating a cookbook specifically for kids
• The importance of introducing diverse flavors to children at a young age
• Her approach to making recipes kid-friendly
• The process of working with 30 kid recipe testers
• Specific recipes from the book, including soy sesame butter udon and profiteroles
• Her goal of expanding the definition of “kid-friendly” food
• The inclusion of step-by-step photos and illustrations in the cookbook
• Her favorite go-to recipe and most cherished recipe from the book
• The impact of cooking on children’s willingness to try new foods
• Her hopes that the cookbook will raise a generation of open-minded, curious, and empathetic cooks
• The connection between childhood food experiences and lifelong food preferences

Listen to the Episode

Read the Transcription

Bianca Schulze

Well, hello, Priya. It’s such a pleasure to have you on the Growing Readers podcast. So, first of all, welcome.

Priya Krishna

Thank you so much. I am so excited to talk to you, and I love your background also, to boot.

Bianca Schulze

Thank you. Well, this is really cool for me because you’re our very first cookbook guest and our very first New York Times reporter. So I have to start by asking you, what’s it like being a food reporter for such a well-known establishment?

Priya Krishna

It’s really fun. I will be honest. I sometimes have to pinch myself and remind myself that my job is to travel and eat and cook for a living. And it’s wonderful. So I’m always thinking about how do I use this tremendous platform to champion the voices of people who haven’t been championed in our industry? I try to look for restaurants and cooks and foods in the corners no one else is looking.

Bianca Schulze

What’s a recent discovery that you’ve come across?

Priya Krishna

A restaurant in Austin that sells Uyghur-style skewers. The Uyghur community is an oppressed ethnic minority in China, and the food is just fantastic. And I found a place serving that cuisine in Austin, Texas. That’s so amazing.

Bianca Schulze

I mean, this just sounds like the coolest job ever. So I have to ask you, because it sounds so magical, what is one thing that you do every day that you think would either be the most surprising or the most relatable to our listeners?

Priya Krishna

One thing I do every day, I’m trying to think, what is one thing I do every day? I take antacids. I eat a lot for my job, so I have to regularly take antacids. Food writers have acid reflux, too. That’s all I have to say.

Bianca Schulze

That’s so funny. I was trying so hard not to burst out loud because I didn’t want to cover up your answer there, but that’s hilarious. I love that. I feel like everybody typically goes with a relatable answer, and that is relatable, but that’s also really surprising. It was the double. All right, well, your journey from a kid traveler to a celebrated food writer is so fascinating. So, since your family’s love for travel played such a significant role in your upbringing, why don’t you tell us about how your family first became travelers?

Priya Krishna

Yeah, I mean, my parents basically didn’t travel for the first few decades of their lives. They grew up in India, and they immigrated to America in the eighties. My mom basically put herself through college and graduate school, and she really wanted a job that would allow her to travel. When we moved to Dallas to be closer to her family, my uncle was working for American Airlines and asked if she would be interested in interviewing there. So my mom ended up basically turning that one interview into a lifelong career in travel.

She and my dad, I think, have always loved to travel. They’ve always been curious about things that are different from them, about languages, food, culture, art, music that comes from different cultures. I feel really lucky to have grown up in that environment. When you work for the airline, you basically get to travel at a very steep discount, or if there’s room on a flight, you can hop on. So I basically grew up going to the airport, wondering which flight we were going to get on and if we were going to get on a flight at all.

Bianca Schulze

That’s actually a reference in your cookbook about how maybe you’re hoping to hop on a plane and go to the Bahamas, but sometimes you find your way back to the parking lot before getting on a flight at all.

Priya Krishna

There was a lot of disappointment.

Bianca Schulze

Out of all the incredible places that you have visited, do you have one trip that stands out as the most memorable? And if so, what made that trip special?

Priya Krishna

I mean, I think that, like a lot of kids, I really took for granted that we traveled early on. You know, I don’t think I appreciated what a privilege it was. And then we went to Egypt. I think I was eight years old, and I remember I was the right size to get to climb inside the Great Pyramid, which basically is like the path to the tomb room is sort of built like a maze. It’s lots of really tiny nooks and crannies, and I think that staring at the Great Pyramid of Giza and then getting to climb inside, it was sort of this moment as a child where I was like, oh, my God, travel is amazing. I feel like that was the first thing that really took my breath away.

Bianca Schulze

That sounds so incredible. I didn’t start traveling till I was 18, and I’ve not been to Egypt, and that would just be such an incredible experience.

Priya Krishna

Yeah.

Bianca Schulze

Why don’t you share with the listeners how your family’s love for travel ended up shaping your culinary adventures that you go on now? So, how did your experiences traveling the globe influence your love of food and cooking?

Priya Krishna

I mean, it’s why I’m interested in food and cooking. You know, I feel like if my previous cookbook, Indian-ish, is like a story about how I became comfortable being myself, this is a book about how I became interested in food. I don’t think I realized until I went back through my childhood diaries just how much I loved food, even as a young kid. But you can read me talking about the chocolate mousse in France, the hummus in Egypt, the ceviche in Peru.

It was all so fascinating to me, and I think that as a kid, a lot of the historical stuff felt like a lot to process. We would go on these really long three-hour walking tours, and I didn’t understand what they were saying. But food was such an easy way for me to understand the culture, especially at a really young age. And I just love having new flavor experiences. Trying a food item or a flavor that’s completely new to me. And travel was just full of those experiences. There are some food memories that just have stuck in my head that, to this day, I can close my eyes and imagine what that thing in that place tasted like. And that’s pretty magical.

Bianca Schulze

When my family and I go traveling, I mean, we just love to walk everywhere.

Priya Krishna

Same.

Bianca Schulze

And so I feel like sometimes you end up eating something that you wouldn’t have planned to eat when you walk because you go past something, and you’re like, oh, we have to try this. And I mean, when we took a great trip to France, and I mean, I can’t tell you a lot of it was baked goods, of course, but I mean, we tried so many different kinds of pastries that I would never have imagined, and yeah, it was incredible. So I’m glad you like to walk, too.

Priya Krishna

One of our big things is we walk everywhere, and we stop at every fruit stand because every country has its own produce. And my mom, in particular, loved finding out, like, what are the fruits of Trinidad? What are the fruits of Japan? What are the fruits of this part of India that we’ve never been to? And so walking really allows you to see all the fruit sellers. Or if we had a rental car, if we saw a fruit seller, we would be stopping on the side of the road and seeing what was fresh.

Bianca Schulze

Yeah. And I feel like fruit can be really unusual in different parts of the world. I mean, this one’s probably not so random to you, but I was in Whole Foods and it was, I think, called Buddha’s hand. And it was…

Priya Krishna

Oh, yeah, Buddha’s hand is cool. It’s so fragrant and wonderful. I remember I had a similar experience. We were in Shanghai, and there was a guy selling lychees out of a guitar case, and I’d never seen something like that. It was like a globe with little spiky hair coming out of it. It sort of looks like a creature from Star Wars. And my mom showed me how you eat it. You peel it back, and then it has this gelatinous center, and you suck the seed out. Oh, it was such a memorable experience. Oh, my God. I’ve loved lychees since.

Bianca Schulze

Awesome. All right, well, let’s talk about this latest cookbook. It’s called Priya’s Kitchen Adventures. So, I mean, you’ve sort of touched on this, but let’s go a bit deeper. What inspired you to create a cookbook that’s specifically for kids?

Priya Krishna

I hadn’t thought about writing a cookbook for kids, but I loved kids’ cookbooks growing up. I was so into food, and I thought about all the books that I grew up with and realized that the genre is, you know, despite the fact that kids are now exposed to so many different cultures that they now have access to YouTube and streaming, and they can see into different worlds online, kids’ cookbooks haven’t really kept up with the state of the world.

You know, with some amazing exceptions, most kids’ cookbooks are authored by white people, and the recipes are very white, western, and kind of simplistic. I feel like you’re looking at, you know, PB and J’s cut in the shape of hearts, you know, fruit salads sprinkled with Froot Loops. These are real recipes I’ve seen in kids’ cookbooks. And the more I talked to kids, the more I realized kids are excited about food. They’re eager, they’re curious, and they want food that makes them feel empowered, that made them feel like they were adults preparing a meal for their parents, for their friends. And I just felt like there was room for a kid’s cookbook that felt truly inclusive and that expanded the definition of kid-friendly to be far more diverse, you know, beyond the scope of turkey roll-ups and Froot Loop-topped salad.

I worked with 30 kid recipe testers, and I feel like they really proved the premise of the book to me. Like, seeing their enthusiasm, seeing their excitement, seeing their honest feedback, good and bad, made me feel like kids are ready for a book like this and that we really should expect more of kids, that they want to eat more than just sandwiches in the shape of a heart and a star. They’re eager and curious and excited. And, you know, my hope is that by cooking with different flavors at a young age, maybe you’ll grow up to be a bit more open-minded, a bit more empathetic, sort of open to different things.

Bianca Schulze

Yeah, that’s incredible. Well, this conversation’s supposed to be all about you, but I feel like I need to share just a little backstory of me and my family in terms of eating. So I was raised by a mom who didn’t have the confidence to really cook a whole lot of different meals, and my dad took on the cooking, but it was like burnt meat, a potato, and vegetables. And so I don’t think I really grew up with this amazing love for food, and now I just love things with flavor. Like, I think Thai and Indian food are two of my sort of favorite cultural cuisines.

And then I have three kids, and so when my first was born, I was like, I don’t know how to cook. I don’t know how to make baby foods. So we just did all the, like, the pouch foods. But then when my middle child came along, she was born six years later. A friend of mine gave me the Williams-Sonoma baby cookbook. I don’t think it’s in print anymore, but I literally was like, I’m doing this. We’re making baby food. I’ve got the time. And I went through, and I gave her each different meal through the book. I never gave her the same thing.

Priya Krishna

That’s awesome.

Bianca Schulze

Then my third one came along, and we were a bit busier, and so we did a little bit of both. We did a little bit of the store-bought food. And guess who my best eater is? It’s my middle kid. And she loves flavor. She loves spice. She loves salmon. I mean, sushi. She likes it all. And I would say the pickiness of the eating is equivalent to how I fed them as babies. I’m not a nutritionist. I’m not a food expert, but I saw that so clearly. And so then I wanted you to know that my middle kiddo this summer wants to use your cookbook as basically her at-home summer camp and travel the world and go through meals for her family, which is going to be me. I’m going to get to eat all of these delicious meals.

So I really wanted you to know that. And so the fact that you just said what you said, I was like, I have to share my story here because I think when you do introduce the flavors, and you’re not afraid to introduce the flavors, the kids do like them.

Priya Krishna

Thank you for saying that. That is, like, that is the ultimate way I could see a kid using the book is, like, turning it into their own personal summer camp or winter break. I was talking to a child psychologist the other day about my book, and she was saying that she feels like a lot of the reason why parents feed their kids, you know, these very simplistic things, is because they are not confident in their own cooking abilities. And so that lack of confidence then translates to even more toned-down, plain food for their kids. And then that becomes what the kids’ norm looks like, and then they come to expect that food.

So it’s sort of interesting how, you know, I always wonder, like, how much of this is nature versus nurture, but I think in the case of food, there is a very strong nurture element.

Bianca Schulze

Do you want to talk a little bit about the cookbook’s format and how it includes recipes from various different cultures?

Priya Krishna

Yeah, so the cookbook is separated by chapter, and each chapter is a different country. And I didn’t want a cookbook that was all text. So with most of the recipes, you have step-by-step photos that will tell you, you know, what is the pasta supposed to look like when you’re rolling it out? How do you pinch a dumpling and pleat the sides?

There are diagrams, there are beautiful photos, and there are illustrations of me and my family and us traveling, courtesy of this really amazing animator named Anu Chohan, who I basically told, you know, turn my family into, like, a kids’ cartoon. And she did a really amazing job.

Bianca Schulze

Yeah. I mean, it’s so fun. It’s like, it’s this travel journal meets, you know, these amazing recipes meets diversity, inclusivity. I mean, it’s kind of this magical wonder of a book, in my opinion. You obviously have traveled a lot and you have all of these different experiences and favorite foods, and you had your group, I think you said, of 30 test kid chefs and food tasters. So just talk to me a little bit more about the curation of the recipes and how hard it was to actually settle on which ones to include.

Priya Krishna

I started with my own memories. I talked to my family about what were the dishes that really stood out from each of these countries. And then I thought about, like, how am I defining a kid-friendly recipe? What does a kid recipe mean to me? And to me, a kid recipe is inclusive. It is clear. The instructions are clear and direct. It doesn’t require too much chopping or special equipment. And it empowers kids. It gives them choice. It says, you know, here’s how to make a squash tostada. But then how you top it is your choice. If you want to top it with cheese or avocado or radishes, you can. You can build your own.

And to me, that felt really different to what the definition of a kid-friendly recipe is today. When you think about it, it’s a lot more toned down, a lot more beige, a lot more western. So. that was sort of my first criteria. There were recipes that kids just didn’t like that just didn’t work. And I took them out. There were recipes that were just a little too hard, a little too technical, but not that many.

There were maybe, like, two recipes that were too technical. So I took them out. And I would say one of my biggest takeaways was realizing that the line between a kid and adult recipe is actually a lot blurrier than we think. Like, I would talk about this with my friends, and they’d be like, we also want recipes with clear instructions, minimal chopping, that feel empowering, where we can make choices depending on our taste.

And so in many ways, like, yes, this is a kids’ cookbook, but it’s also just like a cookbook full of very good beginner recipes that introduce you to a number of cuisines. You know, these recipes have actually become a big part of my own weeknight rotation because it’s just how to achieve big flavor with minimal chopping and steps. And that’s something I can get behind.

Bianca Schulze

Yeah, absolutely. I mean, you said a couple things I want to dive in on there, but I’m going to go with this. So I love the way the illustrations in the upfront notes show how to cut specific vegetables, the way the cut marks are just drawn through the illustrations. Even I learned something as an adult. So I’ve always looked at a piece of ginger and been like, how the heck am I supposed to cut ginger? And now I know.

Priya Krishna

Well, just to tell you, the reason that exists is because one of my kid recipe testers suggested it. She said: I didn’t know how to separate the green and the white part of the scallion and how to cut it. Could you include a diagram? And I was like, that is a great idea. Why don’t I include a diagram for all the vegetables? So smart.

Bianca Schulze

And then the other thing that you said, too, is that I think sometimes we’re afraid. Cooking sometimes takes a lot to spend, even if it’s 20 minutes to cook a meal, and then you put it in front of your kids, and they’re like, ugh, this is so gross. But if you cook with them, they’re so much more willing to taste it and to try it. And so, I mean, yeah, we’re seeing this as a kids’ cookbook, but it’s also a family cookbook because I think if parents actually do this with their kids, too, what a great way to introduce some new foods and meals into your weeknights.

Priya Krishna

I think you’re absolutely right. I think that a lot of the kids who tested recipes gave feedback like, I didn’t think I liked this. And then I made it. And it turns out I do. Or I didn’t like the smell of the fish sauce, but in dumplings, it was delicious. So it was sort of the act of cooking was actively untangling a lot of their biases. And it’s also like when you made something with your own two hands, you’re predisposed to want to like it.

Bianca Schulze

I have to share another highlight for me. So it’s the tips for success section, which I just said has the illustrated part on how to cut the vegetables. But I love the specific tip on the importance of reading the entire recipe before diving in. Anyone who has ever just jumped right into a recipe knows like, oh, no, I totally missed a step. I’ve ruined this whole dish. So I love that.

But also on a nerdier sort of part of that is this is The Growing Readers Podcast, and I’m always looking for ways to raise kids who just love to read. But you get so many comprehension lessons out of a cookbook. So, yeah, I mean, you have to be able to read. You need to follow the instructions. You need to understand the instructions. So, if you have a kid that doesn’t like to read but likes to do hands-on activities, cookbooks are amazing because they don’t even know that they’re reading.

Priya Krishna

Totally. And it requires them to problem-solve, measuring—there’s so many skills contained within a cookbook. I totally agree.

Bianca Schulze:

Something else that I love is that your book not only provides recipes, but it also mentions extra cookbooks from the various countries that are featured. So was that your idea, to include those extra cookbooks in there?

Priya Krishna

Yeah, I just strongly believe in admitting when you are not an expert and giving credit where credit is due and spreading the love. So, you know, Priya’s Kitchen Adventures is very much an introduction to these cuisines. But maybe a kid cooks all the recipes from Japan and is like, I love Japanese cuisine. I want it to be like, well, here are the actual experts on Japanese cuisine. You know, go give their books a shot, and you’ll learn a lot. This is just going to give you a little taste. But there are people who have devoted their lives to these cuisines, and I strongly believe that in cookbooks, like, the rising tide lifts all boats, and we all need to help each other, and this just felt like a great way to do that.

Bianca Schulze

Yeah, I received that. I like that. The lifting up of one another and just… I mean, your book does that on so many different levels. All right, well, I have to ask you of all of those moments when, you know, we need to whip up something quick and delicious. What’s your favorite go-to recipe?

Priya Krishna

Probably the soy-sesame butter udon. You literally make a quick broth with vegetable stock, mirin, and soy. You add udon noodles, you slice the boiled egg in half, you put scallions, some butter and soy, and that’s it. And you eat it. It is like… I told all the kids, I was like, if you like buttered noodles, you will love this dish.

Bianca Schulze

And so then, on a flip side of that, maybe one of the recipes that feels the most cherished to you. So what’s in there that just really hits your heart as a good memory?

Priya Krishna

Probably the pear and gorgonzola ravioli. I was really nervous about the idea of doing fresh pasta for kids, but my mom, who co-wrote my cookbook Indian-ish with me, was like, I think I can come up with a really easy, fresh pasta recipe that just uses flour and water. And that ravioli brings me back to this amazing restaurant in Florence where I had that, like, ratatouille moment of realizing that salty cheese and sweet fruit harmonize beautifully together. And they served it with this brown butter sage sauce, and it was so delicious. And I just wanted to bring that memory to kids’ plates. And just looking at that recipe reminds me of being in that restaurant in Florence.

And it’s also, in my mind, I think, one of the easiest fresh pasta recipes you can find.

Bianca Schulze

Yum. And then, on that same theme, with all of those kid testers that you had, was there one recipe that most of them seem to just really love the most?

Priya Krishna

Yeah, there was one recipe that blew kids’ minds, and that was the recipe for profiteroles. And so profiteroles are a French dessert that’s like, you know, pastry with ice cream stuffed in the middle, topped with chocolate sauce. Like, what’s not to like? And I had tasked my husband, who’s an amazing baker, with developing a recipe, but I didn’t want kids to be making choux pastry because it’s really finicky and really technical.

And so he came up with the idea of using toasted sweet rolls and then putting a scoop of ice cream in between them and making a very quick ganache in the microwave or on a stovetop. And it’s like, I mean, it is like an ice cream sandwich, but better. It’s like the cold ice cream, the buttery toast, the warm ganache, drizzled over the top. Kids were losing their minds over that recipe, and I feel like for that reason, it’s one of my favorites just because of how simple it is compared to how much kids just adored it.

Bianca Schulze

Yeah. All right. Well, then, since you are a food reporter, I have to ask you: What is a common question that you like to ask, and would you ask it of yourself right now?

Priya Krishna

I’m always curious if someone could eat one cuisine for the rest of their life, what it would be, because I know my answer would be Indian food, but I’m curious what everyone else’s answer would be.

Bianca Schulze

Yeah, I would be Indian or Thai. I have this Thai restaurant near me that does the best pineapple fried rice. And I told my husband, if I ever get to the point where I need one last meal, you need to go and get me some pineapple fried rice from this restaurant because it’s just the amount of… I don’t know, they just get their flavors just right for me.

Priya Krishna

That’s amazing. Yum.

Bianca Schulze

Well, Priya, it’s been such a delight chatting with you about this cookbook, Priya’s Kitchen Adventures. So before we wrap up, and you have sort of suggested what the answer will be here, but I want you to end on this note. What impact do you hope that this cookbook has on young readers?

Priya Krishna

If you think about the foods that you are the most nostalgic for, that you find the most comforting, they are inevitably foods you had when you were younger, when you were a kid. So imagine if when you were a kid, you were exposed to dozens of different flavors, and you were as nostalgic for macaroni and cheese and dumplings as you were for onigiri and for dolmades. I genuinely think that if we want to normalize diversity in American cooking, we have to get to people when they’re young. And so my hope is that this book will help to raise a generation of open-minded, curious, and empathetic cooks. And that in 30 years, people of color won’t be sitting in rooms at food magazines trying to argue for why their food deserves a place at the table. Because everyone will have grown up with lots of different kinds of cuisines.

Bianca Schulze

That’s such a great answer. I mean, something that most books and travel have in common is that they often lead us to new discoveries. And so the idea that a cookbook can not only lead kids to new cuisines and flavors but that a cookbook will also lead them to some new places and hopefully some new people and new connections and provide them with new skills that will stay with them for a lifetime. I mean, that’s incredible. So thank you for writing it, and thank you for coming on the show.

Priya Krishna

Thank you so much. And thank you for your incredibly thoughtful questions. And I am so, so excited to see all the things your daughter cooks from it.

Bianca Schulze

Well, if I was a good food photographer, I would post them, but they might turn people off if I share my photos.

Priya Krishna

Please do. I hate the super-manicured, fancy food photos. I like the real lived-in ones.

Bianca Schulze

All right, perfect. Well, I promise I’ll get you some.

I jumped in and shared my pineapple fried rice. But I actually want to know what would… If you could only have one cuisine… And you said Indian food. But is there, like, a specific dish?

Priya Krishna

Yes, there is a specific dish. It is dal and rice, lentils, and rice. It is the most comforting thing in the world to me. I could eat bowls and bowls of it and never get tired. It brings me home. It’s like a homing device for me. Yeah.

Bianca Schulze

The recipe that I’m most excited to try is the Trinidad… It almost had an Indian dish name like…

Priya Krishna

Yeah, the curry chana.

Bianca Schulze

Yeah, curry chana. Yes.

Priya Krishna: That is so good. You got to have the cucumber chutney. It’s really yummy. That goes with it.

Bianca Schulze

Yeah, that… It was the whole combo that got me. It was the cucumber chutney, and I just… Yeah, that’s the one I want to try first. Awesome. Well, thank you so much.

Show Notes

Order Copies

Priya’s Kitchen Adventures: A Cookbook for Kids on ⁠⁠⁠Amazon⁠⁠⁠ and ⁠⁠⁠Bookshop.org⁠⁠⁠.

Resources

Visit her online at ⁠https://www.priyakrishna.me/

Find her NYTs articles here: https://www.nytimes.com/by/priya-krishna

Priya Krishna is a food reporter and video host for the New York Times and the bestselling author of multiple cookbooks, including Indian-ish and Cooking at Home. Her stories have been included in the 2019 and 2021 editions of The Best American Food Writing, and in 2021, she was named to Forbes’ 30 Under 30 list. She is originally from Dallas, Texas, which happens to be one of the busiest travel hubs in the world.

Thank you for listening to the Growing Readers Podcast episode Cultivating Culinary Curiosity: Priya Krishna on Raising Kids Who Love Global Flavors. For the latest episodes from The Growing Readers Podcast, Subscribe or Follow Now.