Bunchland

Every family does mealtime differently. All we know is food and family go together like PB and J. In Munchland, you show us how your family fills up their tummies.

Pickle Soup, Robot Cake and Cheese Eggs are just some of the recipes you can learn by tuning in to Big Kitchen with Food, a cooking show hosted by 6-year-old Julian. His dad and producer, Ben, says Julian saw a cooking show that came on after cartoons, and one day announced that he wanted to film his own cooking show. So his parents pulled out a camera and shot the first episode of Big Kitchen with Food, in which Julian demonstrates how to make spaghetti sauce. It was raw and unpolished, but it was the start of something big.

Now Julian’s show airs on Portland Community Television and is sponsored by a local grocery store. Contrary to what the comment-posting haters on the Internet suggest, Julian’s parents did not force him into it. “It’s actually the other way around: he makes us pull out the camera,” says Ben. “But he doesn’t have to twist our arms very hard.” Also, relax, he’s not in danger of burning himself on a hot stove or slicing off one of his fingers with a sharp knife. “We’re always both right there with him, so he can’t get himself into too much danger.”

Ben says he’d love to get Julian into some cooking classes. The Oregon Culinary Institute was nice enough to give Julian a private tour (and a chef’s hat!), but in the end they told him to come back when he was older. In the meantime, we can all appreciate a chef who oh-so-carefully measures out ingredients and quips at the beginning of a show, “Oh, hi, I’ve been looking for you.” Awesome.