INVITES/ 2 values learned fr Brotzeit Junior Chef @ Work
May 6, 2016 | Only Berlin
My 10-year old son would always help his momi with the cooking or baking. He would do the batter for our pancakes and waffles, and would even blend the milk with other ingredients for our refrigerated cakes or pies. So when I learned that Brotzeit will be having a Junior Chef @ Work workshop for kids, I readily enlisted my boy. Brotzeit, by the way, is a restaurant just outside Shangri-la Mall and offers world-famous German beers and authentic bavarian cuisine.
That same day after the workshop, he relayed to me on our way home that it was one of his most memorable summer activities. This mother was all the happier to hear the good news.
Let me recount the fun activity for you. You might also want to enroll your kids at the Brotzeit Junior Chef @ Work.
Brotzeit Chef @ Work will happen every Saturday of May. Kids from five to 10 years old will learn how to make their own fladen, cookies, and pretzels. They will have their little hands busy and all dirty as they follow the simple steps to baking. They will be given aprons and will use real cooking tools. At the end of the day, they will surely end up so proud of themselves after seeing their creation. And of course, they get to bring home the pastries they have made plus flaunt to their friends a certificate of completion.
When this mother and her son entered the Brotzeit German Bier and Restaurant, they were greeted by the amiable team of Ms. Malou Gonzalez, Brotzeit PR and Marketing Manager. She then introduced Chef Ivan Maminta. The good-looking chef wasted no time and readied his class for the workshop. Everyone, though all giddy, was all ears, ready to make some dough and mold them into gigantic pretzels. Yes, my 10-year old just learned how to bake some Bavarian Cheese Pretzels!
For the ingredients:
And the fun part began when the eager kids were asked to combine the ingredients. For the six easy steps to make a bavarian cheese pretzel:
1. Combine the flour, sugar, salt, and cheese in a bowl. Add water and mix with hands until it forms a rough ball.
2. Transfer the ball to the table and knead for five to 10 minutes until the combination forms a soft smooth ball. Add flour if the ball is still sticky. One trick Chef Ivan shared with his students? “You would know if you’re done when your hands are all clean.”
3. Roll the dough as long as your arm then divide it into six equal pieces using either a pastry scraper or a knife.
4. Roll each dough into a long skinny rope, about 20 inches long with both your hands.
5. Form the pretzels. Dip it into a bowl of water, sugar, and baking soda.
6. Transfer the pretzels into a parchment lined baking pan. Bake at 115C for 20 minutes until deep and glossy. Brush with softened butter and sprinkle with cheese. Serve hot!
The workshop lasted for about 2 1/2 hours and the energy level of the kids didn’t even dwindle. They were all the more ecstatic to receive their certificate and some gifts from event partner Toy Kingdom. The mommies, on the other hand, received a gift box from Cucina.
I highly recommend this kind of activity for your kids. Beyond learning how to bake pretzels, fladen or cookies, they will surely develop the following:
CONFIDENCE
Baking instills confidence in our children. Knowing that they have started and completed a task helps build or boost their self-esteem.
FOLLOW DIRECTION
Baking is all about following directions. And because they are kids, they tend to get distracted by things and movements around them. Enrolling them in activities like baking or cooking is an extremely good way to reinforce following directions.
One applaudable character of Chef Ivan was the way he gave his instructions to the kids. He recited the steps then showed the process to the children. He did not leave my son until he got what was asked of him to do.
It pays to start early. As a mom, I encourage you to enroll your kids now at Brotzeit Junior Chef @ Work. Let them experience the fun of being Junior Chefs and help them develop their confidence and ability to follow directions.
For details, you may check my previous post
here. 
I love that he enjoyed this. I think cooking in the kitchen is such a great skill and like you said it instills confidence. I love being able to learn something new and so I love for kids to do the same. Those pretzels looked great!
They looked great and even tasted better. Haha. They were gigantic, too. Haha b
What a great experience this must have been for him. They have a reality show here that features kids. I love pretzels so much.
Yes, he enjoyed it very much and so proud of his achievement. He gave his brothers a pretzel each and saved one for his papa. 🙂
I admire moms like you who would take their children to workshops (other than their interests) to let them explore and try other things. I just started baking recently and not a culinary arts student but this really got me:
“Baking instills confidence in our children. Knowing that they have started and completed a task helps build or boost their self-esteem.”
That statement is so true!
Mariaisquixotic || http://mariaisquixotic.com
Thank you. I can be a real oa mom and would always ask my boys if they like something to do other than their usual interests. 🙂
This is wonderful. You can never start children early enough in different activities where while having fun they learn not only social skills, but other skills that will help them in the future. You are doing a great thing for him. I applaud you for that.
Thank you. Ow, yes, forgot to mention that such activities are also good to develop his social skills.
I love the pictures in this post! Your son is adorable making those pretzels. I teach ten year old boys and I have a hard time imagining most of them having the patience to make them. I think it’s great to start kids cooking young. I started cooking when I was eight and it taught me a lot about patience and food (not to mention measurements!)
Plus the measurements, thank you for reminding me. When i ask the boys to prepare the batter for our pancakes or anything we need for baking, they will really follow the measurement. So unlike me that i often guess how many cups or teaspoons to use. Haha.
This is pretty cool! I always believed that letting a child explore different field in order to discover his real passions. It’s great that your child likes baking and that there are this king of workshops for him to get to discover more. Who knows, maybe you’ll have your own personal Michelin star chef in 20 years. 🙂
Haha. How I wish. But really thank you that there are indeed establishments and even restaurants offering such classes.
How i wish! But really i am thankful that establishments and restaurants such as Brotzeit offer baking classes like this.
You are welcome. Surely kids would enjoy and learn a thing or two from the chef and from the activity.
Fantastic event and the photos of your son prove it. You can easily apply what you got from the event at home and have a great bonding. Who doesn’t want cookies? Haha
Yes, we now have a junior chef at home. Ihihi.
The baking with your son, the Junior Chef himself haha, tuned out so well. The pretzels look really tasty. It’s fun to see the whole process. As he made the dough and then they turned out into masterpieces of pretzels!
Yes, it was a fun workshop. Looking forward to more baking and cooking workshops with my boys.
I’m not a Mom nor do I have kids, but this is an activity that I would recommend. It’s a fun way of learning and not typical as well. Kudos to Brotzeit for opening their doors to kids through this workshop. I like it because it’s interactive and like what you said, teaches kids discipline & how to follow directions. I like how these kinds of activities also promote Math ( lol, a lot of Math in baking & cooking ) and art!
I agree! Math and art, too. Hahha