Extra Virgin's Gabriele Corcos Talks Healthy After-School Snacks

Chef and husband of Debi Mazar dishes on their own family

By Saira Malhotra Sep 19, 2014 9:13 PMTags
Debi Mazar, Gabriele CorcosChiara Sinatti

Gabriele Corcos is quite a talented dad. He can create food that can rival any Nonna, has a best seller book Extra Virgin: Recipes & Love from Our Tuscan Kitchen and is about to star season five of his cooking show Extra Virgin with wife Debi Mazar.

And yet with so much on his plate, so to speak, his kids are very much on the front burner. When we chatted with him recently he happily shared how he does it all, plus a few healthy treat options.

Cara Scaturo

How old are your kids? Do they have similar tastes?
My girls are eight and 12. The youngest one is my kitchen helper; she has been using a 7" chef's knife since the age of five. Regardless of what I want to prepare in the kitchen, she is basically always there with me, even if she is planning on refusing the dinner we are preparing together. My oldest daughter has reached food emancipation and she is very vocal about what she likes. She is my official food critic, she tastes everything I make but she is really firm about what she likes or not.

On your show meal times are clearly important to the family, does the same labor of love go in to their snacks?
Snacks are super important to me as they give me control over what my kids bring to school and snack on. Evelina, the oldest, is now just asking for money when she leaves for school in the morning. She is allowed to leave her campus for lunch and she has been discovering all possible restaurants and cafes in our neighborhood. Giulia, 8, likes to come back from school right away and demands a snack immediately. At the moment, her favorite snack is either a shake of strawberries, ice, a touch of Greek yoghurt and honey or a sample of vegetables (carrots and celery) dipped in a Tuscanized Tzatziki sauce. We had dinner at a Greek restaurant a few weeks ago and she has fallen in love with their dipping sauce (yoghurt, cucumber and dill) and has now forced me to replicate the recipes.

Lorenzo Carlomagno

What are typical snacks one could expect at a play-date at the Mazar-Corcos residence? And what are the absolute no-nos?
We are always stocked with fresh produce and seasonal fruit and in general, we like our kids to snack light as our dinners are usually comprised of multiple servings. We never have sodas, weird-flavored chips or packaged cookies in the house. If the kids are in the mood for something sweet, I have to bake it.

What are typical after-school snacks you grew up eating?
Well, I grew up in Tuscany and at our local school we had trays of wonderful stuff that was passed around at different times of the day. Usually school snacks comprised of a slice of bread with different toppings depending on the day: simple olive oil and salt, jam, honey and Nutella for special occasions. At home, my mom always kept it very simple and never had sodas or cookies. My grandmother  (from whom I learned to bake) would make almond cake and pignoli cookies that my brother and I devoured.

Jeremiah Alley

What advice would you give to busy parents on meals and after-school snacks?
Getting organized is more than half of the job. Find your local farmers market for fruit and some times for organic zucchini bread or banana bread. Understand your kid's basic needs and always serve an afternoon snack with dinner in mind. If you are planning to make pasta in the evening have your kids snack on some veggies or fruit, if you are preparing a meal that is more protein oriented you can give them some carbs in the afternoon in the form of toast, bruschetta or a light dessert. I usually bribe my kids whenever I am planning in serving soup for dinner: "If you promise to eat soup tonight you can now have a glass of milk and some of my cookies". Because yes, I do have cookies, they are Italian and they are mine, hidden in the pantry and off limits for kids. That is my cheap thrill at night, dipping my fave cookies in a glass of cold milk while watching some TV.