Egyptian Tummy Tea, Spaghetti Pomodoro + Lots & Lots of Oats

Laila Gohar's Cub Street Diet

Hi friends,

It’s snowing, it’s raining, three-day weekends abound, and even over at the Green Spoon we’re opening our fridges every day and thinking “Does my child truly need to eat THREE meals a day?! Feels excessive!” So, to help excavate ourselves from the inevitable winter rut, we’re bringing you the fourth installment of The Cub Street Diet: our monthly column devoted to how other parents navigate the pleasures and pains of feeding their kids. 

Here to tell us about a handful of days in the world of 9-month-old Paz’s new life as a food-eater is Laila Gohar. Laila is an internationally recognized cook and artist who works with food as her creative medium. Born in Egypt, she lives and works in New York, where she and her partner, chef Ignacio Mattos, are raising their son Paz. Laila’s work has been exhibited in museums and galleries around the world, but she is also the go-to person for fashion, design, gastronomic, and luxury brands (think: Prada, Hermès, and Comme des Garçons) seeking to engage new audiences through food and visual storytelling. To that end, this multi-hyphenate has also recently launched the eponymous label Gohar World with her sister, Nadia. Icing on the 10-tier shrimp and rose cake? She writes a lovely regular column for the Financial Times section How To Spend It, called How To Host It, inviting us to take a seat at her table. If your appetite still isn’t sated, we highly recommend this wonderful New Yorker profile of Laila by Molly Fischer.

But, back to Paz! What is Paz eating amid all of this glamour? While Laila may be, well, a consummate professional, we still think you’ll find her Cub Street Diet more than relatable: Baby Lead Weaning stresses Laila out (same!). No whole shrimp for this little guy just yet!

This Thursday, expect a bonus follow-up newsletter devoted entirely to CAULIFLOWER! Unsung hero! Delicious cruciferous friend! And one of the first things Laila fed her son. So, keep your eyes peeled—we’ll give you her recipe and much, much more.

Fanny + Greta

“Okay, I’m going to start off by saying that while I cook for a living, I am absolutely in no way an expert on feeding kids / how to get a kid to eat / what you should feed a kid / what you shouldn’t feed a kid, etc. I live in New York with my boyfriend and our son, but was born and raised in Cairo, Egypt. I do a lot of things the same way my mom did with me and my three siblings growing up in Cairo, and sometimes it’s not always the same thing the doctor here tells me to do. So, take it all with a grain of salt!!!

My kid is 9 months old. He generally likes food (for now—hopefully forever), and eats what we eat. I actually love feeding my kid and don’t find it annoying or hard (also for now). I think in the U.S. so much pressure is put on us as parents and providers of food, and on our kids as receivers of said food. Where I come from it’s not like that. You eat what’s there. The children’s menu doesn’t exist. The long supermarket aisles of snacks and food in pouches is not a thing. The mindset is generally: if you don’t like it, you don’t eat it. Eventually you will be hungry. Then you will eat. I don’t mean to oversimplify, but I think there are lots of cultural differences around feeding children.

In Egypt we also give our kids an herbal tea made of fennel seed, cumin seed, and chamomile (I use the ratio of 2 parts fennel, 2 parts chamomile, 1 part cumin). There’s an organic version of this baby tea that you can buy online. I make my own because it’s super simple and cheaper. I’ve been giving this to my kid since he was born and he loves it. It helps settle his stomach and it tastes good, so I think he just likes it. I give it to him a couple times throughout the day. He takes a few sips from a sippy cup. When he was younger I would sometimes mix it with his formula. And now on to formula…

My kid has formula 4 times per day. I stopped breastfeeding after 2 months. I hated pumping and decided that my mental wellbeing and being happy around my child was more beneficial to him than the stress it was causing me to keep it up. This is, of course, a highly personal choice. But, again, I think there is so much pressure on women to breastfeed, and women should do whatever they feel like doing.

Laila and Paz at home

Day 1

7am — milk 

9am — Holle oat cereal. I make a batch of this stuff every few days using oat milk because that’s what we drink too. Paz has a couple ounces of it each morning. Sometimes I mash some fruit into it. Today we had a kiwi hanging around so that went in, mushed with the back of a fork. He loves it.

11am — milk

2pm — My boyfriend owns a couple of restaurants and we went to one of them for lunch. Paz sat in a high chair and had a few pieces of fennel from a fennel salad I was eating. He also had some spaghetti pomodoro for the first time which was fun and messy. His favorite is a piece of chicken Milanese that I cut in a big piece. He gnaws on it until all the breading is covering me, him, and our friend sitting to his left. He doesn’t actually consume a ton, but he’s happy. The meal was delicious. We’re all happy. 

Paz devours some Chicken Milanese at his dad’s restaurant

3pm — milk

5pm — I have an unhealthy addiction to beef jerky from this butcher called Dickson’s Farmstand in NYC. I order the stuff online in bulk. My boyfriend thinks that it’s not okay to consume so much beef jerky. He always makes a face when I’m eating it (which is always). Anyway, I’m snacking on it and give my kid a piece. He likes to gnaw on it because he’s teething. It doesn’t have any sugar or junk in it. It’s made there in the butcher shop from good quality meat, so I feel fine giving it to him.

Paz is no stranger to cured meats

6pm — We all have red lentil soup for dinner because we had a big lunch.

7pm — milk 

Day 2

7am — milk

10am — oats with half a banana

11am — milk

1:30pm — I cooked some chickpeas with carrot and celery. I smoosh the chickpeas with the back of a fork and add the carrot. Baby Lead Weaning freaks me out. I sit like a hawk watching him to make sure he doesn’t choke and it just makes me too nervous. So for now I just give everything a little mash and that works for us. Ignacio and I also had a roast chicken for lunch. I give Paz a piece. He licks it a little but doesn’t seem interested. I think he’s full.

The one and only time Laila attempted Baby Led Weaning

3pm — milk

5pm — Ignacio roasts a sweet potato and feeds it to Paz.

7pm— milk

Day 3 (Are you sick of us yet?)

7am — milk

9am — we’re out of oats so I grate an apple and add a little cinnamon and give him that. I think it’s important to season food. Even for children. As long as he doesn’t reject it, I’m seasoning it. My hope is that if I introduce flavor now he’ll continue to enjoy it…

Ignacio and Paz (who is clearly enjoying flavor)

11am — milk

1pm — Paz has some yogurt with cumin seed and another carrot from yesterday mashed in.

3pm — milk

4:30pm — We had risotto earlier so we give him a little. He leaves most of it. He keeps pointing at the sippy cup and all he wants is the tea. I guess it’s fine since he’ll have milk soon…

7pm — milk.”

See you Thursday!