Introducing your kids to new foods begins in infancy (even as early as when you are breastfeeding and the foods you eat make their way to your baby through breast milk). Including foods from other cultures will give them a taste of global cuisine, provide a delicious and healthy variety of meals, and help thwart the “picky eater” habit. A fun way to teach your family about ethnic cuisine is to combine new foods with music from that particular culture. Putumayo World Music has made this an easy, melodic and edible endeavor.

Bridging cultures through food and music

If you haven’t seen the eye-catching colorful CD covers of the Putamayo music collection, your eyes, ears and palate are in for a treat. Putumayo World Music was established to introduce people to other cultures through music. Over the past few years, the company has expanded its cultural connections by including recipes by leading international chefs in more than 20 of its family-friendly CDs.

Picnic Playground — A cultural kid-friendly feast

Part of the Putumayo Kids division, the newly released CD Picnic Playground provides a fun feast of international songs about food, cooking and healthy eating in a global gumbo of musical styles and languages. American artist Jay Mankita’s opening song Eat Like a Rainbow sets the tone for the album, and the tasty songs that follow from countries around the world add to the exuberant musical buffet. These catchy upbeat tunes will help get kids dancing to the rhythms while learning about healthy eating and other cultures.

“International food and music provide a great introduction to other cultures,” says Dan Storper, CEO of Putumayo World Music, who travels the world discovering new artists and sampling international foods. “My 4-year-old son’s face lit up when I played these songs for him and my wife loves trying out recipes I discover during my travels.”

Picnic Playground includes liner notes in three languages, including English, French and Spanish, a child-friendly overview of the foods mentioned in the songs, as well as two kid-friendly recipes by child nutritionist Barbara Storper, founder of FoodPlay Productions.

Barabara says you don’t have to travel around the world to have a fresh adventure – just let your taste buds do the walking! She includes two recipes from her cookbook Janey Junkfood’s Fresh Adventure.

Barabara gives easy directions for kids to eat like a rainbow: To make Garden Veggie Rolls, you’ll need a slice of whole wheat bread, hummus or a soft cheese like ricotta or cream cheese, thin sticks of raw carrots, celery, jicama and sprouts. First, flatten the bread with a roller. Then, spread hummus or cheese on the bread. Put veggies in the center, roll up and eat!

España — A taste of Spain

On September 29th, Putumayo World Music will release España, a CD collection featuring a captivating mix of songs by contemporary artists from across Spain. The modern music of Spain is a dynamic blend of old and new that showcases the country’s diverse yet accessible music styles. España spotlights a broad cross-section of music, from Spain’s best-known genre, flamenco, to Barcelona’s mestizo (mixed) movement, which incorporates fusions of pop, rock, jazz, reggae, rumba, flamenco and more.

España also features the work of renowned photographer Peter Adams and a recipe by famed Basque chef Eva Arguinaño, head of bakery and pastries at Karlos Arguinaño‘s restaurant Zarautz. España is a delicious CD that will get you and your kids grooving in the kitchen. Get the kids involved in making Arguinaño’s scrumptious Spanish Bread Pudding.

Torrijas de Natillas (Spanish Bread Pudding)

Serves 4

Surprise your family with this Spanish bread pudding for breakfast or pair it with ice cream for dessert.

Ingredients:
4-1/2 cups (1 liter) milk, divided
1/2 cup and 3 tablespoons (150 grams) sugar
2 cinnamon sticks
8 egg yolks
1 loaf of stale bread
All purpose flour
Olive oil

Garnish:
4 tablespoons powdered sugar
Ground cinnamon
4 tablespoons raspberry sauce
12 fresh raspberries
12 currants

Directions:
1. Set aside 1/2 cup of the milk and heat the rest in a saucepan over low heat with the sugar and the cinnamon sticks.

2. In a bowl, beat the egg yolks with the reserved 1/2 cup milk. Add some of the hot milk, mix well, and pour the mixture back in the saucepan. Cook until thick, stirring constantly.

3. Cut the bread into inch-thick slices and place in a deep dish. Cover the slices with the custard and wait until they are well soaked.

4. Coat the slices in flour and fry until brown on both sides in a frying pan with abundant oil. Drain on paper towels and place in a serving dish.

5. In a small bowl, mix the powdered sugar with the cinnamon and sprinkle on the toast. Garnish with raspberry sauce, raspberries and currants. Serve warm.

Brazilian Café — A sweet CD

The fourth release in Putumayo’s café series, Brazilian Café is an enchanting CD that brings together a captivating selection of samba, bossa nova and jazz by Brazilian stars and up-and-coming talents. Joining French Café, Italian Café and Café Cubano in the café series, Brazilian Café features recipes for Cafezinho, a Brazilian coffee drink, and Pavê de Café, a popular Brazilian coffee-laden dessert. This is a CD to put on when the kids are doing their South American geography homework and you want to feel like a sweet Brazilian beauty while you’re moving to the music and preparing this rich, luscious dessert.

Pavê de Café

Serves 8

Ingredients:
4 cans sweetened condensed milk
4 tablespoons butter
1 cup of strong coffee (preferably Brazilian coffee)
30 butter cookies

Directions:
First layer: Combine 2 cans of sweetened condensed milk and 2 tablespoons of butter in a heavy pot and stir continuously over medium heat, bringing to a boil. Continue stirring for 2 minutes or until mixture becomes so thick you can’t see the bottom of the pan. Remove from heat and scoop out of pot into a shallow glass serving pan.

Second layer: After the first layer is completely cooled, break 3/4 of cookies (about 23 cookies) into small pieces and spread over the first layer so it’s completely covered with cookies.

Third layer: Combine 2 cans of sweetened condensed milk, 2 tablespoons of butter and 1 cup of coffee in a heavy pot and stir continuously over medium heat, bringing to a boil. Continue stirring for 2 minutes or until mixture becomes so thick you can’t see the bottom of the pan. Remove from heat, scoop out of pot and cover the layer of cookie crumbs completely.

Fourth layer: Crumble the remaining cookies into a fine powder and spread over the top to decorate the dessert. After the dessert cools, cover with foil and chill for 1 hour in the freezer, followed by 1 hour in the refrigerator. Leave in the refrigerator until ready to serve.

You can whet your musical appetite for cultural melodies at Putumayo.com, where you can listen to the many globally-gathered songs featured on Putumayo World Music’s CDs. You can also download lyrics and recipes to share with your kids while introducing them to the music and food of other countries.