Eating is good! | The joy of eating

Eating is good!, This is the title of Sophie Prégent’s recipe book, for the benefit of the Autistic & Major Foundation. It’s also the phrase she’s heard most often in her life, uttered by her son Mathis, a young autistic adult who loves to eat. This book, made up of 67 very varied recipes which are part of the actress’s world, makes us aware of the dietary challenges of autistic people.

Sophie Prégent has a passion for cooking. It is a real pleasure for her to receive friends at her home, to whom she introduces new recipes. “I like to cook, I like to prepare good meals, I always want my table to look beautiful and I have all kinds of plates, glasses, placemats and dishes to serve,” she said in an interview.

She hesitated before writing this recipe book, since she knows that the market is saturated, but this one has a very special meaning. “This book is not just a recipe book, it is for a good cause, because all the profits go to the Autistic & Major Foundation, but above all, it contains information on the issues related to the diet of autistic,” she says. Sophie Prégent called on Dr. Dominique Cousineau, pediatrician specializing in child development at CHU Sainte-Justine, who added a “little neuroscientific grain of salt” to the book.

The 67 recipes found in Eating is good! are those of his friends and family. There are also his own, of course, including his famous linguine alle vongole, which have become classics. ” What a delight ! It seems like I introduced vongole to those around me, we know the pasta carbonara, the meat sauce, but less vongole, it’s good and it’s light, which is nice. »

There is also the spaghetti sauce of his father Yvon whose secret is a touch of maple syrup, the schnitzels (Viennese schnitzels) of his friend the host Marie-Claude Barrette, the little Dumonts with apples which are small apple bundles that have passed through several generations in Mario Dumont’s family, green muffins from nutrition doctor Isabelle Huot, pizza from her partner Charles Lafortune, as well as banana bread from Janette Bertrand. “There are six bananas in Janette Bertrand’s banana bread, it’s incredible! You’ll never make another one after this! Six bananas, we thought it was a mistake! It is very dense, but it is the most extraordinary. »

Pleasures on the plate for all

Sophie Prégent knows that eating can be complex and can represent a real daily challenge for autistic people, but also for so-called normal or neurotypical people, and that is why this book is intended for everyone. “A meal uses all of our senses, there are smells, the color of food, the texture, the noise, and we know that autistic people are often very rigid when it comes to eating. It can be laborious, it takes patience, courage, and you have to adapt. When Mathis was young, it was complicated to introduce textures. He ate chicken, eggs, toast, pasta, then slowly we introduced green vegetables. It’s still difficult, the colors, for him, he doesn’t eat carrots or raspberries or blueberries,” she gives as an example.

Sophie Prégent also hopes to convey with this book the pleasure of cooking and the joy of eating. “My son Mathis follows us to restaurants, it’s a real pleasure for him to eat. And I continue to improve my skills by taking cooking classes in a good mood! »

Recently she learned to make cream puffs. “We made profiteroles and Paris-Brest, we were happy and we couldn’t believe we had done all that, it was really delicious. There were six of us at a friend’s house, what a pleasure! We should do this more often, treat ourselves to cooking classes, in groups, with friends, it’s cheaper and we have so much fun! A real joy to eat cabbages,” she says, laughing.

Visit the website of the Autistic & Major Foundation

Janette Bertrand’s banana bread

“I love Janette Bertrand. With her, there are no half measures! As is the case for this bread, in which she puts six bananas! It’s the softest of softies. Practically impossible not to devour it whole,” writes Sophie Prégent in her book Eating is good! Here is the recipe.

Preparation time: 10 minutes

Cooking time: 40 to 50 minutes

Yield: 10 servings

Ingredients

• Butter (for the mold)
• 240 g (1 cup) unsalted butter
• 400 g (2 cups) sugar
• 4 eggs
• 6 ripe bananas, roughly mashed
• 300 g (2 cups) all-purpose flour
• 2 tbsp. teaspoon baking powder
• 2 tbsp. teaspoon baking soda
• 1 C. teaspoon of salt
• 140 g (3⁄4 cup) dark chocolate pieces (optional) *
• 60 g (1⁄2 cup) pecans, toasted and crushed (optional) *

Preparation

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F). Place a rack in the center of the oven. Butter a 23 x 13 cm (9 x 5 in) loaf pan and line it with parchment paper, leaving the paper overhanging on two opposite sides to make unmolding easier.
2. In a large bowl, with an electric mixer, mix the butter and sugar until smooth.
3. Add the rest of the ingredients, except the chocolate and pecans. Mix until you obtain a smooth and homogeneous dough. Fold in the chocolate and pecans using a spatula. Transfer to the prepared pan.
4. Bake for 30 to 45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the loaf comes out clean.
5. Let it cool down before unmolding.

*To please Mathis, I am increasing the amount of dark chocolate and pecans in this recipe.