With Christmas looming on the calendar, Devin Hill, like most 10-year-olds, has given some thought to her wish list. It bears little resemblance to those of most fifth-graders: A set of chef’s knives, paring knives and an offset spatula for decorating cakes top this New Hope Elementary School student’s hopes for the holidays.
“When most kids wanted to go to Slip N Dip this past summer, Devin was asking if we could go to New Jersey to see Buddy Valastro of ‘Cake Boss,'” laughs Devin’s mother, Sonya Hill.
Devin loves to cook. Her parents first noticed their daughter’s curiosity about what was happening in the kitchen when she was only 3 or 4 years old. Devin frequently shadowed her father, Eric Hill Sr., an accomplished cook.
“He has a real culinary gift,” Sonya says, “all his family does. Devin was always very inquisitive about what he was doing.”
At first, a very young Devin was given a few age-appropriate tasks to handle, like washing a potato, or cracking an egg in a little bowl of her own. When it became apparent her interest wasn’t going to let up, her parents embraced and encouraged it.
“From there, it just exploded,” says Sonya.
The making of a cook
As Devin grew older, she became a devotee of TV food shows, began her own cookbook collection, and has twice been able to attend Mississippi University for Women’s summer Culinary Camp for Kids.
“Some of my favorite shows are ‘Cupcake Wars,’ ‘Cake Wars,’ ‘Barefoot Contessa’ and ‘The Pioneer Woman’,” said Devin at her home Saturday afternoon. She intently chopped tomatoes for a dish she was preparing for the family’s supper — a three-cheese fettuccine with broccoli, tomatoes, Parmesan and parsley.
“Before the water boils, add a little extra-virgin olive oil to it to help keep the noodles from sticking after pouring out the water,” she noted. When all was ready, she plated the dish, meticulously placing tomatoes and garnish for presentation.
“She’s very particular,” Sonya smiles. “We’ll be hungry and ready to eat, and she’ll be over there plating it.”
That attention to detail is an asset to a young cook expanding her culinary horizons.
“What I like in cooking is that you get to see and experiment with exotic flavors, different varieties of spices, and you get to be creative with dishes,” says Devin, thumbing through some of her cookbooks, which include the American Girl Library “Mix-It-Up Cookbook,” “Chef Bobo’s Good Food Cookbook” and “Emeril’s There’s a Chef in My Soup!”
“I have a binder I made with some of the favorite recipes from my cookbooks and recipes from camp, like mint avocado grasshopper cake,” she says. She has even devised a food prep game she hopes the family will try out: Mom, Dad and Devin (little brother, Eric Jr., 4, is still a bit young) would each choose a recipe they like from the binder.
“We all would vote on which one we want, and whichever gets the most votes, that’s what I’ll make that night or that week,” explains the fifth-grader.
Sonya admits that Devin’s ability has taken her by surprise a bit.
“You have people who learn how to cook and can make a great meal — and then you have people who are born with the instincts … ” says Sonya. Where some cooks may create a certain dish by following a recipe, “she and her dad could get in the kitchen and duplicate a dish and tweak it … ”
It’s not all about food, of course. Devin is on the Robotics Team at school, likes math, soccer, track and outdoor activities.
“I might like to go into engineering,” she says of her future, although the door is wide open to other options as well, including a culinary career. “I’d like to travel to different countries to explore their foods.”
Devin’s parents are committed to helping their children discover and develop their interests and talents.
“She is determined, so no matter what she does, she can excel in it,” says her mother. “We want her and her little brother to have the opportunity to explore things so they can learn what they want to do.”
For now, young Devin will stay tuned in to celebrity chefs like Guy Fieri, Bobby Flay and Giada De Laurentis. She’ll continue building her binder and experimenting with flavors. Because, she says, above all else, “It’s just really fun!”
Jan Swoope is the Lifestyles Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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