One of the highest compliments a child can pay a parent is to choose his or her profession. In the food world, the passing of the baton from parent to child is often more natural than in other fields. A child absorbs the smells, tastes and skills as an ordinary part of life at home. Growing up, though, he or she must overcome the challenge facing any child of famous parents: how to take those skills and establish an independent style.

Thirty-year-old Giuliano Hazan spent his childhood in kitchens with his mother, Marcella, the doyenne of Italian cookery. He learned about wine from his father, Victor, who is considered to be one of the world's finest wine writers. ''It was like the old apprenticeship system,'' says Giuliano. ''As I grew up, I developed the instinct that is so important in cooking.''

Mr. Hazan did not intend to make food his profession. He went to Providence, R.I., to study acting, but then started teaching cooking to make money. That eventually led to the opening of his carry-out store.

While Mrs. Hazan built her reputation on authentic Italian cooking, Giuliano feels free to experiment and create dishes. Like his mother, he focuses on dishes that bring out the true flavors of simple ingredients. One of these is chicken breasts, tomato and spinach. ''I've tasted spinach-stuffed pastas with tomato sauce, and chickpea and spinach soup with a little tomato, but I hadn't seen a recipe that combined spinach, tomatoes and chicken,'' he says. Rather than a butter sauce, ''I used olive oil and garlic, which gives the tomato a fresher, sprightlier taste,'' says Giuliano. ''The spinach is a nice contrast to that.''

Mrs. Hazan believes that her son has carried her cooking to another level. ''I feel as if I was born again in him,'' she says. Like Giuliano Hazan, Sophie Grigson has interpreted her mother's food for a younger generation of cooks. Miss Grigson, 29, spent her childhood watching her mother, Jane, test recipes and do research for her historical cookbooks. Now Sophie has struck out on her own as the author of ''Food for Friends'' (Ebury Press). She writes a recipe a day for The London Evening Standard.

''I write with a different set of attitudes,'' says Miss Grigson. ''My generation is more informal, and we have a wider range of foods in the supermarkets from which to choose.'' For Miss Grigson, her mother's cooking was a point of departure. ''My mother always associated semolina with awful puddings,'' she says, ''so she moaned when she tested a recipe for halvah. I love the graininess of semolina and concocted a Parmesan cake that I make frequently.''

Mother and daughter have developed a relationship as colleagues. ''Sophie picks my brain for historical information. I pick hers for zippy recipe ideas,'' says Mrs. Grigson. ''I feel like a Victorian father. They liked having their daughters in the family business. It makes a closer bond.''

This same bond exists in the kitchen of Oustau de Baumaniere restaurant in Les Baux, France, where 92-year-old Raymond Thuilier often works next to his grandson Jean-Andre Charial, who is 44.

As a child, Mr. Charial, who grew up in Paris, visited his grandfather in the summer. When Mr. Charial expressed an interest in the family business, Mr. Thuilier told his grandson: ''If you come with me, you must become a grand cook. And you must go to business school.'' The grandson obeyed. In 1971, Mr. Charial took the reins as executive chef of the restaurant, which his grandfather founded in 1945. The restaurant has held three Michelin stars since 1954.

Despite the generational differences, grandfather and grandson agree on the philosophy behind running their restaurant. ''Business can't be good if we aren't there all the time,'' says Mr. Charial. ''It is not only what is on the plate that matters, it is the environment, the welcome,'' adds Mr. Thuilier. ''A grand Bordeaux in a bad glass is no longer a grand Bordeaux.''

They do not always agree on food. Whereas Mr. Thuilier prepared classic French cuisine with many courses and heavy sauces, Mr. Charial is streamlining the recipes, using the classic techniques of his grandfather and the lighter dishes in vogue today. Frequent trips to the Orient have resulted in dishes such as ravioli with truffles and star anise. At the same time, Mr. Charial has added a number of dishes to the menu that are purely Provencal. ''We are finding more Provencal products, trying to use the Mediterranean tastes and colors, like my oyster with zucchini or the lobster with ratatouille. Lamb should have black olives, not butter sauces,'' says Mr. Charial. Mr. Thuilier's only comment about his grandson's creations is, ''Our tastes are different.''

In the kitchen, Mr. Charial tests each new recipe on his grandfather. On a typical day, the two taste and discuss, while Marie Noeli, Mr. Charial's 7-year old daughter, dips her finger into a caramel sauce. She may be the next generation to carry on a family tradition. GIULIANO HAZAN'S CANTALOUPE ICE CREAM 1 pound cantaloupe without the rind 3/4 cup sugar 1 cup water 1/2 cup heavy cream.