I mean honestly... we (as adults) know what we like to eat and what we don't... right?
For instance, I HATE goat cheese... seriously.. I remember asking a friend (who shall remain nameless) what kind of cheese was on a salad at a wedding. She told me "Parmesan" BULL*****! that crap was nasty, stinky goat cheese and I will never believe or trust her pallet again! haha but I digress.
We know what we like to eat. We are humans with choices and brains and souls... why can't people just leave us alone when we say that we don't like to eat something?
"Geez mom.... this tastes like crap!"
Well, believe it or not... EATING IS EDUCATION... YOUR TASTEBUDS CAN BE TAUGHT.
Education hua? That's stuff with lesson plans, trained teachers, and academics; most certainly not an teaching your body what tastes good.... right?
Now this idea is new to me. While my childhood had wonderful parents with excellent intentions and goals when it came to eating and mealtime habits, we were never taught that its ok not to like something. We were not given the hopefulness and encouragement that we would like it.. only the insistence that we finish our plates (ps - I have yet to learn to love my mothers Brunswick Stew) Love ya mom =D
But its true guys! Eating is education, you can teach yourself (blame it on the tastebuds if you have acceptance issues) to like new foods.
"French Kids Eat Everything" by Le Billon highlights a food critic who wanted to test this food theory (and made it fact BTW). He disliked about 5 foods (granted his list was much smaller than most) and set out on a year journey. His goal was to taste and try these foods; prepared different ways and by master chefs who would specialize in the particular food. The man (again blessed with a job to allow a grown adult to go on a food pilgrimage) was able to reduce his 5 foods of distaste to only 1! It WORKED!
But still I was skeptical. I hate lots of foods and I am stubborn. Like otherworldly stubborn, but I am also otherworldly curious... (its a serious condition really.... I leads to reading at all hours of the night, googling random questions about how and why socks are lost in the dryer *theory about an alternate universe was my fav* to the ancient aliens commentators)
So I gave it a shot. My first enemy to turn friend was TOMATOES.
Pretty sad right? One of the most common and universal fruits/ veggies on the planet.
So I tried those little suckers in a bunch of different ways. Different kids in different dishes. (Now, at this time I liked cooked tomatoes in sauces or other dishes but raw ones... yuck) But while I was trying to put on a brave face for Sutton and Kenzington; I actually figured out my problem. It was the texture and the first bite. That first bite tasted like a battery. But I discovered that if I got through that first bite the dish and the tomatoes actually tasted great. I actually trained my tastebuds to like tomatoes (or at least make them less offensive) I started eating them more often and no longer pulled them from dishes or sandwiches. That is not to say that I would willingly put them on my plate or taste 5 kinds at the local farmers market, but I wasn't avoiding them at all costs anymore... and to me that is victory.
(Side note - much like any other training... of your muscles, brain etc... your tastebuds also need to be given a variety and challenged on a regular basis.. otherwise... plateau.)
So big question.... how do I help challenge my kids tastebuds? How to I turn eating from a ritual of nutrition and comfort into something that is done to better the eating experience?
With Variety
Make different dishes each week. Change ingredients up. Make meals a different experience each night.
This is Kenzington eating Spinach leaves... this is a big deal for us. Granted they are covered in a raspberry balsamic (her fav.) she's eating it. The biggest achievement this past month was an adult sized portion of asparagus... wish I had gotten a picture of that.
If you couple this philosophy of "eating as education" with our francophile inspired mealtime habits of being happy about food, talking about the flavors and textures, no distractions etc.... your kids and even you will learn how to like foods. Instead of saying that they should eat more.. say "its ok, your body will learn to like it I promise, next time ok?" The encouragement factor... to enjoy the foods we eat rather than eat everything off our plate or to get the perfectly balanced meal is whats important.
Well... guess I'm off to try goat cheese again.. wish me luck and of course...
- Bon Chance Mon Ami!
0 comments:
Post a Comment