How do your children feel about food?

[Genkinaonna]

I forget that not everyone here is my age...how do your children feel about food? I mean, the ones that are old enough to be on their own and doing their own cooking...

Edited March 21, 2011 by Genkinaonna (log)

[kayb]

Interesting sidelight upthread about what our children eat. I have three grown daughters, all of whom will eat fairly adventurously, like most stuff, but don't really get into cooking at all. And I have a 15-year-old son I took in last year, after his eating habits were formed. Nothing green. Very little fruit. If it weren't for his fondness for anything with tomato sauce on it, I'd fear he'd get scurvy. I'm trying my best to get him to branch out, but with little success. Any suggestions?

[Anna N]

I have three adult children. Bear in mind that my interest in cooking did not start until they had left home. One, my daughter, is a foodie meaning that she loves food, has few dislikes and will try almost anything. She is a good cook but mainly with fast grilling techniques. She doesn't take much to long braises or anything overly complicated yet adores stews and curries that I make for her. My oldest son loves nothing better than to set up his solar oven in his backyard and cook everything from pot roasts to banana bread. Again, he is into plain comfort foods rather than anything exotic. Number 2 son, on the other hand, doesn't like tomatoes, fish, sauces of any kind and, if it wasn't for his mother feeding him once a week, I doubt he would survive. I send him home with leftovers and anything else I can manage.

[Darienne]

We have two grown children.

The eldest, a daughter is 50 and doesn't cook. She lives in downtown Toronto and certainly doesn't have to.

The youngest, a son, is married to a dear woman who doesn't cook although she does bake. He cooks, mainly on a barbecue...one of the people who use the barbecue all year around. Oh, right, he lives in Nova Scotia and they do get cold weather and some snow.

(My Mother hated cooking and my husband had to teach me how to cook, which I hated for the most part until about 4 years ago when all cooking broke loose.)

[janeer]

My son, almost 25, is a bit of a connoisseur. He lives in NYC and could be a food critic, his palate is so good. He was critiquing food at restaurants when he was 3, and his business takes him to many fine restaurants (on other people's money). I never worry about if he is eating well. He can cook, too--what I taught him growing up, and he often emails me for recipes.

[sparrowgrass]

My younger son is adventurous and a pretty good cook, at 26. The older boy thinks his head will fall off if he eats anything green. His poor wife has to wait til he is out of town to indulge her passion for Asian food, because he doesn't like the way it makes her breath smell. Where did I go wrong with that one?

[JeanneCake]

As an infant and toddler, my son would eat salmon, meatloaf, just about anything. His favorite mac and cheese was the Annie's Mexican (no longer made unfortunately). As he got older, he got fussier, and it is only now as a teenager that I see him getting a little more adventurous and it seems to correlate to whatever he is studying in his World Civ class. I hope it sticks! He has to be in the mood to cook (often isn't) but sometimes he'll wander over and ask if he can help.

[angevin]

I have three: 24, 21 and 18.

The oldest eats everything and anything, has been working as a server at high-end restaurants for the past several years and knows a lot. However, he doesn’t cook much; not sure why. ADD? Laziness? Doesn’t have to?

The middle son eats everything except bell peppers and coconut milk. Especially loves offal and adores going out to eat, especially French. No interest whatsoever in cooking and when on his own, lives on hot dogs, frozen pizza and Captain Crunch.

My youngest has been a vegetarian for the past 6 years (she’s an animal lover and since she never really enjoyed the taste of meat very much anyway, decided to give it up.) She also loves to eat - lots of fruits, vegetables and whole grains, loves seafood and Japanese (udon, sushi, miso…). She can be picky about high-fat sauces containing butter and cream, claiming they don’t make her feel good. (Yeah, she’s been brainwashed by the nutrition Nazis.) She likes to cook and can be pretty creative.

All-in-all they’re pretty different from each other, but I’m really proud that all of them appreciate the joys of eating.

[ChrisTaylor]

My students (8, 9 and 10 year olds) are very liberal.

A couple of them seeing me eat a lunch of leftover rabbit stew:

'Mr Taylor, do you eat dog?'

'Mr Taylor, you had mouse? In Vietnam, my uncle, he hunt for mouse.'

'You eat the goat brain?'

'The baby duck inside the egg?'

'Eat the spider?'

'In Vietnam, my dad and me, we eat snake. But I don't have the heart 'cos they put it in wine.'

'In Vietnam, my uncle, he kill the dog and we eat it. Then the next day we go to McDonald's.'

'In Vietnam, my uncle, he eat the rude part of the goat. I don't want to say. You know. The balls.'

Or today:

'Hot dogs have dog in them.'

'No, not really. That's just the name. They're made from beef or pork or both.'

'Dim sims [an Australianised version of a steamed dumpling, kind of] have cat. And dog sometimes.'

'No. Dim sims are maybe mutton, maybe pork. Whatever's cheap.'

'I've always wondered what my dogs would taste like.'

'Crocodile/kangaroo/anything that walks/slithers/flies/swims-with-its-back-to-the-sun is good with special Cambodian sauce. So nice, man. So pro.'

Edited May 23, 2011 by ChrisTaylor (log)

[DanM]

I have a 15 month old who goes between very adventurous and very picky. If we go out to eat, she is more than happy to eat off our plate, including sushi, idli & mild curries, guacamole, etc... I can understand the need for hot dogs and chicken nuggets on kids menu for very picky kids, but don't understand when that is the only thing on the kids menu. Dumbing down food for kids is a personal pet peeve. River Cottage has a new book about feeding babies and toddlers. This book peaked me interest when recipes for pea risotto, mackerel pate, and rhubarb crumble are listed in the book's description on Amazon. Not exactly what I would call simple food for toddlers. It is on the top of my buy list and should be an interesting read.

[BarbaraY]

Having four grown daughters, all in their fifties except the youngest, 43.

Each one has her own choices and they all differ. My eldest could write the script for Sandra Lee as she very frequently uses short cuts of ready made foods. To me she eats like a five year old, one of her favorite meals is fish sticks and packaged mac 'n' cheese. She does make a whale of a good Pork Romano for guests. She does love Japanese, Chinese, and Mexican food. The only one of these she cooks is, what I call, her pseudo Mexican food. Good but not authentic.

Second daughter works as a cook. She, like her mother, does what she loves. She is always exploring and trying new dishes. Cooks Thai foods often as well as Chinese and Mexican but she doesn't really care for Japanese food except sushi.

Third daughter was the one that ate 1/2 peanut butter sandwich, a cookie, and a piece of fruit for her school lunch from first grade to sixth. A very picky child. Now she has discovered Thomas Keller. She is in food heaven but still says, "I don't do lamb!"

Fourth daughter is in Egypt right now and is eating her way across the country. Brains, liver, kidneys, raw clams, and anything else her friends serve her. She's in food heaven for sure.

Four kids, four different appetites but it does make life interesting.

[Kouign Aman]

She's 6. She likes food. She will try one bite of anything, because often enough it pays off as a new pleasure and most of the time its no worse than so-so. Has learned that what you eat first affects the taste of what you eat after. So if something is supposed to be sweet and isnt being perceived that way, she'll often ask for a bit of vinegar to reset her palate. Will, if allowed, drown every and any thing in soy sauce.

[BadRabbit]

Mine's not grown but at 10 she has as eclectic a palate as any child I know. Her favorite dish is Vietnamese and she eats almost anything Indian. She can also handle heat far in excess of most adults and has no issues with eating less common proteins like mussels, squid, rabbit, and duck.

She's just learning to cook but she seems to be enjoying it and has already mastered the general process of risotto.

She has a horrible dislike for green beans that I can't understand but other than that she'll eat almost anything. I feel certain she'll carry this adventurousness into adulthood.