What children shouldn't like to eat

[culinary bear]

You know what I mean - you're eating something nice and sophisticated, and it never occurs to you that there's a small (or not so small) child nearby who might appreciate it. Kids shouldn't like smoked salmon, or capers, or roast duck... but sometimes they do.

A very good friend of mine has a 7 year old daughter who doesn't like fish, if it doesn't look like a fish. Fillet of haddock? No thanks. Nice piece of salmon? Ew. Tender flakes of cod? They get a wrinkled nose.

Barbecued sardine, complete with head, crispy tail, and finnicky little hair-like bones? The tail is held in one hand, the head in the other, and she's at it like a corn-on-the-cob.

Whole dover sole (expensive tastes, this one)? Adores it. Even helped me skin them.

Nice bloody medium-rare roast duck? Her mother had a breast, she had half a breast, then the other, then both legs, and then spent a happy half hour picking through the carcase. It's not as if she's an overfed kid, either; I've seen more meat on a butcher's pencil! Adores garlicky confit duck, too.

Has anyone else been surprised by what kids will try / enjoy / bite your arm off in order to get?

[FoodMan]

My 17 month old will eat almost anything we are eating including duck, fish, bbq pork.... he will also eat stuff we normally would not eat by itself or expect him to like, such as limes and lemons. If that kid sees a half lemon on the counter he will grap and suck on it till I take it away to his loud protests.

Elie

[PCL]

I was a kid like this. Really... honestly... I was... I'll get my mum to prove it... imagine that, my mum posting on eGullet... well, posting anything at all really... I mean, this year for my birthday, no card, no call... but a text message on my mobile phone...

But yeah... I know loads of Italian kids who eat A N Y T H I N G ...

[Pan]

Elie, why don't you just let your son suck on those lemons?

[Yuki]

I don't know, the food that I can think of is bitter melon and herbal soup. My sister love anything with bitter melon since a kid such as stir fried bitter melon with spare ribs, bitter melon tea, and bitter melon soup...... Also, she would finish my bowl of herbal soup that is usually black and smells terrible. I think her love for such bitter food is weird for even adult.

Talking about duck, I travelled to China when I was three. My parents brought a duck from a shop and wanted to devour it after taking a shower in the hotel. When they are finished with the shower, my sister and I ate the entire duck.

Is it common for parents to cook a separate meal for children in North Amercia? Most Chinese parents that I know wouldn't do that, the kid will just have to eat what is on the table. Also, I think North America's children are really picky about food.........

[Jensen]

The Spawn would eat damn near anything as a toddler...sauerkraut, any fish, any Japanese food, anything pickled.

As a teenager, she's a little more "discriminating". I cling to the hope that her tastebuds will re-awaken and am heartened by the fact that, as far as she's concerned, brussel sprouts are the perfect vegetable.

That's my girl!

[curlywurlyfi]

My god-daughter. Aged 14 months. Black olives.

[albiston]

My 17 month old will eat almost anything we are eating including duck, fish, bbq pork.... he will also eat stuff we normally would not eat by itself or expect him to like, such as limes and lemons. If that kid sees a half lemon on the counter he will grap and suck on it till I take it away to his loud protests.

Elie

←

Must be a common kid trait. I was like that and my two year old son does exactly the same. At times we have to hide lemons .

We're at least partially responsible for this, having tried to stimulate his food curiosity since he was a few months old. He'll taste almost anything once and mostly eat what we eat. Mussels, shrimps, olives, pickles, any sort of mushroom he can lay his hand on (even truffles), expensive Spanish dry-cured ham are all favourites of his. Having to choose between a sweet and butter and sage gnocchi, he'll always pick the latter.

We're quite proud.

[hillvalley]

Growing up the only fish I would eat was sushi and chubs. If it had hit a frying pan of some sort there was no way it would enter my mouth.

But I also ate oysters, black olives, peking duck (homemade) and natto, made my own caviar omlettes, and preferred steak tartar to hamburgers.

I thank and blame my parents for this There was no kid food in our house, just people food. If they were eating it, I was eating it.

Edited December 17, 2004 by hillvalley (log)

[Marlene]

My son has been eating herring, crab legs and other assorted expensive foods since he was 7 or 8. But it took him until last year to start liking beef. He obviously does not take after his mom!

[JennotJenn]

My sister and I would eat anything pickled (saurkraut especially), steamed broccoli (no cheese sauce), raw salted cabbage (we fought over the core), brussels sprouts, raw cauliflower, anything slightly bitter like that. I also had an affinity for hard boiled eggs. I went through a phase when all I would eat was hard boiled eggs and kraut. My sister went through a similar phase with coleslaw. And beer. When she was about 2, my parents had these really fun friends we used to go to the demolition derby with on Friday nights. After the DD, we'd go back to their apartment and watch Monty Python and then watch my mom and them process photos in their darkroom. At some point during the evening, Steve would want a beer, and my sister would toddle to the fridge..."wanna beer Unca Steeve?" Then you'd hear the top pop, and she'd be in the kitchen a little longer than she should have been...and the beer would be like, 1/3 empty when Steve got it. My mom was freaked, so she took Amanda to the doctor, who told my mom to give her a whole beer, that she would only drink a little, it would make her feel bad, and she wouldn't want anymore (ah, the late 70's/early 80's). My mom had to take it away a over halfway through for fear my 2 year old sister would get alcohol poisioning. Oddly enough, she does hate beer now, but not because of that. She just grew out of it, I guess. Anyway, those friends were awesome. I was sad when my parents stopped hanging out with them.

[Cusina]

My kids, when they were under two years old, both loved tofu. Firm, right out of the box. It made a huge mess, but hey, good for them.

Of course now they wouldn't touch the stuff. Oh well. Maybe later.

I always loved black olives... used to get a can of them in my stocking sometimes when I was a kid.

[Toasted]

My 9 year old son loves gorganzola pizza. He and his 8 year old sister also love articokes, brussel sprouts, very spicy indian and thai food. It's great that they're so adventurous although it's killing me to have to share the pizza.

[FoodMan]

Elie, why don't you just let your son suck on those lemons?

←

We do let him, up to a point. I mean the kid will be doing all those funny faces while sucking on the tart fruit but still would not let it go. So we let him have his fun for a while then we have to take it away or he'll start chewing the rind .

Another thing that he loves and I am quiet proud of that are those pink Lebanese pickled turnips I make.

Elie

[Ursula13]

My five year old niece will try absolutely anything (just like me). Her mother just cringes when I bring her home; we usually have to stop for sushi when we are out. The kid can also eat any amount of olives, any kind, any where near her. Canned, from the deli, black, green, stuffed, whole. Doesn't matter. And on our last family visit to NYC, I had her eating octopus. Her mom wanted to kill me.

[NulloModo]

My five year old niece will try absolutely anything (just like me).  Her mother just cringes when I bring her home; we usually have to stop for sushi when we are out.  The kid can also eat any amount of olives, any kind, any where near her.  Canned, from the deli, black, green, stuffed, whole.  Doesn't matter.  And on our last family visit to NYC, I had her eating octopus.  Her mom wanted to kill me.

←

Why does her mother mind you broadening her tastes?

[Luckylies]

kids like food thats a game, or surprise, or "not allowed" or for grownups. the second you hade the oysters...guess who's suddenly whipping up the mingionette...yep, the seven year old..as a kid I always thought it was cool to like the same food my foodie parents liked. I figured it made me more sophisticated...

I'm surprised kids will eat "kid food" plain everything with plain sauce...ick! give me something with marrow bones or a tail, and I was a happy camper.

these are thigns as a kid i always thought were fun.

*frogs legs

*marrow bones

*oysters

*anything with claws

*escargot in decoritive shells

*chicken feet (dim sum)

*quail or quail eggs

...I was such a little weirdo...

[daw]

My kids have developed a liking for medium rare steak and pink roast beef - hurrah.

Seafood is slowly becoming acceptable too - crab, squid, prawns, but not or mussels oysters yet.

David

[Curlz]

My friend's 1 year-old daughter has recently discovered olives (any kind), tried pepper-jack cheese (a mistake, but she didn't care), and is basically putting away anything they give her.

My 3 year-old niece has been eating hummus (with her hands, no less) since she was less than a year old.

My 8 yr old nephew and his sister (6) have been eating artichokes since they were each about 3--all because my folks just put them in front of them and showed them how. And the 6 yr old LOVES broccoli. Tosses it back in crazy quantities, in fact.

I agree that it's only in the US that we make separate food for kids--and I think it's a shame! I'm sure it's the reason that there are so many American adults who turn up their noses at 'weird' food. But hey--more for us!

[jgarner53]

That's all heartening to hear. My nieces and nephews have grown up on hot dogs and mac & cheese, and 90% of the time have a separate dinner from what the adults are eating. There's a lot of "I don't like ______" or "______ is gross" in their houses.

Of course, my picky sister hasn't helped matters any. I think the only meat she will eat is chicken or turkey. Everything else is gross. Or too fattening.

[M. Lucia]

When I was about 8, I was in a restaurant with my mom discussing what to order. The waiter overheard me and remarked to my mother that he had never heard someone my age say they couldn't decide between the asparagus plate or the mussels.

However, I was also a very picky eater. I loved salads and boiled peanuts but I had no taste for meat and my mother would force me to eat a tiny fillet mignon every few weeks. For years, I decided I didn't like anything at Thanksgiving dinner and would eat only the rolls. Luckily, I have gotten over this, and I am now known for eating just about anything.

I am always worried when parents don't encourage their kids to try new foods, and I know many in my generation who have a very limited repertoire and therefore can't cook anything other than pasta.

[therese]

Everything. Mussels, foie gras, marrow, capers, salmon roe with raw quail egg (sushi), asparagus, artichokes, smoked and/or pickled fish, weird cheese...

On the other hand, one of my kids had a strong aversion to mashed potatoes until a couple of years ago. Go figure.

[Okbrewer]

My daughter (13) has always loved mushrooms! She especially likes them on pizza and sauteed as a side to a medium rare steak! She has enjoyed mushrooms since she was very young, I can't remember her not liking them. She also has a strong affinity for mussels! She'll eat steamed clams but prefers mussels. I like the fact that she will try just about anything, and if she doesn't like it, she attempts to explain why it isn't to her taste.

[pam claughton]

I think the secret is not knowing what they're eating! When I was little my dad used to buy bags of lobster bodies at the fish market, and then pick apart and eat every scrap inside. He had me convinced that the green tomalley was delicious. I loved it, 'till I got older and found out what it really was.

My niece shocked the whole family a few years ago on Christmas Eve when she ate everything that was passed to her from the raw bar. Oysters, littlenecks, shrimp, even sushi, she ate it all and asked for more. She was four.

Edited December 17, 2004 by pam claughton (log)

[Larry 1749]

Some very good friends of ours childern love oysters and your have to fight them for the last piece of sushi. These kids will eat and enjoy almost anything.