Our OP, fun guy though he is, does not excel at thread titles. They tend to state his conclusion, not his question. But his point is clear enough:
I’d rather the USA not raise another generation of fussy nuggets-only adults. Clearly the way to do that is force kids to eat real food from the git-go. And force parents to not take the easy way out by eliminating that easy way. So restaurants should stop having a kids menu. QED."
Which is evidently an interesting proposition to discuss.
I remember a time my young child took an enthusiastic bite of something new, then immediately said I love this! Took a second bite then gagged and had to spit it out in a napkin. lol been there done that.
Most of the time I’d just put a very small amount of a new to them possibly offensive food on the plate. If they tried it fine if not fine. Sometimes they’d sniff it and pick it up and taste with a tongue maybe nibble the tiniest bit. It’s all good, I never hovered or made it uncomfortable, or made pretend it’s so delicious noises.
Anyway, there are a lot of people in the world. I’m willing to believe that some refuse to eat certain foods as a kind of power play. I never had that experience with children, though. Not mine and not other kids. The kids I’ve interacted with who wouldn’t eat certain foods (including me) did so because their was something about that food they disliked.
American kids don’t enjoy vegetables because their mamas can’t cook!
Ok, not really. I think for whatever reasons, many American parents don’t introduce their kids to vegetables properly. Ok, brussel sprouts are natural bitter, but what about broccoli and especially cauliflower? Americans focus most of their attention to meat. Marinating. Grilling. Dry aging. Vegetables? They’re usually just thrown into some pot of boiling water. Maybe some salt and butter added afterwards.
If veggies were prepared similar to meat, many more American kids (and adults) would appreciate them. I mentioned sauteed garlic broccoli above, because it’s hella good. I was also a picky eater growing up, but my parents cooked vegetables in an appealing way. I had no problem consuming them. Now liver and and cube steak? Oof, gag!!!
My son hates squishy wet food, and will only eat dry food. Mac and cheese is right out. He’ll eat nuggets as long as they are well cooked. But he mostly survives on protein bars, nuts, seeds, cereal and dried fruit. It’s hella expensive.
The worst thing is when he gets tired of eating something but doesn’t replace it with something else. Now the list of acceptable foods is plummeting.
Sometimes at restaurants we can get him to eat pancakes, but that’s about it.
Unfortunately as he gets older it’s becoming more a part of his identity. He’s given to exclaim, “I only eat dry foods!”
He’s been in feeding therapy for two years. I can’t say I’ve seen much improvement in what he’s willing to eat, but he is more willing to tolerate other people eating, or having something he doesn’t like near him. He’s also more willing to try stuff. I actually got him to try a popsicle the other day. He licked it twice and then discarded it, saying, “I liked it only a little bit.” MAJOR progress.
Now me, I love squishy texture. Mac and cheese is great, mashed potatoes even better. Or a good cheesecake!
I preferred mild flavors as a child. No sharp sauteed garlic, certainly. Honestly, some butter, maybe some lemon juice or salt, is still usually my favorite preparation for veggies.
My kids are absolutely erratic with their tastes. One of them likes your usual “beige” foods. But she likes broccoli and green beans and tolerates Brussels sprouts. The other loves Brussels sprouts and specifically asks for them. They both like toasted bread with lard, onions, and cracklings on them when we go camping (we are of an Eastern European bent.) I guess that doesn’t violate the “beige” rule, but it’s not something most kids go for. But I make some stuffed zucchini last night at their request, and one of them doesn’t eat it because “it doesn’t look the same as the one you made before.” And I have no idea what can possibly be even different. Didn’t taste a bite. Just had a bagel with cream cheese for dinner instead. Maddening.
I feel seen. My folks liked canned vegetables still in the can liquid–not even drained. And they ate canned asparagus cold. Slimy and cold. My dad liked roast potatoes…but out of a can, bland and starchy.
I didn’t realize at the time that fresh asparagus can be good if it’s roasted, sauteed or in a stir-fry. (Just made this the other night.) Or that fresh mini-potatoes were great roasted when you cut them in half and tossed them with olive oil and seasonings. Or that frozen peas were much better than canned–you can doctor them up any way you wish.
Anyway, all this talk about kids’ palates put me in mind of a Cosby Show episode (I know, I know, but we didn’t know at the time) where Cliff took seven-year-old Rudy and her pals to a fancy French restaurant. The kids, of course, couldn’t get into the food (which included escargot) and the understanding waiter (who had young grandchildren himself) ended up going across the street to the burger joint to pick up burgers for them.
Of course, I laughed at the time, and it’s still funny, but thinking it over now, it does beg the question of what exactly Cliff was thinking. Of course seven or eight-year-old palates aren’t sophisticated enough for high-end French food. If he’d wanted the kids to have a “fine dining” experience, Cliff would have done better to take them to a high-end steakhouse where they could order steak or roast chicken or something they’d recognize, and they’d still feel as if they’d had a fancy meal out.
It isn’t the quality or variety of the kids menu that appeals to adults, it’s the portion size. If a few adults are out eating not everyone at the table is starving and maybe they don’t want to walk around with a half eaten cheese burger and soggy fries the rest of the evening.
I eat healthy home meals typically so when I go out to eat American restaurant meal portions seem like some kind of competitive food challenge. I am already on the Elderly breakfast menu, no one needs to walk around with more than an egg, toast and some hash browns in their gut in the AM unless they are spending the day bailing hay.
I was introduced to escargots as a small boy. Probably first from a can at home - perhaps my parents were testing the waters. I loved it, and later ordered it on occasions when my family went for dinner to a French restaurant.
How is that you bail out a boat by throwing buckets of water overboard, but when a bank needs a bailout, the government throws buckets of cash into the bank.
Go figure? And why can’t I get one of those bailout thingies?