Got a picky eater in your house? I did. Two of them. There were quite a few nights where Titus had a tantrum at the table for being forced to eat... HEALTHY FOOD!!! I know, we're horrible, sadistic parents! The rule in our house is that the boys have to try everything. Now if I'm making something a little more complex or spicy or what have you, they have to give it a real try. If they don't like it, I will make them something else, if I've made something strange. But I know their likes and dislikes pretty well and there will almost always be something on the table they will eat. Titus, occasionally, will make his mind up before he takes a taste. This doesn't fly with us. He literally had a meltdown for forcing him to eat meatloaf. But we didn't back down. We made him try it and made him understand that this was dinner and there wouldn't be anything else later. He likes to eat a couple bites for show, say he's full and then 15 minutes later say he's hungry for dessert. When confronted that he just said he was full, he used to say "I was full for real food, not dessert". I guess that's his "Jell-o Room". Yeah sorry, Ty, that's not the way it works.
I started working with both my boys and having them pick out their own meals and cook with me. Caleb will now try anything! I fed him a cooked chicken heart one day I was cutting up a chicken and now he asks if I'm going to cook the chicken hearts when I'm cutting up a chicken. Titus has gone from crying tantrums at the table and being sent to bed without dinner to asking for fourths of Indian and Thai curries! While part of this could be because they have realized they won't win a battle of wills at the dinner table, but I also believe they are better eaters because I have gotten them involved in dinner choices and cooking.
I have a great job. I get to cook and/or deal with food just about every day. Recently I have begun teaching kids to cook with one-on-one, in-home lessons. I'm teaching kids that range from 8 years old to 16 years old, and that have little interest in cooking to mini-gourmands and foodies-in-training. But the common thread in all these kids is that when they are done with the lesson, they have all loved what they have cooked. The parents are telling me that I am getting them to try things they have never eaten before or showed any interest in. This is amazing to me and when I hear that I feel so lucky to be doing what I do. I'm making a change in a young person's life. And I'm doing it with something I'm passionate about: food.
Teaching a child to cook accomplishes many things. One of the most important is that you are teaching them to feed themselves. So when they finally leave the house, you know they are capable of cooking for themselves and won't have to live on packaged ramen and "the clown". It also is amazing for their self-esteem and self-confidence. The look on their faces when they enjoy something that they have made themselves. Its even more amazing for them when they see that other people like what they are eating. They feel accomplished. That not only did they do something that they are proud of, but other people are enjoying what they have created. And, as I mentioned, its an amazing thing when the picky eaters start cooking for themselves: they get less picky! Is it because they know what goes into what they're eating, both ingredients and effort? I don't know, but it works!
Food is also a great way to teach children about other cultures and countries. Sure they can read about another country or watch a documentary about a culture different from their own, but when they get to experience the food from the place they are studying, it can open up a whole new point of view. You can take a child to an ethnic restaurant, and I highly recommend doing that, but when they cook the food themselves, its a whole different ball game. They are actually participating in what they are learning. They are creating something. I like to describe cooking with Aristotle's quote: the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. You're taking individual ingredients, each with their own individual flavors and combining them in a way that creates a whole new flavor experience.
So the next time you're fed up with your picky eater, try cooking with them. It may change the whole situation!