Cath Kerry-Food
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How to make a gourmet.

25/9/2019

10 Comments

 
I was at the market recently, standing in line behind a family - mum and three children. She asked them what they wanted for dinner that evening.  One wanted pizza, one wanted pasta, one wanted sausages.  It was clear that four different meals were going to be prepared.

Why, oh why, was the question ever asked? This is just so not what I'm used to.  

If we had asked my mother what we were having that night, she might have replied "liver with onions & parsley, mashed potatoes (pommes purées) and carrots" and we would have shouted "Yummy!"  Perhaps we were lucky that both our parents made our food sound marvellous - and it was. Sitting together was not just normal; it was a very agreeable moment in the day.  We were expected to have a story and more importantly perhaps, to listen to my father's stories! (My anglo-saxon friends were amazed that we were allowed to talk during meals!) 

We were not asked what we wanted.  We were told what we were having (like being at a simple country hotel). 

So how do you make a gourmet? Perhaps you might ask first why you would want to make a gourmet.

Gourmets are easy-going, happy kids.  They don’t make a fuss.  They’re easy to look after, they’re enthusiastic, you can take them anywhere, they’ll smile at a bowl of lovely chips as easily as at a truffled guinea fowl with duck-fat-fried potatoes.  They’re cheap, they’re accommodating. 
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Needless to say, you will be aware of any harmful allergies – peanuts might be fatal, chocolate could bring on unbearable eczema, prawns could inhibit normal respiration.

So, to make a gourmet, this is our method. It works. 

Firstly, you must accept that everyone in the family eats the same thing and  all sit together at a table for most main meals. No more one meal for Johnny, another meal for Annabel, another for Hepzibah, another for the adults. Serve the meal and don’t make a fuss. Allow your child to choose not to eat certain vegetables but put them out, nonetheless, day after day, day after day. Someone may not like carrots.  Just keep putting them out.

​This normalises the meal and your choices. Your child will not starve. This might be hard but it will work in the end.
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Get everyone involved.  Children can lay the table, they can peel carrots, they can wash lettuce.  Food can be parcelled out individually but a platter brought to the table will illicit a "Wow".
And start them early on eating from a plate and with (yes) cutlery.  Never too early to learn where to place that important little forefinger on the fork.

If we don’t encourage children to eat everything and develop a broad palate, where are the gourmets and polite eaters of tomorrow?
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Never make a fuss, never penalise, never bribe, never complain, never explain. Just keep serving them. One day those discarded black olives will be tried and accepted, that grilled red capsicum will be eaten along with the rest.  It’s a little bit of tough love. You are the tour operator around the world of good, real food. You are the adult. 


Comment or like below👇
10 Comments
Barbara
25/9/2019 05:18:36 pm

Cath, Can I please send two grandchildren to you for the school holidays?

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Marg
25/9/2019 05:51:57 pm

Brava! Loved the article and accompanying photos.

You are so right.

I was a complete failure, except for insisting we all sat together at table and ate & talked. Where was your blog when I needed it?

Don’t ask what you’d like for dinner for goodness sake- totally agree.

Happy to note that the Hewitt kids now are adventurous eaters and yes, even use cutlery! About time you might say - they are both in their 40’s.

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Pascale
25/9/2019 08:13:18 pm

I loved all of this!

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ROSA MATTO
26/9/2019 08:13:44 am

Not being lovers of sweets or chocolates, our children were "bribed" with mango and raspberries when we wanted them to hurry or visit a pesky auntie. (Do not take it personally, Ms Kerry.)

Little gourmands - "They’re cheap, they’re accommodating." - priceless.

Thank you for your words of wisdom - perhaps as grandparents we'll get it right.

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Jessica Knight
26/9/2019 09:58:36 am

Agree with all you said, Cath. I have GG's who eat when they wish and eat with hands, not utensils, the result is they eat little and most ends up on the floor for the dog to finish. Result children are hungry half an hour later! I appreciate hands are appropriate for scooping certain foods with bendy bread.and wish I could do it with panache! I guess it comes back to "when in Rome".

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Dale
27/9/2019 12:04:36 pm

Brilliant as usual Cath. More so after having recently sat through a meal, for the uncountable time watching a 4 year old eat only a bowl of rice and parents asking "what to do you want, darling?" and still she doesn't eat it. How does a young brain develop I ask?
Further to Barbara's earlier comment. I see a business opportunity here Cath. Gourmet boot camp for Children.

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Tania link
30/9/2019 10:30:41 pm

I LOVE this post Cath. It's a sad state of affairs when children's picky food habits are allowed to continue and become so solidified.

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Helen Vincent
14/10/2019 08:27:47 pm

Boarding school meals sure make you appreciate anything you are served elsewhere (except tripe) for me

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Hilary Lambourn
15/10/2019 08:33:14 am

Love it Cath. It’s not just food but, “where would you like to sit?”, “what would you like to wear?”, and babies in shopping trolleys with smart phones on loud.
From a very early age children are given choices about every aspect of their lives which makes them believe they are so important and entitled. Parents have created a rod for their backs.
I have just been out to lunch with an old school friend who rang the restaurant ahead to order a ‘special ‘ meal. I had salmon and avocado tartare and she had 4 pieces of lightly toasted wholemeal bread with avocado on top, no butter, no salt or pepper. More embarrassing was that the booking in her name had her instructions alongside for all to see!

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Cath link
15/10/2019 11:45:12 am

Cringe, cringe. It's not only about massive entitlement but also lack of decorum. (Old-fashioned?)
Children are being asked questions they can't answer - false democracy. Are they asked which school they'd like to go to? No.

That said, my cats know how to push my buttons, and I let them. But then they aren't going to grow up to rule the world.

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