Speak Up

Tuesday, June 9, 2009

Feed the Kids


A well known chef recently told me that his daughter only eats food that is white in color. I know how picky kids can be, but how do chefs react to that? Do your chefhusbands cook kid -friendly meals like PB & J and mac and cheese or are your children exposed to premium cuts of beef, caviar, and oysters? I don't know how Erik will cook for our children someday. He'll probably cook normal kid food but also expose them to a new and exotic foods.

Food is Love
Hilary

7 comments:

Melia said...

We don't have any kids yet, but I see my chef making them all the same stuff he loves to eat at home - shepherd's pies, homemade beef burgers, pasta with homemade meat sauce..... much more homey and simplistic than what he serves to his gastronomically sensitive clients.

Ashley M. from California said...

The Chef & I have 3 kids (6, 4, 19 mos) and let me tell you- a PB&J goes much further with them than anything exotic. Being a former chef myself (albeit a Pastry Chef and not a savory one) I've not been one to cater to them with meals such as mac 'n cheese, fish sticks, chicken fingers on a regular basis. Once in a while we'll do these things, but they are usually made from scratch rather than coming from a box. In fact, our middle son refuses to eat anything processed.

I make one dinner and if they don't like it then they have the option to take "No thank you bites" or be hungry (sounds harsher than it really is).

Our oldest (daughter) is the adventurous one and will try almost anything. Our middle son won't eat any protein unless he knows what it is, what species of animal it is, what body part of said animal we're eating, and who got the rest of the body parts. Our youngest follows whichever older child speaks up first. If our daughter says she likes something first (or loudest) he likes it. If middle son says he hates it first we can forget about younger son even trying it.

Kids are kids. You're not going to win each food battle. And let me tell you, there are some days that you wish your kids would just eat a box of Mac 'n Cheese because you are too wiped out to make another (more gourmet) meal.

Hilary Battes said...

I don't think its mean at all to give children one option for dinner. Otherwise, you'll end up being a short order cook trying to please all the palates.

married2thecook said...

We offer her things to try and really make a big deal out of it if she does but for the most part - she is a anything cheese or bread or pasta kid. she refuses to eat most meat (which does kill her dad!) but she adores Hearts of palm go figure!

one meal is perfectly acceptable - they learn the cause and effect method pretty easy!

oatmeal with flax seed can be a 3 meal a day dish :-0

he will be fine, you'll be shocked at what desperation to get them to eat will do to your desire to make them culinary enthusiasts.

although my husband has been waving herbs under her nose since day two and she can name almost every vegetable and fruit in the grocery store and farmers market...

Anonymous said...

Recently we had an argument - as my in-between jobs, having-a-crisis-of-faith chef has been home a lot more and caring for our 3 children, about how franks and beans is not nutritiously good for anyone to have more than once (or even twice) a week and that a trained chef might extend himself a little for his children and actually cook the defrosted chicken cutlets in the refridgerator (whoa?!! A CONCEPT?!!) You see he suffers from amnesia and in the home can only cook with his index finger in the microwave.. poor lad.

Tiger Lily said...

Our kids (3 & 7) eat "kid food"...my husband doesn't mind too much...but does love it when the older one breaks off a big piece of good bread and eats it down...and the little one can't get enough pork product! I think you feed them what they like, expose them to all you can...but remember that table manners and a love for adventure will carry them far...espeically when you take them to France when they're 15!

stealthmexican said...

my chef never cooks at home (for me or for the kids), but he has been known to stretch their boundaries a bit. Tonight he offered them romesco sauce with their turkey burgers rather than the ketchup I usually use (from one of those squirty restaurant bottles). chefs are hardly ever home (at least mine isn't), so very often the food is left up to the wife/partner/significant other.