Feeding children

Now and then I read some book on feeding kids, or watch a movie such as Julie and Julia, and get completely inspired to introduce my family to new, interesting foods to only be reminded of the reason why I keep making the same five recipes again and again.

Food is a very cultural thing which, of course, is no new revelation, but I am always surprised by how much our food choices are shaped by the culture around us. Most children growing up in India, see images of Indian foods everywhere - in ads, in movies, pretty much anywhere food is displayed. Even the ads for Lays potato chips stress their spiciness. The children subliminally start associating an enjoyable meal with samosas and choley. They go to a wedding or a party, and see paneer and chicken masala as the main course, with gajar halwa for dessert, and that for them defines a feast. When I take my kids back to India, and they attend a feast, they refuse to eat anything there because it all looks alien. Of course, it is instantly assumed that one, I have raised completely Americanized kids who have not been taught anything about their heritage, and second that my children find the food too spicy. Both assumptions are wrong. The simple reason is that in my girls' minds a feast will forever be associated with a big roasted bird in the center of the table with mashed potatoes and gravy on the side, and not little pieces of vegetables and meat floating in a savory sauce. An excellent dessert is a pie not grated carrots cooked in milk. They watch their American cartoons, and ads and subconsciously absorb that a fun, tasty snack to drool over is not a Samosa but a big juice cheeseburger. Although, I cook Indian food almost daily, given the context of our lives even my kids sense that, this is not what most of their friends eat.

I am also reminded of reading the book "What to expect the first year", and how everything in it made complete sense when I initially read it. If you always feed your kids brown bread, they will love brown bread and find white bread tasteless. Of course! Two children, and ten years later I have acquired enough wisdom to know that just isn't true. Oh yes, I fed my kids brown bread for years and yet, the first time they tasted a PBJ sandwich made with white bread they exclaimed how delicious it was, and declared that is how they want their sandwich from now on.

This week, out of sheer frustration arising from packing the same Ham & Cheese sandwich for lunch everyday, I once again embarked on trying to introduce my girls to some different foods, that could also be lunch candidates. The first dish I made was Polenta squares. This had been rejected before but I decided to give it another try. They loved it, ate quite a few for snack and I happily packed it for lunch the next day with some marinara sauce and ranch. It was brought home uneaten. Sigh. Apparently it tasted good only when freshly made. I tried a few more things for the rest of the week and all were rejected, and as I stood there wondering aloud what to make for dinner my older one suggested "let's make lasagna. I know it is delicious". It is important to note that this child has never had lasagna before and I haven't made lasagna since she was born! I had lasagna noodles on hand, and I scraped together enough ingredients to make a spinach lasagna. It was a great success! Now this defies all explanation.