A Matter of Taste

Where do we get our liking for particular foods from? This question popped into my head after a discussion tonight with my husband, in which our kids' eating habits came up.

I frequently say I got my sweet tooth from my maternal grandfather. He gave it to my mother, who gave it to me. All three of us could certainly pack away the pastries, ice cream and chocolate (and, maddeningly, stay relatively thin).

I also love raviolis and pizza, spicy foods, and foods of different cultures; Mexican, Chinese, Indian. Yes I realize "chinese" food in America is American Chinese and not "real" Chinese food. But you will never get me to eat chicken feet or jellyfish. Eating that stuff is just Not Right.

Where do these individual likes and dislikes come from? My kids have a very narrow roster of what they will eat, although they have surprised me on occasion. Chicken nuggets, pizza, hot dogs, all make their list. Nasty stuff. My eldest adores pasta but the youngest hates it. My youngest inhales fresh fruit but the eldest rolls his eyes at you in reproach if you so much as mention there are fresh strawberries in the fridge. They both love ice cream, and will even pass up cake for it.

A strong case can be made for environment certainly. You will eat what you're offered, if you're hungry enough (except chicken feet and jellyfish). If Mom and Dad continually present you with foods they like, eventually you come to accept at least some of them in your own diet. But then you go out and try something completely off their radar and find you love it, and end up incorporating it as a staple. Where did that come from?

Mom and Dad's willingness to offer you new things all the time, if they did, probably influenced how open you are (or not) to trying new things. My Dad is somewhat of a foodie and so we tried a lot of things, usually after he "tested" it first. My Mother is an excellent cook but tends to stick to her tried and true, which admittedly are yummy but don't go too exotic except for an extra dash of chili powder now and then. So on the one hand I had food adventures, and on the other I had a large array of comfort foods to fall back on when the adventuring got tiresome.

I've recently been trying to mix it up in the kitchen, if only so I don't have to cook three different meals all the time. This is mostly for the benefit of the kids. They are both Aspergians and so trying new things sometimes comes hard to them. But they have shocked me with what they will eat. I got the youngest to eat homemade chicken soup, to in fact gobble it down and admit it was much better than canned. The eldest is more about texture than taste, but he floored me when I had him try crab legs and he inhaled them (expensive taste, but it was worth it). So I do have hope that eventually the chicken nuggets and hot dogs will become boring and they will come to love some of the things I do, that my parents loved, and their parents before them.

Especially if I stop buying chicken nuggets and hot dogs. Do you know what those things are made of??? (Hint: You're told what hot dogs are made of in The Great Outdoors. Go watch it.)