THE YOUTHFUL PALATE

Not being a person who enjoys the bar scene, I often find myself spending a lot of time with single-digits. I'm forever engaged by their comments about food. They're definitive, forceful, never wishy-washy about their taste preferences. I like this.

But I stall when one of my single-digit chums claims they don't like a food without trying that food.

"No,'' I invariably say. "You cannot hate a food without trying it. Not allowed.''

So we try. We try hummus, which doesn't look appealing, but tastes ""yummy,'' according to a pair of my just-learning-to-read pals. We try oven-dried tomatoes, which are squishy in texture, but taste richly sweet. We try things most adults can't even pronounce, like confit of duck. (Confit equals con-fee.) Duck confit, it turns out, is a certain 7-year-old's favorite food.

Parents who claim their kid's diet consists of mac-and-cheese, chicken nuggets, pasta and fast-food choices may be short-changing their kids. A friend with a trio of grade-schoolers told me her pediatrician says that's all 7-year-olds like; their taste buds aren't developed enough to like anything more complicated.

Really?

Hmm. Somehow I don't think a 7-year-old in Japan or India or Brazil exists on a daily diet of mac-and-cheese and chicken nuggets. I think kids have more potential.

Don't you? What do your kids eat? How do you encourage them to try new foods?

cheers, Andy
1.16.07