When I was a kid, I didn't like...
Maybe you've already made this strange observation: when you were a kid, there were things you hated, but as an adult it's almost the opposite?
For example, you used to hate spinach or chicory, but now you love it?
For example, you used to hate spinach or chicory, but now you love it?
9,056 5/5 (2 reviews)
Keywords for this post:ChildhoodFoodMemoryTasteVegetablesSpinachCanteenLast modified on: November 5th 2023
When I was a kid, I didn't like...
When we're little, we often take a dislike to certain foods.
I'm not talking about the almost natural reflex of many small children to say "I don't like it!" to anything new that isn't a dessert, even before they've tasted it.
I've seen it with my boys, I'm seeing it now with my grandson, and my mom assures me that it was already the case when I was a kid...
No, I'm talking about foods or dishes that we disliked or even hated all our childhood, or more exactly all the time we ate at our parents' house.
We didn't like it, but at home or at the canteen later on, it was sometimes there, and every time it was a chore.
The first food that comes to mind is spinach.
Ah, spinach in the canteen, in those days (70s), in my memory it was a kind of green mush, full of water, without much taste, that almost everyone hated.
And then you grow up, you leave the family cocoon, and you eat a bit more of what you want, so naturally I forgot about spinach for years.
Without really knowing why, one day when I was in my forties, I tried making some again at home, using fresh spinach, and it was a revelation!
Since then, it's a vegetable I adore, and one I'm happy to make again as soon as the season starts up again.
Why do I love spinach now that I'm 40, whereas I hated it when I was 10? A mystery...
Well, there's probably a little or a lot to do with the fact that the canteen spinach of the time, always pureed, probably had little to do with fresh spinach, just blanched, then put in a saucepan with a little shallot and a knob of butter.
Perhaps it had something to do with the visual aspect of spinach - when you're a kid, you're very sensitive to that - and the green purée with lots of water (green too) I was talking about was unfortunately not very appealing.
But maybe that's not all, this change probably also reflects the fact that, as a child, you're naturally on the "I tasted it once, and I didn't like it forever" bandwagon, and that's quite normal.
You have to wait until you're a little older before you dare to try again.
If you're a young parent and you're despairing because you have to fight at every meal with your child who only likes French fries, don't worry so much that, later on, he or she may well return on their own to vegetables or foods that you couldn't get them to eat throughout their childhood.
I'm talking a lot about spinach here, but this was also the case for me with other vegetables: endives (raw or cooked), broccoli and Brussels sprouts.
And what about you?
I'm not talking about the almost natural reflex of many small children to say "I don't like it!" to anything new that isn't a dessert, even before they've tasted it.
I've seen it with my boys, I'm seeing it now with my grandson, and my mom assures me that it was already the case when I was a kid...
No, I'm talking about foods or dishes that we disliked or even hated all our childhood, or more exactly all the time we ate at our parents' house.
We didn't like it, but at home or at the canteen later on, it was sometimes there, and every time it was a chore.
The first food that comes to mind is spinach.
Ah, spinach in the canteen, in those days (70s), in my memory it was a kind of green mush, full of water, without much taste, that almost everyone hated.
And then you grow up, you leave the family cocoon, and you eat a bit more of what you want, so naturally I forgot about spinach for years.
Without really knowing why, one day when I was in my forties, I tried making some again at home, using fresh spinach, and it was a revelation!
Since then, it's a vegetable I adore, and one I'm happy to make again as soon as the season starts up again.
Why do I love spinach now that I'm 40, whereas I hated it when I was 10? A mystery...
Well, there's probably a little or a lot to do with the fact that the canteen spinach of the time, always pureed, probably had little to do with fresh spinach, just blanched, then put in a saucepan with a little shallot and a knob of butter.
Perhaps it had something to do with the visual aspect of spinach - when you're a kid, you're very sensitive to that - and the green purée with lots of water (green too) I was talking about was unfortunately not very appealing.
But maybe that's not all, this change probably also reflects the fact that, as a child, you're naturally on the "I tasted it once, and I didn't like it forever" bandwagon, and that's quite normal.
You have to wait until you're a little older before you dare to try again.
If you're a young parent and you're despairing because you have to fight at every meal with your child who only likes French fries, don't worry so much that, later on, he or she may well return on their own to vegetables or foods that you couldn't get them to eat throughout their childhood.
I'm talking a lot about spinach here, but this was also the case for me with other vegetables: endives (raw or cooked), broccoli and Brussels sprouts.
And what about you?
Lasts posts
The importance of sieving
In recipes that use a fine powder (flour, powdered sugar, etc.), you'll often see the advice to sift before using it. To sift is to pass the powder in question through a sieve (a very fine strainer) before incorporating it into your recipe. It's often advice, but is it really useful?September 3rd 2025344
The grease spray
As soon as you have something in a recipe that sticks to the mold, the question always arises as to how difficult it is to remove from the mold. There's nothing more frustrating than breaking your cake when unmolding it, because part of it has stuck in the mold. The classic way to avoid this is...August 26th 20254,2135
Cake moulds
When we make a cake, or a cake of the same rectangular shape, we usually take out our usual mould and tell ourselves that the recipe is anyway "for a cake", but is it really that simple?August 25th 20254,5375
Thinning out herbs
If you need to add a long-stemmed herb (tarragon, mint, verbena, thyme, etc.) to a recipe, you'll probably only need the leaves and not the stem, so you'll need to remove the leaves. Leaf removal means keeping only the beautiful leaves, and eliminating the ugly stems and leaves, but how do you do...August 8th 20252,7505
Add a bay leaf
Bay leaf: small in size, but big in flavor. You'll find it in hundreds of recipes, and it's often added to cooking meat, in a sauce or broth, usually accompanied by other herbs or products. It's a staple of Provençal, Mediterranean and Oriental cuisine, but not the only one. Usually, in a...July 31th 20252,8575
Other pages you may also like
The grease spray
As soon as you have something in a recipe that sticks to the mold, the question always arises as to how difficult it is to remove from the mold. There's nothing more frustrating than breaking your cake when unmolding it, because part of it has stuck in the mold. The classic way to avoid this is...August 26th 20254,2135
A few tips for effective kneading at home
When you have to knead dough for bread or some other recipe, you may well use a food processor or the type of machine known as a stand mixer. The best-known brands are Kenwood and KitchenAid. They are useful tools, but here are a few tips to help you get the best out of them.June 23th 2021280 K 23.7
85 grams of eggs?
Some time ago, I already spoke to you about the difference between baking and pastry-making, I emphasized, among other things, the precision of pastry-making which requires grams, cm, degrees and minutes. That's why, on the one hand, you have baking and cooking, where a certain tolerance is...November 26th 201854 K4.6
The art of the charlotte
In cooking, a charlotte is a delicious moulded dessert, with biscuits around the outside that have been soaked in a flavoured syrup, filled with a light cream or mousse. The charlotte is left to set in the fridge before being turned out and served in slices. It is very light and a lovely sweet...February 27th 201344 K4.3
The window-pane test in bread-making
The home bread-makers often ask themselves “Have I kneaded my dough long enough?” . A good question, as dough that is insufficiently kneaded will not rise properly or will fall flat when the top is slashed, which is very frustrating. To know when the dough is ready, one can rely on the length...June 16th 202194 K 23.9
Post a comment or question
Follow this page
If you are interested in this page, you can "follow" it, by entering your email address here. You will then receive a notification immediately each time the page is modified or a new comment is added. Please note that you will need to confirm this following.
Note: We'll never share your e-mail address with anyone else.
Alternatively: you can subscribe to the mailing list of cooling-ez.com , you will receive a e-mail for each new recipe published on the site.