This site uses only a few technical cookies necessary for its operation. By continuing to browse, you accept their use.
To find out more...
To find out more...
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?
11 K 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
Butter vs. grease
We often read in a recipe where a pastry is put into a mould that, just before pouring, the mould should be buttered or greased. But what's the difference between these 2 terms?December 1st 20251,6235
Getting out of the fridge early
Very often when you're cooking, you need to take food or preparations out of the fridge, to use them in the recipe in progress. There's nothing tricky about this: you just take them out of the fridge and use them, usually immediately, in the recipe. But is this really a good method?November 24th 20251,3095
Who's making the croissants?
When you look at a bakery from the outside, you naturally think that in the bakery, the bakers make the bread, and in the laboratory, the pastry chefs make the cakes. It's very often like that, with each of these professions having quite different ways of working, but sometimes there's also one...November 23th 20251,202
Oven height
When we put a dish or cake in the oven, we naturally tend to put it on the middle shelf, and that's what we usually do. But in some cases, this position and height can be a little tricky, so let's find out why.October 8th 20253,4875
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 20258,0453
Other pages you may also like
Preservative oil, an asset for taste
When you prepare a dish using an ingredient that has been preserved in fat, for example a springtime mixed salad with tuna in oil or sun-dried tomatoes, you're probably going to make a french dressing (vinaigrette) next. In that case, why not use the preserved oil from the tuna or tomatoes?June 5th 20247,7785
Candied fruits: don't get ripped off
Do you like candied fruit? You might like to nibble a handful or add it to a recipe, like a classic fruit cake or delicious Italian specialities like panettone or sicilian epiphany pie.June 21th 201768 K 24.2
Do you know Yotam Ottolenghi?
Do you know Yotam Ottolenghi? Maybe not, in which case let me tell you a little about him.December 19th 20208,0894.8
Divide and weigh dough into regular pieces
When you prepare dough for cupcakes in a pastry shop or bakery, at some point you're going to have to divide it, i.e. cut it into small pieces, which should all have the same weight. Sounds simple enough, but is it really that simple?May 30th 202312 K5
It's spinning too fast!
When you need to grate or slice vegetables, you generally use an electric machine that does all the work: a food processor, a mixer with a "slicer" extension or similar. Are these machines really suitable? Generally speaking, yes of course, but there's one criterion that often poses a problem,...November 12th 202311 K5
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.