The blog of cooking-ez.com

When I was a kid, I didn't like...


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?
6,313 5/5 based on 2 reviews
Grade this page:

Last modified on: November 5th 2023

Keywords for this post:ChildhoodFoodMemoryTasteVegetablesSpinachCanteen
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!

épinards justes blanchis


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 different cooking modes
The different cooking modes
In cooking, cooking means bringing food into contact with a source of heat, to transform it: improving its taste, and sometimes its texture. This contact with the heat source can be achieved in a number of ways: these are the cooking methods, and let's take a look at the main ones.
4975 July 24th 2024
Clean your mixer easily
Clean your mixer easily
If you use a "bowl" or "blender" mixer, as opposed to a plunger, you've probably noticed that it's a bit of a hassle to clean it after use. And yet, with a simple trick, it can be done very quickly. See how here.
1,8445 June 26th 2024
Preserving egg yolks
Preserving egg yolks
If you're using only the egg whites in a recipe (such as meringues ), you'll need to store the yolks until you're ready to use them again. There's nothing very complicated about this in principle - all you have to do is chill them, but there are a few pitfalls to be avoided in practice.
2,3255 June 18th 2024
Preservative oil, an asset for taste
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?
2,4645 June 5th 2024
Don't throw away disposable piping bags
Don't throw away disposable piping bags
Nowadays, it's fairly easy to find what professionals use as piping bags, i.e. disposable or "single-use" plastic ones. They're practical, functional and inexpensive, but disposable? That's debatable...
3,8665 May 28th 2024
Other pages you may also like
Fruits which can ruin your jelly
Fruits which can ruin your jelly
There are many ways of making a fruit mousse, but one of the simplest is to prepare a fruit jelly (basically a fresh fruit coulis with gelatine) and then mix this jelly before it sets completely with whipped cream. The result is perfect for filling a charlotte, for example. But do beware;...
69K4.0 March 6th 2013
Coarsely chopped herbs
Coarsely chopped herbs
Although we are in the middle of winter as I write these lines, you should not hesitate to make salads at this time, it is actually quite simple, rather fast, and so pleasant. A while ago, I already told you that a salad is a salad, but a salad with herbs is immediately something much better:...
8,4344.9 January 9th 2021
Making the most of seeds: Dry roasting
Making the most of seeds: Dry roasting
In cooking, and particularly in baking, there are a lot of seeds we can use, such as linseed, sesame, poppy, etc. Usually, recipes simply say to add them just as they are to the mixture or dough. To make a seeded loaf, for example, prepare a plain bread dough as usual, then, towards the end of...
56K4.0 January 30th 2015
Candied fruits: don't get ripped off
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.
54K 24.2 June 21th 2017
The golden-brown finish on puff pastry
The golden-brown finish on puff pastry
Let's take a look at the tricky matter of producing puff pastry with an attractive, golden-brown finish. French pastry chefs call this "dorure" (literally, "gilding"). Behind this quirky term there lurks a real problem (and the solution): when using puff pastry (pâte feuilletée) for a pie, or...
40K 24.6 February 8th 2018
Post a comment or question
Posted by:
I am not a leaving thing
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.
I am not a leaving thing
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.

Back to top of page