I made Gado Gado the other night, a multi-layered Indonesian concoction that I took from Mollie Katsen's All New Moosewood cookbook. Okay, so Justin doesn't really care for tofu, but he'd like this extra firm tofu, lightly pan-seared! And Leah doesn't like broccoli and carrots, but she'll like them in these micro-thin strips! And Jacob, unaccountably, claims not to like peanut sauce, but he's going to like it homemade! (That sauce was so wonderful, Reader, I had to restrain myself from eating it from the food processor with a spoon.) Sprinkled on top with toasted coconut and crushed peanuts, it was just gorgeous. I just knew, before we sat down, that I had figured out a recipe to feed them these great foods in a way they'd love. They'd even ask for more!
Um, no.
There were tears, dear Reader, actual tears when I served this. Well, not my husband, who finished off his plate with a "if my wife makes it, then I eat it!" kind of vibe, and, notably, did not ask for more. The children at the table, they whined, they cajoled, they insulted the cook and the cook's sense of justice and the cook's common sense.
This turned out to be just a little bit, shall we say, grating.
Yeah, it made me mad. It was a really good meal, lovingly made, and it took no small amount of time to make it. And it was, empirically, simply, as Alton Brown would say, good eats.
I know, I know, you have to present a new food at least seven times to the youngest palates before they are ready for them. Most the time I'm pretty sanguine about their antics, and wait them out, and soldier forth, and focus on all the many foods they do eat which is more than a lot of kids I know....but this time it just pretty much got under my skin.
In How to Eat Supper, the WONDERFUL new cookbook/food information book from Lynne Rossetto Kasper and Sally Swift (who bring us The Splendid Table on NPR), there's a quote from the nutritionist and food researcher, Dr. Marion Nestle. "You would never know it by going to a supermarket, but children are supposed to eat the same food as their parents."
We're trying to do that here, all eat the same food. Some nights it's not as easy.
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2 comments:
Dear Blog editor, I spoke with my client and he insists that he loved the Gado Gado. Although he did not get seconds, he ate a very large bowl very quickly and said numerous times that it was delicious and would love to see that again! Tofu was firm and went great in the dish. He would like a retraction, but would settle for more Gado Gado in the future.
Love,
J
Your hubby is funny.
I loved this post. Giggles abound.
I have Molly Katzen's cookbooks and have LOVED them over the years. Have you ever tried Mondo Bizarro Sauce? Now THAT will get second looks from your kids if a dish EVER did!!!! Despite the bright greeness, it is surprisingly delicious. (and freezes well).
Are you going to convention? I have yet to hear on that. :-)
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