Cooking is one of my most favorite things to do. I will admit however in pandemic life with two rapidly growing boys the meals and food prep can get a bit exhausting. Yet in spite of the mundane nature of meal planning and food preparation, I love being in my kitchen more often than not. Cooking good healthy food fuels not only my body but energizes my soul.
Now, not only do I love to cook I also love to try new things. Signing up for a local CSA was an incredible experience. Getting fresh local in-season produce provided opportunities for trying foods that I might not have otherwise purchased at the store. For a season we signed up for a meal delivery service, where all the ingredients and instructions were sent to you. We were able to experience new flavors and spices without having to purchase entire bottles of something we may or may not ever use again. Having mostly leaned towards healthy eating anyway after my diagnosis with Multiple Sclerosis I took it up a notch. Cooking gluten and dairy-free meals, with little preprocessed foods. Having growing boys carbs are a necessary element to fueling them so we haven’t eliminated them from the house completely for the boys.
As I’ve taught myself about new and healthier ways to cook, we’ve experimented and tried new things. Some recipes go in the make again pile while others, once was more than enough. I am blessed to have a husband that loves to try new things. For me once I find a meal I love at a restaurant I tend to always order that same thing. However, my other half often will try something new. Sometimes he’s disappointed yet he loves the adventure of new and different foods. Especially when it comes to foods from various cultures.
Over time I began to pay attention to how people eat. While in no way do I believe one statement fits all there are some trends I have noticed.
Picky eaters usually come from picky eaters. Generally, if you have a picky eater in a child you will find one or more parent is a picky eater. Now don’t misunderstand. Children by nature will go through phases of not wanting to eat various foods. Some struggle with texture or appearance.
We used to refer to our youngest as the golden-brown eater. He didn’t want to eat anything with color or seeds. If we allowed him he would have a staple diet of chicken nuggets, french fries, and maybe sliced apples. But because he has us for parents this kid while not loving everything has learned to eat a variety of foods. He has discovered a love of shrimp and potstickers because he’s been exposed to lots of new things. Sometimes it’s just tolerated but occasionally he discovers a new favorite food. My boys like most kids would rather eat pizza and hamburgers but they can eat so much more.
Exposure is important. My husband and I both were blessed to be exposed to a variety of cultures through travel or hosting international families, mission trips or simply eating in other people’s homes. Unless you are a natural adventurer, human nature is to stick to what we know. Taco Tuesday, Meatloaf Wednesday, Spaghetti Thursday…….if you grew up with a fairly consistent menu it more than likely has influenced how you eat as an adult. If you grew up eating fish you might love seafood. But if you grew up in the midwest and your memories of seafood are fish sticks chances are you’re not drawn to seafood dishes. It’s just how we are wired as humans. What we know is safer than the unknown and that includes food.
Recently while searching for something new to watch I came across a show on Hulu called Taste the Nations with Padma Lakshmi. Since I love learning about food and culture this show seemed like one to watch. And trust me it did not disappoint. Even if you are not interested in cooking this show reminds you of how food plays such a big part in our lives, in our culture. In who we are as Americans. As I watched this show I began to think about how our experiences with food mirror how we live our lives. Hang with me for a minute here.
While we might not see ourselves as in agreement with our parents or how we were raised politically or religiously we have to acknowledge that how we were taught still impacts our world view.
In an article about how your upbring impacts your world view George Lakoff is referenced as having determined that the large gulf in opinions between progressives and conservatives arises primarily from their family upbringing, emerging as deeply-ingrained metaphors about the relationship of the state to its citizens, like the relationship of the parents to the children.
The way we see the role of government and religion in our lives has been deeply influenced by how we were raised.
Now let’s talk about exposure. The culture or cultural influence we are exposed to greatly impacts how we view the world. In an article, the mind in the world: culture and the brain Ambady Nalini wrote “Culture also affects our preferences. In a study conducted in my laboratory, we discovered that even when people were presented with the same information, culture influenced how the brain processed the information (Freeman et al., 2009)”.
Perspective comes from what we’ve been exposed to in life.
Our experiences influence how we look at the world around us.
@joy.marker
Random Reflection
After watching the first two episodes I invited my teenage son to join me. After explaining what the show was about he replied “Mom, I hate it when you watch those shows. It’s like when you’re always listening to podcasts. Now we are going to have to try something new and you’ll be cooking crazy new foods.” While my kids may not always appreciate the variety of foods or podcasts or books or other experiences we expose them to now. I hope that when they are older and look back they will recognize the value in how all those experiences helped them navigate the world. We don’t have to physically travel to experience new things. There are so many opportunities to learn right at home.
So the next time you sit down to do meal planning, maybe think outside the box. Add an international night or try something new night. And if you enjoy cooking shows blended with documentary-style checkout shows like Taste of the Nation on Hulu or Gorden Ramsey Uncharted on Disney. These are fun ways to learn not just about food but the culture that comes with a variety of foods.
For those of you looking for new cookbooks, I’ve added a few of my current favorites to my Books and Other things I love page. https://randomreflection.com/books-and-other-things-i-love/
Also as a reference here are links to articles referenced above:
https://theconversation.com/how-where-youre-born-influences-the-person-you-become-107351
Happy Eating Friends!
