Taste – Eating Part Six

Four down and one to go. We’ve talked about sight, smell, sound, touch and now onto the one we all associate with eating TASTE.  

Taste: 

This is the one that most people think of when it comes to food and eating. There is an assumption that if a food is not liked it is because of the way it tastes, it’s flavor. Well, while that is not false it is also not entirely true. We all have flavor preferences and dislikes and we can use those to our advantage when we talk about kids learning to eat.  

To figure out how to make flavor work for us, we first need to talk about the different flavors. They include 5 categories which are sweet, sour, salty, spicy and bitter. Maybe you have a “sweet tooth” and would eat a whole bag of gummy bears if you could or you would eat nothing but yogurt. Perhaps you’re the spicy person who can eat Hot Cheetos or spicy curry and not think twice. If you love black coffee and plain yogurt you may lean toward more bitter flavors. It is not that one is right and one is wrong, instead we want to figure out what our kiddos are drawn toward and use that as a way to get them to try and eat new foods. Now, this does not mean that if they are a sweet flavor kiddo that all they eat are fruit and yogurt. What it does mean is you can adjust new or non-preferred foods so they are more open to trying it. I suspect many of you are already doing this and may not even realize it, a prime example is dipping foods into ketchup. What your kiddo is doing when they dip is taking a food and pairing it with a preferred taste like the sweet taste of ketchup to enhance the flavor. Do you know what flavor profile you prefer? How about your kids? Here’s some examples to help you know where to start: 

• SWEET: fruit, yogurt, pudding, applesauce, ice cream, syrup, jelly, candy, fruit snacks/fruit leather, cookies, barbecue sauce, carrots, peas, etc. 

• SOUR: lemons, limes, pickles, unsweetened juices like cranberry juice or lemonade, vinegar, Italian Dressing, kombucha, etc. 
• SALTY: crackers, chips, French fries, chicken nuggets, ranch dressing, etc.    
• SPICY: salsa, taco sauce, sriracha, Tabasco, curry, chili oil, chili powder, Hot Cheetos, Taki’s, barbecue sauce, etc. 
• BITTER: unsweetened yogurt, coffee, cocoa, baking chocolate, kombucha, black tea, radishes, sparkling water, etc.  

Once you identify which category of flavor your kiddo prefers use these to pique their interest and as a strategy for them to try new foods. I’ll give you a couple of examples, your kiddo loves to drink your coffee. If you leave your coffee in a place they can reach it they are grabbing for it and want just a sip. You can’t for the life of you get them to eat a piece of fruit but coffee they want. One thing to try is to have some plain unsweetened yogurt and use it as a dip for a piece of fruit. I’ll give you another real-life example from my kiddos. My son loves sour. He would eat a whole lemon at the age of one if I’d have let him but a vegetable, no way. That was until I started putting Italian salad dressing on the cooked green beans and suddenly he couldn’t get enough. We had tried ranch dressing and I even tried ketchup but he had zero interest until I realized that sour was the way to go. Now, 15 years later he eats green beans without the salad dressing, it was the bridge he needed to try and like a new food.    

Whether your kiddo has food preferences or restrictions based on TASTE or not, here are a few ideas to  help. 

• Serve all foods at a table/counter/highchair where the food can be placed out in front of them. Encourage them to look at and touch the foods so they know what they are going to be eating 

• Remove all food from the packaging before serving it. The more they look at foods the more they will start to know what food looks like and how it may correlate with what it tastes like. If they get upset with it on the tray give them an “all done” spot where they can put the food they don’t want. Ideally they would at least take a bite before putting it in the bowl but if that’s too hard, start with them giving the food a kiss goodbye or have them lick it once like a lollipop before removing it.  

• Include your kiddo in the preparation and serving of foods/meals even if they’re not willing to eat it. If it’s a food they don’t like try letting them dip it into a favorite food or condiment or even try mixing them together. A grilled cheese sandwich dipped in yogurt may sound gross to you but for some a grilled cheese dipped in tomato soup is gross. Don’t knock it ‘til you try it.  

• Talk about it… new and different things, including foods, are less intimidating when you know more about them. Use words and talk about how the foods taste. Include the name of the food and as many descriptions as you can think of. Use language at the level of your child and positive. Be creative and have fun!  

• • Examples: “sweet, salty, sour, hot, spicy, new, different, exciting, etc.” 
  • Compare it with other things you know they like. Example, “mmm, this applesauce is wet and squishy. Ooh it’s also sweet. It’s sweet like a strawberry/fruit snack/yogurt etc. You like sweet foods so you should try this to see if you like this too. You don’t have to eat it all but I want you to taste it. Look, I’ll do it. I’ll put a little on my finger and give it a kiss.”  

• Be patient with yourself. Feeding differences don’t start overnight and they won’t disappear overnight. If you feel overwhelmed with where to even begin, choose one meal or snack per day to try these strategies. No one can run a marathon their first time putting on running shoes, first you’ve got to start with a jog.  

That’s it. All five senses and the foundation for building an adventurous eater. If this all feels too overwhelming and you don’t even know where to start, let Family Chatterbox help. 

-Tricia-