Kids maturing tastes??

GottaluvFood

If you have kids, preferably older ones, when did their tastes start to mature?

Mine are almost 9 & 13. They've always tolerated BBQ sauce & couldn't stand anything with chili powder. Recently I made Pulled-Pork Sandwiches from pork shoulder that had a chili powder rub & homemade BBQ sauce. My son (almost 13) decided it tasted better than hamburgers or pizza. My daughter (almost 9) enjoyed it too. We rarely went to BBQ restaurants 'cuz of them. Sunday we ordered pizza & son complained that we didn't get BBQ carryout.

Last night I made a chicken marinate, heavy in chili powder, for our chicken burritos. Hubby & I silently waited for kids decision. My son LOVED it. Daughter tolerated it. (She thinks pepperoni is too spicy. Not a fan of spicy.)

I'm a foodie. Hubby loves chili powder. So, we've been in a sort of purgatory waiting for their taste buds to mature. This is like a light at the end of the tunnel.

Gallowmere1984

GottaluvFood wrote: »

If you have kids, preferably older ones, when did their tastes start to mature?

Mine are almost 9 & 13. They've always tolerated BBQ sauce & couldn't stand anything with chili powder. Recently I made Pulled-Pork Sandwiches from pork shoulder that had a chili powder rub & homemade BBQ sauce. My son (almost 13) decided it tasted better than hamburgers or pizza. My daughter (almost 9) enjoyed it too. We rarely went to BBQ restaurants 'cuz of them. Sunday we ordered pizza & son complained that we didn't get BBQ carryout.

Last night I made a chicken marinate, heavy in chili powder, for our chicken burritos. Hubby & I silently waited for kids decision. My son LOVED it. Daughter tolerated it. (She thinks pepperoni is too spicy. Not a fan of spicy.)

I'm a foodie. Hubby loves chili powder. So, we've been in a sort of purgatory waiting for their taste buds to mature. This is like a light at the end of the tunnel.

If your son turns out anything like I did during and after my formative years, he'll soon be preferring foods that would make your average Mexican sweat bullets and fan his mouth.

SLLeask

Hm, not sure, my now 9 year old has always loved spicy things since she pinched from a bowl of Mexican chilli crisps when she was about 10 months old and proceeded to wolf the lot. We tend to have to ask for Tabasco sauce if we go to a restaurant and she has a "spicy" soup.. If we go to an Indian restaurant and they say "we will make it mild for the little one" we have to set them straight. My sister on the other hand is 49 and she still can't stand / tolerate spicy food. Mind you, neither can my dad and he's just about to turn 80... So thinking about it, I'm not really sure that you "mature" into spicy food, you just accustomise to it and then either like it or not.

Glad your kids have found the light though,

MarylandRose

Mine probably "matured" at 18 when I went to college and could make things how I wanted them. Dad can't tolerate sugar and does best on a high carb/high protein +SALT EVERYTHING diet, so that's how my family ate. I grew up hating basically all vegetables no matter what mom tried. Raw carrots, sweet/regular potatoes, and salad were it for me. Studying abroad helped, because I got to try completely new things without any pressure, and cooking on my own helped. Frankly, also helpful: being in Serious Relationships of the sort where you go to Nice Dinner with your BF's family and you don't want to look like a child so you at least try everything on your plate.

I have always loved spicy (so many bottles of Tabasco in our house) and pined for BBQ (something we never, ever ate as family because of the sugar content in so much BBQ). My sister grew up with me but was more adventurous sooner. And mom can't deal with much spice in any context or cuisine, although she loves, say, tex-mex and Indian and just asks for things to be made mild. Some of these palate things will evolve with time and some are pretty fixed.

Time, space, and flavor can work wonders. Dad yelling KidMe about the stuff I tasted and didn't like did nothing to help me and everything to persuade me to keep avoiding those foods. As an adult, my gateway to veg has been cooking it myself, and preferably in the pan after steak. ie broccoli, green beans, and asparagus first became edible to me this way. Still can't eat brocc the way dad would prefer it - microwaved, plain - but I can eat it with garlic/S&P/lemon juice and roasted in the oven.

mabearof6

Out of my 6 kids, 5 have had their taste buds mature. Most were in their teen years when it happened (most between 14-16). At times it seemed like it was very suddenly. I was so happy when this started to happen because I could finally be a little more adventurous in my cooking without having to make seperate meals. My other kiddo is autistic and has sensory issues so we haven't seen any willingness to explore new flavors.