Cycle 13 – Item 332

3 (Sat) December 2022

Roast Chicken

3.0

by me

at home

-Changgok, Sujeong, Seongnam, Gyeonggi, Republic of Korea-

with IZ, MtG +S

After visiting some museum nearby, MtG suddenly dropped by at dinner time.  His first time at our place, I would’ve made something special, but with zero advance notice I had to use whatever I had on hand.

His son S is perhaps the pickiest eater that I’ve ever encountered, at least directly.  On a camping trip, I made ham sandwiches but he refused to eat one because of the lettuce, even after the lettuce was removed.  Tonight, he wouldn’t eat the corn because of the carrots, and he wouldn’t eat the mashed potatoes because he didn’t believe they were potatoes (he’d never seen mashed potatoes before).  He ate some chicken, but only the legs, no skin, just the meat right down the middle (3 nibbles).  When I commented to MtG, “S is perhaps the pickiest eater that I’ve ever encountered,” he replied, “No, he just eats what he likes.”  I said, “That’s the definition of a picky eater!,” to which MtG replied, “Everyone only eats what they like, especially you.”

I’ve always held the belief that picky eaters tend to come from households where neither parent is a good cook, and good food generally isn’t a high priority, so they’re probably genetically predisposed not to care much about eating (nature), and their dietary habits/beliefs evolve through a limited range of options (nurture).  I take pride in the diverse and sophisticated palates of my kids, which I attribute both to nature and nurture.  But MtG loves to eat, and he’s an excellent cook, though neither nature nor nurture seems to have had a gastronomical impact on S.

(See also FOOD GLOSSARY)