Anthony Bourdain Shares His Daughter's Favorite Foods
Looks like Anthony Bourdain's daughter has a more advanced palate than I do:
My one-and-a-half-year-old baby daughter loves olives. And caper berries. And salty Parmigiano-reggiano cheese. Her love of rabbits (as food) is already well established. But I discovered today that she adores polenta--served with the hot, rendered fat of roasted game birds. And that she goes absolutely bat shit over risotto made with wild nettles.
Gone are the days of apple juice and milk for toddlers, since his daughter also prefers "[a dipped] finger in the local red wine" to juice. No doubt about it, Bourdain is raising a foodie's dream child.
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30 Comments:
Actually, my daughter is the same age and she will eat olives until there just aren't any more. For some reason, kids love sour and in addition to olives, will eat pickles, capers and lemon wedges. I can't say wild nettles make their way on to her plate though, but kudos, Anthony Bourdain. In a day where most parents claim the only thing their child will eat are chicken nuggets and french fries, this is music to my ears. It's always been my belief and practice to let my kid eat what we eat or else how will she ever learn to love different flavors and textures? I never understand those who give their kids such limited selections. If chicken nuggets and hot dogs aren't options, it's amazing what they will eat!
saffron4859 at 7:15PM on 09/02/08
that kid is going to be such an elitist princess. I pity her future babysitters, teachers, and anyone else who will have to put up with her.
unarata at 8:11PM on 09/02/08
and wait until these kids are 4 or 5 and start school and suddenly all of those things are gross.
freddy at 10:13PM on 09/02/08
I love it! children should eat real food. Kiddie food is not food. Thank goodness my two elementary aged boys love "real" food. I do not think that it is elitist at all. We live on a modest budget yet still are able to introduce our kids to things other than mini corndogs, florescent mac&cheese, nuggets shaped like dinos and fries. Their friends, however, are not too interested in the food on our table, our cheese isn't wrapped individually.
We were traveling last weekend and stopped at a local, cheap breakfast joint and the mother at the table next to us ordered sprite for her 18 month old. As you can tell that still bothers me.
@unarata She may become an elitist princess, but it doesn't have to do with what is on her plate. More people should be picky about the things they ingest. The world might just be a better place.
passion4eating at 12:08AM on 09/03/08
@freddy: I have raised my son to eat everything and like Bourdain's daughter, he fancied olives, capers and other (what you would consider out of the ordinary) comestibles from a very young age. And guess what? He is five and still eats everything, in fact he delights in all manner of foods, from anchovies to escargot, with pigs' feet in between. It is entirely possible to raise a child to eat everything but it may require patience and persistence, and a love of food that many parents just don't have.
http://www.izzyeats.com/2007/08/eat-what-you-loveand-your-children-will.html
http://www.izzyeats.com/2008/07/knocking-wind-from-izzys-snails.html
izzy's mama at 12:13AM on 09/03/08
It's developmentally appropriate: At 18 months, a child will eat almost anything - including the contents of the catbox if you're not vigilant. It's not a sign of precocious culinary talent, , At four, four and a l half, which is to say the biologicalage when when children begin foraging for themselves, the same kid may well eat almost nothing but peanut butter sandwiches and broccoli.
condiment at 4:25AM on 09/03/08
I never ate crap food till I was older. My parents always had good food in their house. We sat down to dinner at the table. It is the way it is supposed to be feeding your children good food, made at home with great ingredients and nutritionally worthy. Anything else is not responsible parenting. It is not a foodie dream child fairy tale, it is the responsibility of a parent. I am so tired of people saying that what they are supposed to do is rock and roll. What do you want a cookie for doing what your supposed to do? Bourdain's kid should eat good food her father is a chef ffs.
JerzeeTomato at 7:25AM on 09/03/08
Ha Ha Ha, unarata, I love it! But, being serious, that kid is ingesting an awful lot of salt! I used to give my kids carrot sticks! Doesn't mean they don't like olives or caperberries, now they are grown-up...how pretentious!
snowmoonelk at 10:45AM on 09/03/08
@condiment..It may be developmentally appropriate to stick whatever they find in their mouths; for a child to continue to eat and enjoy it is a different story. Also, even if a child goes thru a phase of not eating something, as long as it continues to be offered it will help form their future palates.
@jerzee tomato: I don't know if this is the case with Bourdain but it has been so ingrained in this culture that kids "only eat" certain things, it becomes exciting to find that one actually has a role in this. I write on this subject to enlighten the people who truly believe that kids are inherently picky, thereby absolving themselves of any part in the matter.
izzy's mama at 11:09AM on 09/03/08
I love it I just love it !! Food, glorious food should be introduced and hopefully enjoyed by any age.I remember my youngest son wouldn't eat vegetables until, of all things, we went to his grandparents ranch and his "Grammy" had planted a garden. He joined her one morning in the garden and she was picking beans, tomatoes and okra. When they got back in the house he helped with the shelling etc. and watched her cook the bounty from the garden. That evening as we sat down to supper, to my surprise, he ate everything ! Now he was 2 at the time and is 35 now and still loves his vegetables. Oh, and one last thing, from then on I always had a garden and he would plant and harvest with me. I think watching things grow had a lot to do with his enjoyment of both vegetables and all good things.Of course we did and still do grow organically, thank goodness for the cattle and chickens, great manure !
Ginny
(sweetpotatopie)
1gourmet at 12:00PM on 09/03/08
Good for that little girl. Bourdain is just being Bourdain, perpetuating Bourdain DNA--he's a glorious snob, not an elitist. He is my favorite kind: Everyman's Snob...which is to say that he is not pretentious, and he doesn't have any "moral" quibbles with food. In fact, he WOULD eat a chicken nugget, and let his daughter eat one too--if it actually tasted good.
An recent conversation overheard between my daughter (4) and a friend/chef's son (5):
She: I love chives. Very chivey. You know, if you pet them they really grow.
He: What about basil?
She: Eh [skeptical]....I've tried it. It's pretty bitter and strong, though.
He: Ah!...but have you tried the purple basil?
The same child that debates the merits of herbal varieties is also a sucker for that Vanilla Organic Milk box at Starbuck's (twelve days worth of sugar).
Am I an elitist for one and negligent for the other as a parent!? Is she a noble little locavore-in-the-making when she enjoys a mascarpone fritatta made with an egg she plucked from a chicken-hind at our friend's organic farm, but not when she enjoys the same darn omelette ingredients when they come from...who knows where?
You can make yourself crazy as a parent.
I think there's a responisibility for exposure there, for (gasp! the dreaded elitist-sounding) modeling. You just expose them to everything that's good, that tastes good, that you can afford. Good gravy! Imagine the stuff Bourdain has access to!
I would hope that kid is eating better than well.
HappyHoarfrost at 12:56PM on 09/03/08
let's also not forget that if is she does indeed grow up to be a spitting image of bourdain in terms of her eating, she will be happy as a clam eating street food from a cart on the street anywhere in the world. that's not what i would consider the most elitist or picky of eaters. i think it would be way more picky if she'll only eat fish sticks and ketchup.
megannesta at 1:40PM on 09/03/08
If you don't already have 'em, doesn't reading about all of these food people sharing their widespread food knowledge with their kids make you want to have kids? Maybe it's just me.
Allison Hemler at 6:55PM on 09/03/08
Our children, now 28 and 24, ate everything we did. I pureed everything we ate (minus salt) until they were ready for finger food and the "real" deal.
By the time they were three, they had sampled escargot, duck, frog legs and anything else you can think of including foie gras.
They're both in the restaurant business now.
Go figure.
Moderation is the key, though, I believe. Introducing one's children to a life of heart disease, cholestorol etc. is not a good thing.
Nonny at 8:31PM on 09/03/08
saying that his daughter has a more advanced palette than you suggests that she's more skilled as a painter. the correct word is "palate."
cybercita at 9:41PM on 09/03/08
That's what happens when you're an art student turned food blogger. I wouldn't be surprised if she was more skilled as a painter than I ever was.
Allison Hemler at 10:42PM on 09/03/08
alison, i have a confession: my father was a copy editor and a {well known curmudgeon} for a major newspaper for many years. people were terrified of him. as i get older,
well, you know the rest.
cybercita at 11:22PM on 09/03/08
For the most part children will eat what you expose them to and expect them to eat. It is from this that they have the FREEDOM to develop their own palates. I love to cook and enjoy all kinds of good food. I like to creat a menu and let the family choose the dinners for the week. Once when my daughter was in high school I offered several choices to her and her then 7 and 5 year old brothers. Among them were escarole soup w/tiny pork meatballs, ricotta gnocchi with pesto and shepherd's pie. As I was leaving the room one of her friends turned to her and said I have no idea what you're eating or what language you were speaking. We promptly invited her to dinner. Now my youngest son is 11 and an avid chef. For the superbowl when he was 7 he made prosciutto wrapped shrimp. His own idea. Last weekend their sister was in town and we went to a nice Italian restaurant. The waiter came over and -kindly- told the boys that they could order from the kids menu and have grilled cheese or chicken nuggets, my daughter replied "we're not ordinary kids". I loved it. Don't get me wrong though, they love McDonalds too. Expose them to EVERYTHING and teach them about healthy choices. OMG aren't we lucky to have so many choices. Good for Bourdain, what a lucky little girl.
carolrsf at 1:05PM on 09/04/08
At 10 months, my first child wanted to share the Chinese takeout we'd ordered for dinner. My husband had cashew chicken, so both for choking-avoidance and groundnut-allergy-avoidance reasons, my dinner was the only option for the little guy. However, I had Szechuan tofu, which was spicy enough that it was making MY nose run.
We tried to tell him that we didn't think he would like my food, but he was insistent. So, I cut up a few cubes of tofu and put them on his high chair tray. He INHALED them and begged for more. This went on for about 20 minutes, during which his nose ran, his eyes ran, he turned red in the face, but he just couldn't get enough. All told, he probably ate about 3/4 cup of tofu.
This remains one of my favorite memories of my oldest child, and today he remains the least picky of my three children. #2 came along when #1 was in the Kraft mac and cheese and chicken nugget stage, and #3 came along 5 1/2 years after #2 and was in daycare from age 11 weeks to 1 year.
Incidentally, tofu (spicy or otherwise) is a really great texture for someone with 2 teeth. =)
akk328 at 1:06PM on 09/04/08
akk328, I love the suggestion about the tofu and 2 teeth. cute and true.
carolrsf at 1:11PM on 09/04/08
Thanks.
#1's current favorite dishes are fettucine alfredo and Chinese steamed dumplings. #1 and #2 also both love broccoli (although they do call it "trees" and prefer it with some sort of cheese sauce). #2 loves black olives on pizza as well.
#3 is a breaded-chicken-patty and white-rice kind of kid (just turned 2 in July) but he has just discovered frozen peas straight from the bag. His favorite food is gummy worms (I know, I know). At least he also loves his chewable vitamins. =)
akk328 at 3:50PM on 09/04/08
Oh yeah, all the kids love risotto too. I think it's the perfect kid-friendly gourmet food =)
akk328 at 4:29PM on 09/04/08
When I was a kid I loved the salty greek style olives, feta cheese and anchovies. Couldn't get enough. Still prefer salty to sweet.
My parents would let me have anything but I had to eat all of what I asked for. Only disaster was some braised apricots in brandy sauce. Demanded 4 of those little buggers, they tried to get me to stick to one but I was a brat and wanted a full serving. Sadly, the fuzziness made me think I was eating a small rodent drenched in motor oil. Sat at that dang dinner table for 3 hours trying to choke them down. Dog wouldn't eat them either.
LoveTheHollandaise at 10:14PM on 09/04/08
Sometimes, two close siblings will turn out to have widely different tastes in food.
My brother is three years older than me, and as a kid he would only eat roast chicken or beef mixed with rice-a-roni. I cannot remember that guy having vegetables in any way other than an iceberg lettuce salad drenched in Kraft dressing.
He is now one of the most unadventurous eaters in New York City, and would gladly swallow three pills a day rather than go to the fuss of actually preparing and eating food.
I, brought up in the same house by the same mother in the same kitchen, did then and will now eat anything that isn't an insect. "Foodieism" is my avocation, my hobby and my joy in life, and I love to cook.
Go figure!
annien at 8:04PM on 09/07/08
My kids, who are now 19 and 17, will eat anything and always have. The "rule" has always been - you don't have to eat it if you don't like it, but you DO have to taste it.
My daughter recently got a job waiting tables in a local "Italian" restaurant and she was commenting yesterday on how picky most PARENTS are about their kids' meals.
She said the kids want to try stuff, but the parents are ordering their pasta dry (would YOU like to eat dry pasta?) or they want all these weird substitutions. One lady told her there wasn't anything on the menu that kids would like and my daughter told her that SHE had been eating there since she was a baby and that she had tried everything on the menu by the time she was 5, thank you very much. She then made some recommendations for the lady's little girl and the little girl ate everything.
katwmn1 at 11:04AM on 09/08/08
I have a very picky kid. I guess he got it hereditarily from both my husband and I. We were both very picky as children BUT not now! He sees everything on our table. About 5 years ago, I had had it. I stopped making my son a separate meal (pasta or mac n cheese - yes the blue box) and told him he had to try a bit of everything I made. If he didn't, he would starve. My husband thought I was being too touch but he wasn't the one making 2 different meals every night. He was miserable for many ages until he realized that it is just easier to eat it and not fight about it. Now he looks at his plate and says "you expect me to eat that?" and when I say "Yes, I do" - he says "OK" and he eats some. If he hates it, he leaves the rest. If he likes it, he asks for more. He is now 12. At that age, they start to realize what all their friends are eating and they decide to stop fighting. I was never the one to only give him chicken nuggets. If I did, they were homemade - from scratch.
These days I make my own chicken fingers, if I am going to make them. He has a grain and a veg with almost every meal. He still has a way to go -but he is so much better than he was.
I applaud Tony Bourdain in getting a tiny child to eat stuff like that. My 12 year old still won't eat capers or olives in anything. He will eat bulghur wheat and quinoa though. He'll also eat more veggies than just peas. So we're getting there.
I really think that most parents are just too lazy to put a good from-scratch meal on the table - they fear the looks and the attitude. Not only are they too lazy to change the way the kids eat, they eat the same way. They are all too picky. If they had grown up with parents who cooked everything - all the time - they would try everything. I know lots of parents who barely cook - and expect their kids to eat dinner at 4:30-5 pm every day and all they serve are convenience foods. I would rather die than serve my son that stuff. First off - you are breeding picky children and picky adults and secondly you are making your children fear food. If you show them that you don't like something, they will follow suit.
RisaG at 11:19AM on 09/08/08
my boys are now 25 and 20--the 25 yr old lives with his father somewhere in south america where they have a restaurant--dad also had a small place in the south of france when 25 yr old was young. Enough said for him... 20 yr old grew up with me and as a single mother i tried my damndest to everything fresh and from scratch--i was then and still am a personal chef- and when he was a toddler all of my friends wanted to know how i "programmed" the boy to wolf down all these vegetables, brown rice, okara patties, tofu stir fry, grilled salmon and the like. I dunno, i'd answer, i just cook these things and he eats them, i'd say. Then enter Grammy. Even in the wonderful farmer's market fresh and organic pleasures of the Bay Area she found Jack in the box. (crack in the box, as i came to call it) Day-glo mac and cheese. wrench (haha) dip for broccoli and carrots--previously unwanted ... I can remember taking son #2 to Hobee's restaurant on saturday mornings for our leisurely breakfasts and how the sweet waitress we always had never batted an eye when son asked for "spicy" with his lentils and rice. (Tabasco.) Now at age 20 and a college student, he's always on the run. eats a lot of pizza. (groan). works in the local healthfood-wholefood grocery co-op where i cooked in the cafe when he was younger. Still comes to my home for meals occasionally, but is always there for the meatloaf and mash, which is usually turkey meatloaf and garlic-parmesan mash; still likes that white stuff on his "crudites". Oh well. he's happy. i'm happy. what else matters? BTW, i certainly don't think that baby Bourdain will grow into an elitist snob because she has an adventurous dad with a great palate. I can just see No Reservations, the second generation, Tony and baby doing the world and happily eating street food together.
hobcat57 at 2:36PM on 09/08/08
My parents always raised us eating the same food that they prepared for themselves. If we didn't like it, then we didn't have to eat it (onions, squash, asparagus, mushrooms, etc.) I never became a snob about what I ate - I will eat fast food if it's my only choice and like any kid in college I ate a lot of top ramen! Later I did start to appreciate things like onions and mushrooms (although I still can't stand eggplant!).
I know plenty of people who were raised to eat just chicken nuggets, hot dogs, and "kid food"; their parents never exposed them to good food. And they are snobs about they eat - they stick to very limited menus and are afraid to branch out and try new things. So sad because they are missing out on some awesome flavors!
smiths37 at 3:10PM on 09/08/08
My daughter is now 3 and a half and since a trip to Spain at 15 months, her favorite food has been olives. And she decided too put grated parmesan cheese on her cherry tomatoes. Parents can offer food but they cannot make kids enjoy it.
ShelleyJ at 3:35PM on 09/08/08
I can't stop myself from commenting on this. I have two kids - a 4 year old girl and a 14 month old boy. With my daughter I gave in to bad parenting advice - don't feed them rich, adult food. Give them bland stuff or it will upset their stomach. I raised my daughter on french fries, toast, kiddie cereal, corn, ground beef, chicken breast and a few fruits and veggies - steamed of course. There was an errant mac 'n cheese thrown in for good measure. No wonder she hated to eat. Now that my son has been born I have thrown caution to the wind and I feed them whatever strikes my fancy. Quinoa is served instead of white rice unless it is Mediterranean night. Roasted chicken takes precedent over frozen, prepackaged chicken tenders. After watching Anthony Bourdain and Andrew Zimmern we always try something new. My most recent success has been yak liver pate. We shop at the farmer's markets now, I purchase grass fed beef by the side from a local farmer, I will be getting my first pig at the end of the month (thank God for deep freezers). My children get excited about food when *I* get excited about food. We still eat cookies, fruit bars, pizza and animal crackers, but gone are the days when a drive-thru provided dinner. Forbidden food is always fun, but even now my daughter begs for fresh pumpkin risotto or a fragrant lamb leg with rice and refuses to eat mac 'n cheese unless it is home made with Mommy shredding fresh parmigiano reggiano on the top.
Good for you, those who feed your children like people instead of packing them full of processed "kiddie food". Shame on me for ever feeding my child like that after graduating with a degree in Nutrition.
Monica Battaile at 4:40PM on 10/13/08