The first time that Saki Suzuki ate a fermented soybean dish, she vomited. She was seven months old then. Now, as a 2-year-old, natto is her favorite breakfast dish.
Parents who want their kids to have a more diverse palate need to diversify their own first, according to the New York Times. Children pick up a taste for odd cuisine as early as in utero as part of what scientists call "prenatal flavor learning."
It isn't uncommon for children to reject a food on the first go-around, according to the article. "Evolutionarily, it makes sense for an inexperienced creature to be cautious about new foods, which might, after all, be poisonous," the article stated. "It is only through repeated exposure and mimicry that toddlers adjust to new tastes - breakfast instead of, say, dinner. That we don't put pickle relish on waffles or eat Honey Bunches of Oats for supper are rules of culture, not of nature. As children grow, their palates continue to be shaped by the food environment they were born into (as well as by the savvy marketers of sugar cereals who advertise directly to the 10-and-under set and their tired parents)."
Some children make sour-lemon faces the first time they try something like spicy kimchi, but some babies either are born liking it or learn to like it. This little one gives it a fearless try:
This little boy winces at the pain, but encouraged by his mom, gives it another try (go about 30 seconds in to see it):
"Food neophobia," which the article states is a researcher's term for an inborn fear, is really only null and void when it comes to sugar. The article states that a 13-week-old fetus is more apt to "gulp amniotic fluid more quickly when it contains sugar."
If your newborn baby is one of the noisier babes in the hospital's nursery, your baby's pacifier may get a dunk in sugar water. Sugar also soothes and calms babies during a painful procedure (like an IV, heel stick or circumcision).
So, if you want your baby to eat hot wings instead of hot dogs or chicken tiki masala instead of chicken nuggets, the trick is treating these foods like part of your everyday.
And now, a montage of babies eating lemons:
