Please the Palates of Those You Love
I hope you enjoy Starting from Scratch, my second book, published each week online, one chapter at a time. Before the book’s final publication, I hope to sprinkle readers’ thoughts, opinions and advice throughout. After all, you each have helpful systems and solutions in the kitchen worth sharing. In addition, for each section, I’m food bloggers and culinary experts – for this excerpt, it’s Dani Spies, author of a wonderful blog in her name.
In marketing and branding (the basis for my illustrious career), so much ebbs and flows around the target customer. Depending on consumer likes and dislikes, interests and needs, a company caters its products, services and marketing programs accordingly. After all, if a company preaches to the wrong choir, it will likely see some dismal sales days on the horizon.
Likewise, as the “chef,” you may feel strapped by the tastes of your target “eater” –family, friends and possibly roommates or others. If your spouse likes to eat meat with dinner every night, you may find yourself buying more chicken and beef than you did prior to marriage. And if you have small children, it’s not likely that high heat Thai or Mexican dishes will be on the menu, unless your background and cultural preferences dictate otherwise.
We all have different likes, dislikes, preferences and even abilities to eat different types of foods, and our cooking portfolio will likely develop accordingly. Don’t be discouraged in pleasing the palates of others, even if they’re picky!
Here are a few suggestions to help you out.
Be consistent. According to Dani: “Studies have shown that if someone exposed to a food 11x – foods they thought they did not like they will develop a palate for. SO if my daughter doesn’t eat a food, that doesn’t stop me from giving it to her again. On Monday she might not touch it and then suddenly on Thursday it’s her favorite of the day.”
Be patient. You, and those around you, will acquire new tastes. At the age of 25, I never thought it was possible to flavor food without using butter, mayonnaise and sugar. When you grow accustomed to certain flavors, it’s difficult to break habits. However, by experimenting with different ways to prepare food, introducing new tastes into the mix, and using higher quality, seasonal ingredients, you and others will realize how good fresh, healthy food can taste.
“Evolve” the eating habits of others (without them even knowing). If you gradually decrease the amount of “bad stuff” you add to food (e.g., cream, fatty cheeses, butter, oils, sugar), you and your family may not even notice. I do, however, want to emphasize the gradual descriptor in the previous sentence. Going cold turkey on fattening foods may work for some, but certainly not everyone. Not to mention, unless you have health reasons to do so, you don’t have to cut things out completely. You can slim down and trim down dishes without removing the flavor. After your body adjusts to eating lower fat foods, you won’t even want to eat the rich stuff.
Dress up food in disguise. I have done this masterfully with Brussels sprouts, slicing and dicing this savory vegetable so that my family is unaware of what they are eating (and I do admit it took more than one attempt!). Another time, I added prunes to a low-fat sweet treat for guests and blew their socks off. I have hidden veggies in tomato sauces to bump up the nutritional content. Like hiding a pill in peanut butter so your dog will swallow it, your friends and family will eat food if it tastes good. You can surprise them afterwards by revealing the hidden, healthy ingredient(s).
Add new flavors. Another great hint from Dani: “Put a lazy susan on the dining table filled with different condiments (some vinegars, sesame seeds, soy sauce, olive oil, mustard, etc) and let your family be a part of flavoring their food in a way that sounds good to them. It’s less intimidating, invites them to experiment, and is fun!”
Build their trust. The more you expand your cooking repertoire and do so successfully, sneaking in the occasional “new dish” and revealing a few new surprises, the more willing your friends and family will be to eat something – anything – you prepare.
Think of out the box. If you or a family member is diabetic, lactose intolerant or allergic to gluten, you will certainly have to be more creative in how you prepare good food that meets specific dietary restrictions. You’ll have to experiment with substitute ingredients or perhaps prepare additional dishes for those with special needs. But generally speaking, if you are learning to cook with whole, unprocessed foods, you are probably well on your way to getting there anyway.
Don’t expect a transformation overnight, but don’ get discouraged either. It’s quite rewarding when you able to expand the culinary horizons of those whose palettes you aim to please. Don’t forget, however, you need to please your own palette as well.
About Dani
Dani Spies, HHC, AADP is a L.A. based Health Counselor and an ACSM Certified Fitness Trainer. She is a graduate of The Institute of Integrative Nutrition in New York City and holds a B.A. in Psychology from William Paterson University.
Her blog, danispies.com, is all about making good food SUPER EASY so people can eat well and feel great! She created the site four years ago to reach others wanting to learn more about nutritious ingredients and simple cooking techniques. She uses both written recipes and short videos to demonstrate how easy this can be.
[...] give up after one try. A child or adult may need to be exposed to a food many times before he develops a taste for it. So don’t give up if at first you don’t [...] 
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I tend to experience this problem only at the holidays when my entire family gets together. We’ve got super picky eaters, vegetarians, low-carb eaters, and people who think a meal isn’t complete unless it has a huge hunk of meat. I never know what to make!
Yes, when it comes to pleasing the entire family during the holidays, I couldn’t agree more! The first time I made steamed broccoli over Thanksgiving for my family from Tennessee, they were taken aback, “What is THIS?”
[...] they don’t like the dish the first time around. As Dani Spies suggested in a post called “Please the Palates of Those You Love,” it it can take up to 11 attempts to acquire a taste for a new [...]
[...] give up after one try. A child or adult may need to be exposed to a food many times before he develops a taste for it. So don’t give up if at first you don’t [...]