5 childhood food traumas everyone recognizes
When I still lived at home, my mother was the chef de la maison. There are many of her dishes you could (and still can) wake me up for: she makes the best nasi and the best pasta, if you ask me. But like probably everyone, I also developed a few food traumas growing up.
Don’t get me wrong. I understand that as a mother you’re busy with 1,001 things at once and never have enough time, but you’re always in a rush. So it’s not surprising that you sometimes forget the green beans have been cooking for far too long, or that you need to turn the meat over in time. I don’t hold it against my lovely mom at all. Still, I don’t have the best memories of the following 5 side dishes.
Boiled-to-death broccoli
Broccoli isn’t my favorite vegetable. It wasn’t back then, and it still isn’t my first choice now. I can’t help it, but I always feel like I’m eating a little tree (in case that statement made you wonder: I’m 28, not 8). One thing that definitely doesn’t help if you want me to eat broccoli is overcooking it. Then it’s no longer a proud, firm, bright-green little stalk, but a limp and soggy mess. You can imagine that I preferred leaving it on my plate when I was younger.
Well-done meat
Cooking meat is not as easy as it seems. Let alone when you’re rushing to put a complete AVG meal on the table for an entire family. So it’s no wonder that you occasionally ended up being served a well-done steak or a dry piece of sausage. But honestly, endlessly chewing on a dry, tough piece of meat (and not being allowed to leave the table until your plate was empty!) is nobody’s favorite memory.
Limp green beans
No vegetable gets tastier when you cook it for too long. That applies to green beans too. The result? A limp, flavorless bean that has somehow become three times darker in color. I always thought it looked rather sad.
Dry boiled potatoes
This is undoubtedly a point of debate, because plenty of people used to cheer when boiled potatoes were on the menu. My sister, for example, absolutely loves them. And honestly, if there’s a tasty gravy with them, I like them too. But that wasn’t always the case when I was younger, and then it was mostly a matter of drinking after every bite. That way, a dry potato slid down your throat just a little more easily.
Flavorless Brussels sprouts, endive, kale…
If you ask a child what they definitely don’t want to eat that evening, there’s a good chance they’ll say Brussels sprouts, endive or kale. Not so strange either, because these vegetables are generally quite bitter. And most children simply find that disgusting. Funny, because I now think kale stamppot, oven-baked endive with ham and cheese and stir-fried Brussels sprouts are absolutely delicious. See? I really have grown into quite an adult over 28 years.
