Children pretty much love food and love to eat. Grownups are great at over-thinking them out of it: ‘Ooh, that’s too peppery, you won’t like it, Jimmy!’ ‘Oh, no, Suzie can’t have oysters; they’re too strange for a four-year-old’s taste!’ ‘I’m pretty sure Elmo is allergic to that stuff, ’cause he made a face when he tasted it the first time, so we’ll be sure to keep him safely away from it!’ Not to mention, ‘Are you kidding, let that six year old have truffles shaved onto her pasta???’ And then we wonder why “kids are such picky eaters”. Duhhh.
The natural curiosity and openness of children should be encouraged (okay, up to a point, Lord Copper), and the people I’ve known with Good Eaters in the family simply tended to let nature take its course and give their kids whatever opportunity and exposure they could. Setting an example goes so much further than any amount of teaching and preaching. That goes not just for eating but for learning about all aspects of food, from its historic and cultural origins to how it’s raised and prepared, and how the young’uns themselves can participate in the process. The more the exposure is filled with fun and delight, the better the odds for success.
That’s how one of our nephews discovered when he was quite little that he loved the taste of that marvelous vegetable with the poisonous leaves whose super-acidic stalks have been used raw in traditional Chinese pharmacology as a laxative: rhubarb. Fortunately our nephew was, as were most of us, introduced to rhubarb, or “woobibe,” as he called it, not in its medicinal form but in its delectable sweetened-and-cooked form that tames its acid, and so fell immediately in love with the changeling vege-fruit. He admired it so much that he got his grandmother to get him started cultivating the stuff, which he still does, happily. [Yes, that’s some of his beautiful rhubarb below.]
It just so happens that I’m a big ol’ fan of rhubarb too. I adore it in sauce, pie, jam, tapioca pudding, chutney, and roasted and candied and simmered, and-and-and. But then, I grew up surrounded by not only good cooks but very much in the midst of people who respected and enjoyed and gave thought to and were grateful for their food. All of which made me the fan-girl I generally am in my medium-old age. Happy places to be, both the medium-old age and the fandom.
You up-and-comers, middle-agers and glorious geezers all–and of course I consider myself to be each and every one of those as well, depending upon the moment–I bid you to take such comestible comeliness as the magnificent rhubarb, the sizzling hot pepper or the tantalizing truffle with all of the seriousness and happy enthusiasm they deserve. Especially when the kids are watching.
Rhubarb-Beetroot Chutney [Not bad at all as a relish for nice fat stuff like a scrumptious grilled cheese sandwich or a hunk of juicy grilled salmon or buttery seared lamb chops.]
Combine approximately equal amounts of peeled and cubed fresh beets, 1″-cut fresh rhubarb pieces, and sugar with just enough water to start the sugar melting a little, plus a couple of whole cloves and a cinnamon stick and a tiny pinch of salt. Bring it all up gradually to a simmer and then let it cook gently over low to moderate heat for a nice long time until it melts and thickens together. Pull out the cloves and cinnamon stick, and puree all the goodness into a nice mash. Keep cooking if it isn’t jammy enough. Adjust to your own exquisitely fine-tuned personal taste and enjoy.
Now, please don’t fuss with this “recipe” any more than absolutely necessary; only if it’s really rather easy and fun to make does it taste appropriately yummy. Extra bonus points if you bring a nice small person or two along for the preparation and savoring, because you will have a happy fellow diner for life. You’re welcome.
Art-Colored Glasses 
I love this post! I’ve actually been thinking a lot lately about how little ones get turned off from ‘adult’ foods before they’re allowed to give them a chance. Great thoughts, and a lovely little recipe! Cheers!
Thank you, Allison! The chutney happened purely by accident, as I’d seen really beautiful batches of both main ingredients at the store and couldn’t resist and buying and then was befuddled about what to do with them both. Knowing me, I suspect I first thought of putting them together because their colors matched! And it’s just that kind of accidental and serendipitous stuff that I think kids are especially good at.
I love rhubarb and have blogged it in the past (sounds like I killed it, “blogged” it over the head or something). I love your black and white sketch… how do you do this?? Is it white pencil or an etching. Simply stunning AND we get a recipe:) My kids eat almost everything. I think they’ve watched me (constantly) devouring different foods and got the hint that it was a good thing! Lol!
Yes, I have seen and admired some of your Rhubarbara artistry! And I absolutely think kids are more impressed and inspired by positive role modeling than any other possible teaching tool. It’s clear from your photo that eating well hasn’t done you the slightest harm, Beautiful–obviously you can do any kind of modeling, not just role-!
The white-on-black artwork had to be doctored quite a bit digitally to “save” it. Both pieces in that format started as silverpoints (drawings made, literally, with a silver point on prepared paper). Traditionally, silverpoint is done with a stylus (my first ones were made by jamming a piece of silver wire into the end of a piece of dowel as a “pencil”) on sanded gessoed paper, which has enough tooth to capture the soft silver when drawn upon. Never satisfied with Normal approaches, I decided to try creating a black surface for the same drawing but was too cheap to buy black gesso, so I used flat black acrylic housepaint and sanded it down, which worked okay in the event. The *problem* was that I was a dope and didn’t consider that part of the beauty of silverpoints is that they (like all things made of true silver) oxidize over time and darken. So the drawings swiftly began to disappear into their dark background. Ha! There’s a good *reason* silverpoints are traditionally made on light backgrounds, it turns out. Duh! So as soon as I saw what was happening, I re-drew the pieces (right over the top of the silver) in graphite, then photographed them, and in Photoshop, increased the contrast enough to get the pictures to reemerge from the shadows. In other words, a waste of a good old-fashioned technique and a small bit of silver dust, but a well-earned learning experience. That’s me all over.
NEXT time, white pencil on black paper; the end! So you’re right, futuristically speaking, about the medium. Or what it should have been. 🙂
oo you guys are talking art, i am going to listen in!! c
Thank you Kathryn, for the artistry of the recipe and the images. My son, while growing up, didn’t want anything to do with “adventurous” foods. Now that he is out on his own, he has found out that trying different foods is a way to enjoy people and places that he will never see or visit. I owe so much to my dear wife’s influence in this, because I was raised on meat and ‘taters, so new foods were rare.
PS- Sorry I haven’t commented lately. I’ve visited and read, but my fountain of words seemed to have dried up for a while. Probably why I’m so much more comfortable communicating with images. -T
So glad you enjoyed. My dear Ted, I think you understand as well as anyone how much it means just to know our blog-friends are ‘around’ us and supportive, whether commenting at the moment or not. And heaven knows we ALL need breaks! Hence my doubling-up or tripling-up when I *do* have the energy or time, so on fallow days I have spares to post one way or t’other. No need for apologies here, my friend!
I LOVE rhubarb, i had a rhubarb plant that was handed down from my great aunts eastern european father, he evidently bought a tuber out in his luggage!! I left in my best friend debs garden in NZ because i am a very scardy smuggler, but rhubarb chutney.. OH MY! cannot wait for spring now!! c
A big part of the joy of gardening for me is what can be shared–I only started liking gardening when I had a place of my own and could put starts and sprouts ‘handed down’ from family and friends in it. Could pass along baby plants and starts to my family and friends. And have visitation rights when I moved to a place without a yard or too far away for a scaredy-smuggler to haul such things along, so then I’d give favorite garden goodies to trusted gardening pals!
And you are most welcome to join in any conversation hereabouts, art, food, garden and otherwise–that’s the best fun of this whole blog thing, the wonderful hallway where we all hang out at the cooler and chitchat about whatever, whenever!
I would say amen to the central premises of your post. It is so sad that children can become fussy eaters by being discouraged or worse forced to eat certain foodstuffs. Lovely images and sketches btw.
Thank you, you chic Parisienne!
How lucky, to grow up surrounded by great cooks and wonderful flavors! Some of us were grown before we ever had mashed potatoes that didn’t come from a box!
I’ve made up for lost time…
Now, where can I put in a few rhubarbs around here?
Plant a rhubarb wherever you have room for a Volkswagen, if the plants grow for you like they did in my mom’s garden!
So, I shouldn’t plant a whole row, for just two people? 😉
The first house I lived in up here had two very old plants in the yard. I loved them, just for the size of their leaves!
Yes, I love the dinosaur-friendly look of the plants too. So if you have room and if both people love rhubarb as much as I do, a whole row is certainly not a bad idea!!
I completely agree, the more exposure the better. I don’t think I was exposed enough to different foods when I was young. All I wanted to eat were chicken tenders! That’s probably why I’m still somewhat picky today. I’ve yet to cook/bake with rhubarb, but have been itching to use it. Soon enough!
Well, my dear, hopefully any itching will be strictly metaphorical, because it would be a true pity if you were allergic to rhubarb! 😉 One of those somewhat unsung foods that’s regaining popularity because, really, it’s incredibly versatile and easy to use. Plus, I’ve found you can get pretty good bags of frozen, pre-cut rhubarb when the fresh stuff isn’t in supply–and since rhubarb pretty much *always* needs to be cooked, freezing it isn’t particularly detrimental in the way that it is for some other fruits and vegetables. In any case, you’re in for a real treat!
I think it’s fabulous that despite less exposure as a child you’ve grown into an adult willing to try new things and learn. That’s such a gift in ANY area of life. And there’s a whole world of yumminess around us!!
Oh, I adore your take on food. I wish my parents had been that way! 🙂 The recipe sounds great. I think I’ll try it with your suggested grilled cheese. 🙂 Wonderful post!
Welcome, Katie, and thanks! My parents weren’t well enough off nor my mom trained and experimental enough to throw much Specialty Food-type stuff at us, but mom and our relatives were dedicated good cooks who made sure we’d try whatever they introduced and give it a serious chance. Lucky us! And, not surprisingly, it was Mom that first made us outstanding grilled cheddar sandwiches, among other nectars-of-the-gods!
these ones are great, amazing! 🙂
Hi, Xandi, I just discovered my spam filter seems to think your address is dangerous for some reason, so I finally found your nice comments today! Thank you so much! –Kathryn
My daughter would probably love the Rhubarb-Beetroot Chutney as she has a very adventurous palate. My son? I don’t know what happened to him because all he wants is cheeboiger, cheeboiger cheeboiger, cheep cheep cheep, pepsi pepsi pepsi. We have always enjoyed a wide variety of food at our table, and since he was a toddler, our son has thumbed his nose at anything good, however we have always made him at least TRY everything offered. I think his problem is that he is afraid it will taste bad so he passes judgement before ever sampling. This is the boy who refused a home made taco salad at his grandmother’s last week; who ever heard of a 13 year old not wanting taco salad? Egad! After he had passed on it and everyone else enjoyed the meal, he asked his grandmother, my mom, if he could try a spoonful of what was left over. Guess what? Mr. PickyPalateIDon’tWanttoTryAnything, LOVED it. gah!!!!! Kids…
Sounds suspiciously like a good old-fashioned “I need to have power over SOMETHING in the universe, so I guess it’ll have to be over what I agree to eat” moment from a teenager testing his boundaries in this case. 😉 But since I’m married to a never entirely recovered picky eater, I know very well that not everyone adapts!
And let’s face it, I like me a good cheeboiger and cheep too!
Great Post!
Much appreciated! And thank you for stopping by. 🙂
Lovely work, Kathryn. I love your artwork and photography and message. Your writing is very vibrant and deliciously descriptive!
Thank you, Bardess! I’m enjoying some tasty texts over yonder at your blog too! 🙂
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