In my daily life as a busy working mum of six (yes, you heard right, SIX) I am often stopped and asked, "How do you do it?" This question generally comes as I am attempting to coax said six from the various nooks and crannies in my car they have been folded into for school drop-off, amid the water bottles, lost library books, unfinished breakfasts and that one furry banana growing penicillin always left to linger in the bottom of someone's bag. Or, when I am attempting to undertake the weekly market shop and the twins take off in opposite directions. Or when I am trying to finish the flat white I ordered three hours before, but haven't quite had a moment to finish, yet am still clinging to for dear life. Aaaaagh, parenthood.
As any parent struggling through the quagmire that is the 'work life balance', there is no one answer. There is just a complicated dance of hits and near misses that hopefully gets you and your tribe through the day fed, watered, and washed (well, as much as is reasonably possible).
But there is one area of my mothering repertoire that I will not skimp on, and that is mealtimes. My number one aim each day is to ensure my little people get as many vitamins and minerals into their bodies as possible. I want them to grow up knowing how to step lightly upon the planet and to understand what real food looks like and how best to enjoy it. Given his work , Shannon too is enthusiastic about our kids tasting new things at our table.
Working mother: Madeleine West, right, with Craig McLachlan and Christie Whelan Browne in The Wrong Girl. Source: The Wrong Girl, Network Ten
Our tastes, as they evolve over time, inform not just our appetites, but also our health and our most primitive likes and dislikes. Taste also dictates how we see the world. It gives us a rare window into the lives of others. We must learn to taste without fear or prejudice. Otherwise, so much knowledge, so much collected wisdom, so much sheer pleasure, is lost.
Now, that’s the philosophy... but putting it into practice? Therein lies the rub. HOW do we get kids to taste new stuff?!
Like every other parent, I have found myself at the checkout clutching sugar-free, gluten-free, colour-free, additive-free rice crackers wondering how on earth I got there. I want to encourage my children to test their tastebuds, to broaden their culinary horizons, and even eat more vegetables. But how? Well, through copious trials and much error, I have discovered that, while it isn't easy, it is possible. At times the struggle will, like laboriously sewing name tags to their uniforms knowing full well that they will be hatless and jumperless by week’s end, seem pointless. But the rewards are many. Persevering will guarantee your children a lifetime of healthy and informed eating, and foster a curiosity about the world and its citizens that promises not just a healthy body, but a healthy mind and heart.
In an ideal world, the best way to experience a diverse array of tastes and cultural traditions is to travel. Transporting your tribe to some far-flung locale will broaden not just their palate but their appreciation for the rich texture diversity brings to our daily lives. For me, it makes sense to make material sacrifices throughout the year so I can take my children across the ocean, or even just around the corner, so they can see how other people live or eat. It heartens me to see their curiosity piqued, eyes widening with that first bite of spicy samosa, juicy potsticker or genuine bratwurst hotdog. I love seeing my kids observe different styles of housing, different ways of schooling, different types of clothing.
Judgement soon fades, to be overtaken by respect for difference.
Taste is the perfect place to begin that education. People all over the world are united by the simple need to eat. For me, I hope this shows my children that despite differences in colour, creed, social status and orientation, we all have so much in common. If we focus on that commonality, we begin to understand each other, and in a world too often torn apart by an inability to appreciate our differences, understanding is a fundamental catalyst for change. At the end of the day, the greatest gift we can give our children is to teach them to treat others with kindness and respect.
Who knew a holiday could be so profound? Yet it is the perfect way to broaden our children's horizons, in a perfect world.
Back in the real world, regular travel is not always an option. As a family of eight, we certainly don’t travel much. So come dinner time, I strive to bring the world to us with International Cuisine Nights.
While I am not encouraging a food fight at your local pizza parlour, why not let them make a game of meals?
Why not make your own dining table a veritable cultural melting pot? Try your hand at preparing the cuisine of another culture at least once a week. Aim for a food style outside your own traditions, one which incorporates produce and seasonings you don't usually serve. Get the little people involved, dressing the table in a manner specific to that cuisine. Let them help select which dishes to make. It doesn't have to be too complicated: let what ingredients you have to hand dictate which direction you take. Chicken fillets become a Chinese stirfry or Thai curry with equal ease. Experiment with pasta, pickling, smoked meats, unusual salads, rice dishes or soups.
Looking for inspiration? Try our including this .
Chicken with black bean sauce Source: Phaidon Press
As we know, lunchboxes love leftovers, so kill two birds with one stone, and make themed lunchboxes with whatever you have left (Japanese: , ,, anything slathered with kewpie mayonnaise. Italian: cold , , breadsticks). I find the little bit of extra effort is repaid with empty lunchboxes they remember for ages.
The next step in Operation: Taste Test, whether you are taking little tackers out for a meal (*gasp*) or whipping up something new at home, IS GETTING KIDS TO ACTUALLY EAT! (insert ominous musical soundtrack here). Now, ask yourself: when are children at their very best? Their most adventurous? The answer is simple: when they are at play! While I am not encouraging a food fight at your local pizza parlour, why not let them make a game of meals? The results might just surprise you.
One of the more successful 'appetite awakening exercises' I have employed with my own tribe is a little game affectionately known as 'Blind Man's Banquet'. When next you brave potential catastrophe and forge through their complaints of "I won't like that, it's too hard/soft/gooey/crunchy/hot/cold/stinky/salty/sticky/icky or just plain yuck", try this. Before serving, have your child(ren) close their eyes (no peeking, on threat of no dessert!) and offer them small spoonfuls of the different components of the meal : a small scoop of meat, of peas, of sauce, a combination of all. Now ask them to tell you what they taste - "sweetness, nuttiness, heat, tanginess, salty, etc". Prompt them to offer details on temperature, texture, and descriptions outside the realms of traditional food-speak, like "earthy, sunny, loud, fizzy, zingey, smooth". Once they get the idea, it is easier to introduce foods well outside their usual repetoire: curries, chilli, unusual marinades and sauces. Suggest verbs and adjectives that broaden not just their vocabulary but also their knowledge and appreciation of food, and where it comes from. Kids will love the novelty of eating a meal in this manner, and the challenge of finding the best words to describe what they taste. You will love how fearlessly they will sample, and enjoy you generally could not pay them to eat.
It is human nature to eat first with our eyes: the aesthetic of what is on our plates whets the appetite. In the case of children, however, the very appearance of food can have an effect, equally powerful, in the opposite direction. Foods that appear unfamiliar, have a texture alien to what they are used to, or just look “yucky" are deemed unpalatable before even passing their lips. Remove the visual and you open up a whole new world of possibilities.
Your little people will learn to push their boundaries and before you know it, you could be the object of envious glances from across the restaurant
I've said it before and will again: in all things, encourage your child's imagination to run wild: capture not just their attention but also their curiosity. Change is the spice of life, but fear of change, fear of the new and fear of the different is a prominent part of childhood, especially when it comes to food. But with a few simple strategies, your little people will learn to push their boundaries and before you know it, you could be the object of envious glances from across the restaurant as another harried parent tries valiantly to convince their child to eat something other than chips!
From birth, the tastes we experience within our home, and are exposed to beyond our front door, will help guide our perceptions of ourselves, where we fit within our traditional and cultural landscape, and divine which paths we are prepared to navigate for the rest of our lives. This is why it is so important to educate children in the early, formative years, about food, its provenance, how to eat it it, what it represents and the simple joys of a shared table. A child with a broad palate and a curious mind is its own reward, perhaps only equalled by recovering all the school uniforms items you carefully nametagged, just in time for the next term. Now THAT is winning!
Madeleine West appears in on Network Ten, is the author of and is currently working on a junior fiction series, Lily D: V.A.P. , to be released by in 2018. Catch up with her on Instagram @madmadswest
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