Curing the Picky Eater

A caller to The Splendid Table lamented his picky-eater partner. One of the jokes in my office is that the other front runner for ESK's job was a woman I'm pretty sure was a picky eater, and I couldn't work with a picky eater.

Thing is, Phenom is a picky eater. Or, mostly was, until I cured him to the point I can live with him.

When we first got together, Phenom wouldn't eat chinese food. And was fairly picky about anything "fancy." We had a pretty slim list of foods to select from while meal planning. Things have gotten much better.

Here's how I did it.

1) Emotional Blackmail. It works. If you love me, you'll at least try this new, exciting thing I'm making. Similarly, I will point out "you ate it at ________ house . . ."

2) Lie. I frequently lie to the Phenom about the food until there is an admission that it's "good." Back when I was a veggie-a-tarian, I started mixing tofu crumbles into the burrito meat . . . and increasing the ratio of tofu to meat until there was no meat. Phenom never noticed.

3) Jolly and cajole. I always make meatloaf for the Old Folks. Phenom isn't a fan of meatloaf. I started a week in advance . . . pointing out that essentially, meatloaf is like one giant meatball, and you like meatballs.

4) Compromise. This past summer, I wanted to try out a fancy new restaurant while we were in NOLA. I did my homework, and found Herbsaint. They have fried catfish on their lunch menu. Phenom loves fried catfish. I selected this restaurant because I could show Phenom that there was something on the menu he would like . . . and HE LOVED IT. And, I got my fancy meal. Phenom has already stated that we will be returning to Herbsaint on our next visit. YAY.

Phenom isn't as adventurous as me in the eating department, but is much better than what I started with 20 years ago.