Making Your Picky Eater Into an Iron Chef

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I came across this great article from The Vancouver Sun.  Writer, Randy Shore has two sons.  His oldest son they call the “Garburator”…never turns is head from food and is willing to try anything.  Dylan, the youngest is “The Fussy Eater”.  Fortunately, Dylan loves watching Iron Chef America and even the original dubbed Japanese food show.  It probably is a guy thing.  That thirst for competition.  So, what better way to try and encourage his “Fussy Eater” than a Iron Chef Home Challenge.

From Randy Shore:

He is as mesmerized by Battle Carrot as he is by Battle Sea Cucumber, only one of which has any real likelihood of passing his tightly pursed lips.

But — parents, listen closely — when he was made Iron Chef for an evening at home, he touched salmon, cooked salmon and ate salmon, even the raw dish.

….In that spirit Dylan himself selected sockeye salmon for his theme ingredient. Two days of menu planning ensued and a large sockeye fillet was acquired.

First course was to be salmon tartare. We trimmed and chopped the salmon and haggled about the elements of the dish.

Capers were a non-starter, quickly replaced by finely diced dill pickles. Green onion was permitted along with sea salt and pepper and a drizzle of my private stash of unfiltered olive oil.

“Okay, you need to taste it so we can adjust the seasoning,” I said.

Dylan looked me over for signs of mirth. None were present.

“It’s not cooked,” he protested. I explained to the incredulous chef that tartare is a raw dish.

“But we don’t know where that salmon has been,” he countered.

“It’s been in the ocean,” I said. “Taste it.”

Dylan fought all his natural instincts and placed raw fish in his mouth.

“It needs more pepper.”

The tartare was served in hefty bourbon glasses as the first course.

The Iron Chef “Home Edition” was ultimately a success.  Have you ever been able to transform your own “Fussy Eater”?

Read more from Shore’s Vancouver Sun article.