The Gourmet Boy

Gabe started to identify his foods as early as about 16 months of age. He'd look at the plates on the dining table, or scrutinize his little bowl of food and point out the items specifically. Then he progressed to request for specific foods, asking for fish, egg, or whatever that he felt like having more of. Because of this ability, we have also gotten a clearer idea of what he likes having and we'll entice him to take more of his meal by offering him a piece of whatever in the spoonful of food he was taking.

Many months ago, around the time where this ability became clear, there was a rare occasion where Gabe was having trouble taking his dinner. Derod decided to play a game with his son and hopefully trick him into eating more. So he told Gabe that he was supposed to guess what food papa was feeding him with. Derod would scoop up a single item along with the staple, cover it with his hand and stuff it into Gabe's mouth which was to be opened by the count of three. Honestly, when he was trying to explain the game to the boy, my eyes narrowed into slits and I was seriously thinking that my husband was wasting his time. I mean, how on earth are you going to get cooperation for a game with a kid less than 1.5, let alone succeed at the ploy of getting him to eat more from it!?

But I was proven wrong. Gabe actually enjoyed the game, and to top it up, he was able to tell us what went into his mouth by the sheer taste of it. We upped the ante by offering up to three items, excluding the staple, and he still managed to name them all. It left us pretty much flabbergasted and amused at the same time.

The other day, I decided to fry a big batch of shallots. Don't ask me why but I do derive quite a bit of satisfaction churning out a box of homemade shallots. Anyway, Gabe has this thing for condiments, and is especially inclined towards the addition of marmite, parmesean cheese and shallots (which we refer to as onions) in his meals. So when he heard that I was frying them, and add that to his penchant for observing cooking, he insisted on and obtained a full view of what was going on. Two days later, I was cooking lunch with the leftover shallot-frying oil and our friend yelled from the living room where he was watching his daily dose of Barney, "Onions! Mummy, onions!!"

Looks like he can sniff out good stuff too. And all this before he turns two! Obviously he didn't get these genes from the papa, who on occasions, can hardly even remember the taste of the food he swallowed just a moment ago. Ehhh.... *twitch eyebrows*.