Funny how a conversation can trigger a memory. Yesterday, the subject of root beer came up, and it reminded me of an experience involving root beer that happened over thirty years ago.
I was serving as a missionary in a Third World country. Most our the things we needed to survive were available, but a lot of our wants were hard to find. There were essentially three kinds of sodapop available to us: Orange Crush, Sprite, and Coke. (Cole was verboten.) One thing that was visibly absent from the culture was root beer. I never saw it in my entire two years, nor did anyone there even know what it was.
My companion and I had scheduled an activity that our members could invite their friends to. It was an outdoor showing of Johnny Lingo, followed by The First Vision. We decided that the perfect addition would be treats and homemade root beer.
My mom had sent me a bottle of root beer extract, and I had been saving it for a special occasion. We didn’t have access to dry ice, so we bought bottles of carbonated water, (Club soda) and sugar. We mixed the root beer in a big pot. Honestly, it turned out pretty good.
The people came to the activity, we showed the video, and invited them to stay and have refreshments. My companion and I were busily chatting with people and ladling the root beer into cups – and drinking more than our share.
After a little while, I noticed a young man discreetly pouring his root beer into a plant. I looked at the table, and most of the root beer was still there, most of it in partially filled cups.
Curious, I started watching more carefully. Nobody was drinking the root beer. Nobody. When I pointed it out to my companion, one of the young women overheard me and chimed in, “I like it!” and proceeded to drain her cup.
About 10 seconds later she spewed it all over the ground. It was gruesome.
She apologized and told us how sorry she was. I had to ask her what was going on: Why wouldn’t anyone drink the root beer?
The answer? Everyone thought it tasted like the nastiest of medicines. They hated it. They felt bad for us, because they knew we were excited about it, but they honestly thought we were nuts.
I’ve been drinking root beer my entire life. It is part of Americana. Nothing goes better with a pizza than root beer. And a root beer float, superb.
Apparently, root beer is an acquired taste, as are many foods.
As we were raising five kids, it was inevitable that some would be pickier than others. There was a time when one of the FOMLs began refusing to eat quite a few different things. My EC and I were bothered by this typical parental challenge. We didn’t want our kids to grow up to be picky eaters. We wanted our kids to develop broad tastes, because there are so many good things out there. There is so much more to life than mac and cheese and chicken nuggets.
So my EC and I decided on a couple of family rules:
1) We would not make additional meals for the picky eaters.
2) We were OK if they skipped a meal. We wouldn’t force them to eat anything. (I grew up with a brother that deserved an Oscar in the category of Forced Green Bean Consumption. It wasn’t pretty.)
3) The One Food Rule: Everyone at the table, my EC and me included, could choose one food that they never had to eat. Ever. Now mind you, this was not one food per meal. It was one food. They could change it every once in a while, but not right before a meal.
For example: My food was (is) beets. I can tolerate them roasted, but…
My EC refuses to eat the liver of any animal.
FOML1: Corn dogs. (Which was weird, because we rarely ate corn dogs.)
FOML2: Peas. (at one time it was mushrooms)
FOML3: Tomatoes
FOML4: Tomatoes
FOML5: Jello/Cool whip salad.
Nobody had to eat their food. Ever. No pressure. No discussion. But they were expected to eat anything and everything else. Or nothing. Again, no pressure, no discussion.
Dinnertimes became more peaceful, and less dramatic.
As far as we can tell, our rules have not resulted in any deep, dark psychological wounds, but we do have 5 kids who have broad palets, and are willing to try new foods.
Our youngest claims his favorite food is lamb in red curry. We all like seafood, Thai, Indian, sushi, and all veggies and fruits, etc. Dining out is never a battle. Travel is a positive adventure.
I’m not suggesting that everyone could/should try this – but it worked for us.
Who knew that root beer would turn out to be an acquired taste? I figured that all humans would were genetically predisposed to liking root beer, but my friends in the mission field had never been exposed to it.
I guess that is the point – it is tough to acquire a taste for something if we never try it.
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I served a mission in Asia. about 9 months in was the first time anyone had seen root beer -Fanta- was the brand. We were excited even though Fanta is probably the worst root beer out there. By Christmas we discovered that there were 4 different brands available, who knew???
for our Zone Christmas party we bought a couple of cases of each brand. One brand was especially tasty, but several of us started feeling kind of weird. Out of curiosity we translated the ingredients…then had something to discuss with the Pres at out next interview. And threw the rest of it away.
When we lived in Germany, there were a few members that liked root beer, but most did not. We had friends that would drive down from Berlin (300 miles) to visit, and would ask if we could get them a couple of cases of A&W from the base. Funny thing was, several years later when their RM son was sealed to his EC here in the states, one of the first requests when we would pick a restaurant to eat was whether or not they served root beer.
Definitely an acquired taste, and one for which I am eternally greatful.
I live in Germany and gave American Ice Cream and Root Beer to my neighbor to make floats for her grandkids at a family party. Everyone hated it!
I’ve never heard of the one food rule. We might adopt it when the kids are a little older. Right now we have the “no thank you” bite rule. You try one bite of everything on the table. If you don’t like it, you don’t have to have anymore. It was a bit of a fight with my four year old at first, but every once in a while after trying something she thought she didn’t like she says, “Hey, I do like this!” and eats more. Like you said, you can’t acquire a taste for something you never try.
…oh, and Jell-O salads are the best part of Sunday dinner. Just sayin…
We don’t force the eating thing with our kids, and we have found that they will actually eat more because they know there is no pressure. We have some rules – if you take it, you have to eat it. If its a food you have never had before you are required to try it. But if I KNOW they don’t like something, I wont make them eat it. I also agree they can miss a meal.
We solved them getting up from the table by making the rule that if the dog eats your food before you do – you are done and no dessert! (She a retriever and just waits for any child to turn their head so she can pounce)
I go for the creamier Root Beers. Joel prefers a sharper blend.
When my kids were little, I provided dinner and they could eat what they wanted of it. If they were still hungry, they could make a sandwich or have cereal (which I wouldn’t do now, I would provide fruit and yogurt, etc), but usually there was something they liked.
I had been traumatized by watching my friends force their young son to eat mashed potatoes, of all things. Mashed potatoes are not even very nutritious. Making kids eat foods they don’t like is simply a power struggle.
I vowed never to make food an issue with my children.
Both my sons grew up to be very adventurous eaters, and the main cooks in their families.
Anybody who doesn’t like rootbeer just needs to throw a scoop of vanilla ice cream in it!
My mom had the one “dislike” rule, I tried getting mine to be cooked vegetables but that was deamed to be too broad a category. I still think that was a miscarriage of justice. 🙂
In Korea they are much more specific about why they dislike rootbeer. It tastes like mentholatum. Being told that kind of ruined rootbeer for me, because even all these years later I can taste the mentholatum. But, being a missionary in Korea also helped me learn to eat a lot of things I don’t particularly like – or didn’t like, so I guess I traded rootbeer for lots of other flavors.
We have had exchange students from japan and every time they come, they try root beer, but like you said- they say it tastes like their medicine.
until 2 years ago, when my brother was weaned off baby foods, i grew up as the one child who would try stuff. my sister (12) is super picky, and a vegetarian on top… my other siblings have sorta followed in her footsteps, despite large consumptions of hot dogs and chicken nuggets. however, i am glad for my large pallet, even though i do have a list of will not eat foods. (carbonated drinks and sushi) All i have to say it too bad my parents didn’t have this rule 10 years ago. things would be much easier now. definitely saving this for my future family!
Some suggestions from my dietician daughter:
1. Get children excited about new foods by involving them in growing,buying (Farmer’s Markets are fun) and preparing foods.
2. Have a no complaining rule. Trying new foods is an adventure.
3. Put them in something- it’s always easier to try something new as part of a muffin, casserole or soup.
4. Fancy them up- use a pretty plate, add a garnish, sprinkle with cinnamon or top with whipped cream.
5. Have a one bite rule. They may not have loved it last time but let’s try it again.
6. Be patient- Studies show children generally must try a food 7-15 times to acquire a taste for it.
My SIL is from Brazil and she said they flavored medicine with root beer flavor and that is why she doesn’t like root beer. The same way I cannot drink most grape sodas because it reminds me of cough medicine.
I served in Chile 1996-1998. They have a medicine that is Sarsaparilla flavored and as such that flavor is strongly associated with medicine. I always liken it to a soft drink that is flavored like Pepto-Bismol. Anyway back to the story: In my first area there was a small corner market (-33.048812°,-71.401199°) next to the Stake Center where we had zone conference. One day when having district meeting we stopped at the store to grab some stuff and noticed in the corner he had a flat of rootbeer. We were pretty excited and asked him where he got it. Apparently his order was mixed up and he got it by accident, there was an importer bringing in soda from Miami and had grape, pineapple and other flavors. We bought a few cans and one of the guys told him that if he wanted to make a bunch of money we were having a meeting with a bunch of us Gringos in about a week – so he should get as much of the rootbeer as he could.
On the day of the next Zone conference, the area president and his wife were there; she noticed somebody had rootbeer, found out about the store next door and LEFT THE MEETING to buy a bunch. The next week we asked the guy how it went. He had only bought half a fridge full and sold out of it quickly. So he asked when the next meeting like that was, we told him. He borrowed a fridge from another store (they weren’t very common) and filled both completely full with some more at room temperature on the side.
Sold out again.
Another conference was coming up, so we told him about it. He just about cried when we told him: “My supplier says he can’t get any more, I bought all that he had last time!”
Making our own using carbonated water didn’t work very well for anything buy rootbeer floats. They also didn’t like Maple Syrup and had no concept of ranch dressing or waffles.
Yep, Ecuadorians thought root beer tasted like medicine. At the time it made me want to go find a big bottle of that medicine! =)
Funny you should say that. In my childhood [30s & 40s] most medicines came from chemists’ shops, and most were ancient traditional potions. One that was very popular was an unguent called ‘Wintergreen.’ Every winter almost the entire population of the West Riding smelled of Wintergreen! The first time I tasted root beer it reminded me pong for pong of Wintergreen. Wintergreen is still made and has a universal following.
“A Wintergreen ointment that is ideal for weathered or chapped hands and feet. Quite a strong cream with a medicated aroma that is designed more to ease problems rather than be a nice looking or smelling product. Ideal for gardeners or craft workers and is widely used by manual workers, people working outside a lot or with products or chemicals that may make the hands dry, crack the skin. Wintergreen is excellent when used as a winter warmer in the colder months by massaging into hands before venturing out or working outdoors. Use for aching, tired feet by massaging in each morning or evening. Is also widely used as a pre-sport rub on muscles especially in winter. Wintergreen is also used as a chest rub if blocked up, sore throat or general cold symptoms. Tip- Wintergreen is renowned for use on hacks. – See more at: http://www.avena.co.uk/Wintergreen-Ointment-Ready-To-Apply-Rub-On-Ointment/#sthash.0G5ZoS3d.dpuf ”
MENTHOL AND WINTERGREEN CREAM – The active ingredients
contained in this cream are eucalyptus oil BP 1.30%, menthol BP 0.23%, methyl
salicylate BP 11.22%, thymol BP 0.75%, camphor BP 0.38% and volatile oil of
mustard 1949 BPC 0.07%. It also contains the inactive ingredients carmoss powder
(irish moss extract), arachis oil, oleic acid, wool fat and citric acid monohydrate.
This medicine is used to relieve rheumatic pain, stiff neck, chilblains and sprains.
Do not use this medicine if you are allergic to eucalyptus oil, menthol, methyl
salicylate, thymol, camphor, volatile oil of mustard or any of the ingredients liste
As to it and root beer tasting awful, my Nanny used to say, “If it doesn’t taste nasty, it won’t do you any good!” I am not saying that Nanny Bennett was a powerful character, but she is generally acknowledged as the main reason Hitler changed his mind about invading England.
Of course, another reason could have been that he wasn’t fond of Wintergreen either, and Nanny did whiff of it in the winter months.
As for my own taste range, I confess to an inordinate affection for the smell of Wintergreen, gas tar, petroleum, oil based paints, and hot asphalt, and there’s nothing wrong with me. My birth and upbringing in a heavy industrial environment conditioned me to the finer things in life.
And, yes, I love Brussels Sprouts too! I had some for dinner today.
We grew up with my Mother making home made root-beer. Loved it. Memories of the dry ice and the taste are one I will not forget. When growing up we also had to taste everything. This was done with in mind that our taste changes . For the most part that was true. When I had my own family the same rule . We lived in the country so we had home grown everything and I canned. My kids were not picky, or so I thought, until they started school. At school everything came from a box. They had a tough time adjusting. lol
I have heard that in other countries they flavor medicine with rootbeer flavoring. Yeah, that would probably ruin it for me too. Glad I live in America and I love me a rootbeer freeze!
As a child I was not exactly picky, but when I didn’t like something there was a huge battle. My dad was the “It’s what we are having and you WILL eat it” type. He once served me the same thing for two days straight because I had refused to eat it at dinner. I got sick from not eating for that long. It got to the point that I didn’t want to try new foods because if I didn’t like them I’d have to eat them anyway. I don’t think catering to picky eaters is a good idea, but I won’t force kids to eat something they don’t like, either. The thing is, I still don’t like most of the foods I didn’t like as a child, but now I can explain why I don’t like them. Once I wasn’t under pressure I was more willing to try things and I’m pretty diverse about what I eat now. But the childhood battles were very traumatic for me and I won’t put a kid through that. I get much better results from picky eaters by showing them how much I enjoy unusual foods and having a discussion about what they don’t like so they can identify why they don’t like something. I’m also very honest about my dislikes.
Japanese people really don’t like root beer. They claim it tastes like medicine, which is saying a lot because Japanese medicine is some of the nastiest, most bitter stuff I’ve ever had in my life.
My parents had the hard-line “you don’t leave the table until you eat it” rule, and it pretty much succeeded only in driving some food aversions so deep into my psyche that I’ve been unable to root them out despite the decades since then.
I’m still somewhat picky, but I’m willing to try just about anything if needed. I’ve lived and worked in Japan and eaten things that had even the Japanese sales guys asking “what the heck is that?” Even if I don’t like it, I can handle nearly anything — except those foods my parents forced on me.
I think it is very important to teach your kids to try new things. The other day at my husband’s work his boss asked the interns if they would like to go for sushi. One of the interns said he wouldn’t eat sushi. His boss responded that his statement was a career choice and wished him luck moving up in the world.
Whoa! That is a hard slap of reality.
I am a grown up picky eater. My parents had inconsistent rules.
Sometimes I had to sit at the table until I finished. (I sat with the maid.) Try cold, fatty hamburger. It’s gross. The worst was the time they decided at Christmas Eve dinner that I had to finish all my peas to be able to open Christmas presents the next day (or ever) and all I could choke it down with was a glass of disgusting, poorly mixed powdered milk. I have issues with peas to this day.
I did not know my mom was a horrible cook until later in life. For example, all meat was overcooked. One of my older siblings would make sure that I knew what was disgusting about what we were served (we didn’t eat with our parents). And who serves their kids things like sweetbreads and lamb’s tongue on a regular basis anyway?
I am working on it . . . but it’s not easy to change. So many tastes and textures are foreign to me. Some bring bad memories flooding back. I much prefer my comfort foods, but am slowly learning to expand my food choices.
My advise. . . don’t make it an issue. For me, it was a definite power struggle. . . I won (they couldn’t make me eat) but I also lost (I wish I could eat most anything) I think you handled it well.
As a Lotophagi settled in an alien country I find root beer tolerable, but while I can and do drink it it doesn’t come close to my all-time favourite drink, Dandelion and Burdock. Unfortunately D&B is not readily available in the US, and when it can be found the cost is prohibitive, so my D&B sloshing days are far behind me. Efforts to begin a revolution to promote D&B have, without exception, fallen on stony ground and been trodden underfoot by Pepsi and Coke. Alas that I should see such a day!
As for Children and what they will and what they will not eat, it is, as you say, a matter of taste. I have never insisted that any child eat anything that they find disagreeable, even if they have never been put to the flames with the one-bite ordeal. Apart from each of them having eccentric personalities none of them has come to any harm.
Their odd personalities they consider as my endowment and blessing to them. That is wise of them because all I shall leave in my Last Will & Testament is an overdraft or two. I blame my father for my own eccentricity, he blames his father, and my great grandfather blames his eccentricities on my great-great-grandfather. They did all this long before genetics was a popular science, and most of them were in their cups at the time! I am totally tee-total, having discovered the angelic libation they were obviously seeking, although limiting the areas of their searching to places where it could not be found.
I have now dwelt in the US as an alien for almost 14 years, and get along well without all the delights that once tickled my taste buds and strained my heart, but that’s another story.
There is a statue of me outside my home, and on the pedestal these words appear:
“Not like the finicky eaters you breed here,
With noses pinched and faces all awry,
Here at my sun-washed, adobe gates I stand
A mighty trencherman with knife and fork
Like imprisoned lightning, ready now to strike
And to consume until all, all is gone,
The food of Exiles from my frying pan
Sizzles a world-wide appetite
And down my hand
The juice and gravy that have framed in frame.
The rich cuisine of my own ancient land.
I eat what your poor tongues eschew
Your fabled pop!” I cry.
With greasy lips. “Give me your liver, tripe, and Marmite now!”
You poor untutored eaters that refuse
To eat the very food that’s good for you,
The divine nectar of the English gods,
The ambrosia that feeds giants of the pen,
And frees the huddled masses learning how
To freely teat from pig, and sheep, and cow,
To fashion giants in both brain and thew,
That refuse nothing of your teeming shore.
Send these, the picky-folk to me,
So they may learn that what they did before
Is wretched, ungracious, unworthy of them too.
They’ll clear their plates behind my kitchen door!”
Bon appetite!
Wow! I feel like I just witnessed Bill murray at theGroundhog Celebration.
Dandelion and Burdock! I missed it sooooo much when I moved over here too. Took me several years to get used to root beer (now I like it) because it tastes exactly like germolene smells.
I quit drinking fizzy drinks (except for the odd one now and then) for several years. Then I went back to the UK and was SO EXCITED to drink D&B again. To my horror it tasted hideous. I have never been able to figure out if the recipe had changed, or if, because of my lack of sugary drink consumption, my taste buds had changed. In any case, it was a sore disappointment. I used to love that stuff….
My Japanese friend and I were talking about food once and I asked her what the “strangest” American food was. Without hesitation she said, “root beer”.
We do the same. I have seven kids. Only a couple take advantage of it. ( My oldest son would choose casseroles if he could) My oldest chose eggs, one chose gravy (like I would force someone to eat the nectar of the Gods) and I think that is it. My kids eat all sorts of things, with sushi being one of their favorites.
My Scottish grandmother hated root beer too, she said it tasted like toothpaste. Since, I LOVE me some root beer, and didn’t really like the taste of my tooth paste, I always wanted her to bring me some of that Scottish tooth paste. Never quite happened though.
I was picky as a kid, and of course I struggled with a picky eater when I had kids, I didn’t want to give my kids the same eating issues I had, so at first I was pretty lax. It doesn’t help when typical American food habits, include segregated food. You got baby food, and toddler food and kid food and adult food. It was a mess. And my son ate like 3 foods, until we wised up.
So when my second was born, we stopped that nonsense and just had FOOD. She ate what she could when she could, if she had enough teeth for carrots, then she got the carrots we ate and not out of a jar. Once she had molars she got meat.
So we came to the three bite rule. (We figure it takes 3 bites for a person to honestly know what that food tastes like). 3 bites, then you can stop, but no dessert or other food. If you don’t eat those three bites, then you have to eat the entire meal the next day until it’s gone. Once we had a child eat that dinner for two more days, because I have stubborn kids. Meal time is a lot more enjoyable, and I only ever get that tick when asked, “What’s for dinner?” occasionally.
We serve up meals till they’re gone too. 😉 Our kids must have a similar stubborn gene as we’ve gone multiple days on the same meal too. It has definitely made meal times more streamlined. Here’s dinner, feel free to eat it now…or tomorrow…or the next day. ha ha
This American thinks rootbeer (and any other carbonated drink) is nasty too- not because of a health campaign or anything: I hate the feel of carbonation in my mouth AND the first beverage I had besides mother’s milk and water was rootbeer at 9 months old, which I hated and I promptly refused to drink anything. I weaned myself then and there (my poor mom). Most of my major food aversions (cheese, chocolate, artificially peach-flavored stuff, ketchup and other cooked tomato products- raw is fine) came in childhood when I threw up shortly after eating them…
Lyness,
Have you tried letting the Root Beer go flat and then trying it?
Let me know how you get on.
Ronnie
We’ve gone through years of fighting my son on eating potatoes in any form (except some french fries). They’re potatoes — who doesn’t like potatoes? … apparently him. We also adopted the One Food Rule like your family. It has made such a difference. And I don’t make separate meals either.
My kids wouldn’t touch potatoes for years. I kept thinking of all the great, cheap recipes I could make with the giant box of Idaho potatoes in the garage. Finally we had a year where we celebrated every holiday we could think of. Once the kids found out potatoes were “irish” they gobbled them up along with corned beef and cabbage for St. Patrick’s Day. Turns out their red headed dad is a leprechaun and it is part of their heritage. But don’t let the secret out, ok?
This reminds me of some mission experiences in Europe. If you take sparkling water, add root beer extract, and then quickly (before it shoots out) a bunch of artificial sweeter (they came in small tablets) and put the cap on for a few minutes, it turns out pretty good, albeit sugar free. People in my mission also thought root beer tasts like medicine. Ironically, they liked to eat cough drops like candy. Go figure. Finally, if you’re out of mapleine, you can use root beer extract to make pancake syrup. It’s pretty good.
Brussels sprouts…. just writing it made me throw up in my mouth a little…oh, and liver.
That’s two. It wouldn’t fly in our house.
Have you tried brussel sports recently? I HATED them as a child (but mother was NOT a good cook) but now enjoy them sautéed with craisins and walnuts or roasted in the oven. They are delicious partly because our taste buds dull as an adult!
Funny. We had a discussion on root beer yesterday at lunch. My friend has a “no thank you bite” rule. Her kids have to try at least one bite and can then say, “No thank you” to any more. I have picky eaters and have the no additional meals and sit at the table and you can skip, but they are still picky. I didn’t do the, “You never have to try rule.” Wish I had. Picky eaters are hard.
I have found the same thing with rootbeer. A good friend from the UK says it tastes like lacquer.