Ask Chefector: How can I make my kids associate flavors with punishment as a good parent should?

[jadelennox]

To Chefector:

I hated spicy food as a kid. When I was in high school, and became dissatisfied with the long list of too-spicy foods that were unavailable to me, I made a plan to fix that. Every time I ordered a meal with a spicy option, I ordered it one click spicier than I actually liked it, then just forced it down. After a year or two, my spiciness baseline increased appreciably, and today I demand a moderate amount of heat in any appropriate dish. I’m glad put in the effort, and now have new foods and new dimensions of various dishes to enjoy.

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Content note: The columnist's final sentence can be construed to be slagging off on the concept of food aversions. I've been reading Burneko for long enough to know he mostly doesn't mean it that way (mostly; he does write a gourmand column in a snarky sports magazine whose entire shtick involves expressing strongly held opinions amusingly rudely), but YMMV.

Source: How To Help Your Kids Learn To Like A Food