Adult and child foods? A British thing?

[StandardRussian66]

I got bitched at yet again today by the group I meet with for lunch occasionally.
They find it very strange that my 3 year old eat “adult food”.
I have lived in 4 countries and have only ever come across this in Britain.
It is very strange?
Why would child’s only eat plain food?
My DD had calamari, for reference, incase that is odd. I am part Japanese so she is no stranger to fish.
Aibu to find it equally strange that some toddlers were still being fed mashed food?

I think I get what you mean OP, maybe not the "attitude" of your friends or the British vs other food but certainly the children's menus when you eat out are usually pretty bland - they always seem to consist of sausages, chicken nuggets, fish fingers or pizza - add chips and beans or peas

It's rare to see a children's menu containing smaller portions of the grown up one, so things like spag bol, curries, Chinese style etc etc.

DS has always been a fussy bugger but when he was a toddler he would refuse to eat any of the foods that I would have said most kids love, I mean seriously who doesn't like chicken nuggets and chips?!

I've asked plenty of places if they do kids versions of the grown up menu but I'd say 95% of the time I was told no so we used to end up just getting a plate and feeding him off ours and maybe making ours up with a couple of side dishes..... this did get us odd looks a couple of times especially when he was getting towards 4 or 5.......

not read the he full thread, sorry, but when my son aged 9 had a French exchange boy to stay for a few days we had no end of problems with what he would and would not eat. We'd got croissants, he wouldn't eat those, he only wanted to drink cherry coke, which none of us had ever had [we gave in and got it for him, as we didn't want him to dehydrate], and pleaded for macdonalds, which he never got as we are nowhere near a macdonalds, and my children never only rarely had a McD. Think he'd eat pizza, this was some years ago, so the memory fades, but it was a difficult few days. We'd been in France when the children were young, and the hotel did separate menus for the children, seemed to be the same every night, IIRC either chicken or beefburgers. At a wedding we went to the children were put on a separate table and their bread rolls were in the shape of a teddy's head which was rather sweet, so I didn't see what food they were given

It's a tiresome myth that only British people do this.

Sweden was interesting. MN raves about how progressive Scandinavia is but I witnessed utter intransigence from a waitress on a work trip when an Italian guest wanted his 10-year-old daughter to eat her preferred choice of a cured char and dill starter followed by elk stew like the rest of us and the waitress was insisting on that the girl could eat only from the children's menu of chicken nuggets.

There was an international stand-off of Italians, Britons, Germans, French and Dutch before the management backed down. It was weird. Like a blind adherence to rules.

There is nothing wrong with chicken nuggets and chips - that's what I'm going to eat tonight, well southern fried goujons and salad actually :)

ahahh funny that I've just had the best fish finger sandwich ever.

I found today Waitrose do giant fish fingers at the counter!

Forgot one more - the humblebrag about the child's dietary preferences, followed by (strange child!)

DS2 is a prime candidate for this. Except it’s not a humblebrag to remark that he has a habit of introducing raspberries where they don’t belong. Stuck on the end of sausages, for example. Or crammed into his chicken sandwich (white bread, of course) alongside some cheese corn puff ‘crisps’. It is him being a strange child.

Haha unimaginative
My child is the same with wraps. She will put all things in a tortilla. Eggs, crisp, chocolate bar...

Does my late mum qualify as the humble brag because I'd eat offal as a child and still do?

Don't think so, Limited - it was a common "cheap" dish when we were children (and maybe you too) - my nan made a mean liver and bacon casserole, for e.g.!
And tripe was a regular on the school dinner list. I never ate it though - I always had worms and mush instead (we always had a choice, thank goodness!)
I like liver, my children and husband like liver - but that's all the offal we do now.

When friends bring their kids to eat at my place, the kids get exactly what the adults are having, same sized portions too. I’ve never had any complaints.

I was regularly given liver as a kid. Don't eat it as an adult. But people were poorer when I was a kid and so people ate things they no longer routinely eat.

I think what you are talking about is more common in the UK than abroad but I think it is changing here bit by bit.

My mum refused to eat calf's liver Thumb because it was too posh for her. Lamb's all the way. She hated herself when I hooked her on chicken liver because it's cheaper than calf but softer than lamb so is offal Goldilocks and just right.

I have a lot of lamb and pig liver in the freezer which I bought reduced for about 20p per 1lb to chop and add for a meat ragu. Chicken is too nice to put in it.

How poncetastic is that?

Sainsburys TTD Fish Fingers are the best.

Does my late mum qualify as the humble brag because I'd eat offal as a child and still do?

every child I knew growing up ate offal :)

I live in the US and my dd had a friend over age 8 one time. I was feeding her dinner and asked her "is there anything you don't eat" and she said "no". My son said "nothing at all???" and she said "well tongue isn't my favourite but I'd still eat it". My kids hadn't realised tongue was a food until then.

You know what if I went out and my friends child wanted calamari I would be shocked, but hell I'd be impressed! I think it's cool when kids like different things. I'd rather my child try all kinds of food than pick the standard nuggets. @StandardRussian66 ignore the ignorance xx

I'm not sure what my nan used, Limited - possibly pig liver as it was quite coarse.
We only get lamb's liver now, that's the only option at my local butcher and the supermarkets here don't sell it, well not that I've noticed.

I don't like tongue though and won't eat it. But the worst (and I still didn't eat it) was in Moscow, at one of the hotel restaurants, where they served lamb's tongue - and it wasn't rolled, like ox tongue is, it was just sliced, so you could still see the tastebuds on top.

Some people think calling squid calamari makes them sound dead clever
Doesn't everyone English-speaking call it 'calamari' when it's cut into rings, deep-fried and served with chips? That's what the OP was having. She wasn't showing off. It's just pub grub.
Your lunch companions are weird, OP.

I’ve just learned that squid and calamari are different species! I thought calamari was the name of the dish rather than the animal. Every day’s a school day.

I think this thread is the answer to why your lunch companions were being weird - people are very defensive / weird about what children eat.

Is it more prevalent in Britain than elsewhere to have beige 'kids food'? Possibly. Certainly most 'kids menus' I have seen in the U.K. seem to be largely populated with sausages, nuggets, fish fingers and pasta with tomato sauce. I assume because that is what sells. Sometimes there is a lonely fish and peas option. No idea what people feed their children at home though.

I've been abroad a fair bit but in all honesty can't now remember if they have this elsewhere. So possibly not! I usually order my two a simpler adult dish to share.

I'm a big believer in kids havimg smaller portions of normal food.
However, if i was out with friends for a catchup and a lunch and someone was like 'oh DC will have calamari won't you darling' part of me would just be a bit 'ok... what do you want, a medal?'
Plus given the price if calamari and assuming it was an adult portion then I'd certainly feel a bit like it was a 'look at how great i am because my child eats calamari' and wonder why you'd buy an adult sized portion for a child of 3 othet than to prove what a great eater your child is.

Then again, calamari is disgusting so i wouldn't take comments about taste as bitching at you.

I’ve already said we shared it, was not adult portion for 3 year old. I am not an idiot.