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One thing I've always wondered - at what age are Indian kids (or kids from other cultures with spicy cuisines) introduced to spicy food? They mention kimchi for

by lemming 12y ago

One thing I've always wondered - at what age are Indian kids (or kids from other cultures with spicy cuisines) introduced to spicy food? They mention kimchi for toddlers in the article, what about in India?

FraaJad 12y ago
Spice-"lite" (ie., the less spicy part of sambar etc.,) are introduced as early as 1 year. Kids essentially eat the same food as their parents by age 2, even if they are still hand-fed by their mothers (sometime even up to the age of 5). (speaking as a South Indian).
FraaJad 12y ago
FWIW, my american born daughter (to us south Indian parents), started eating spicy food at the age of 1. She can bat down spicy chicken and fish to make both her grandmothers proud.
cubancigar11 12y ago
Well, the concept of spicy or non-spicy food is non-existent, at least that is how it was in my family. Some people like a lot of spices, others do not - it is like a family tradition. Generally the mother controls the family taste, husbands fall in line :)
pbhjpbhj 12y ago
I'm not Indian but spicy food is effectively introduced pre-birth. The nutrient range that one gets from ones mother pre-birth appears to have a bearing on ones taste later. Certainly some flavours are passed on to breast-milk, eg http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2452382/Mothers-shown-how-to-produce-flavoured-breast-milk.html http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2452382/Mothers-shown-how-to.... The first solids one of my kids (UK) had was Thai green curry, at 5 months, but it wasn't very spicy. Our kids just ate what we eat when they were ready to ween [move on to solid foods]; I can imagine this is probably quite common and so in many cultures if the adults are eating spicy food then the kids are from the time they begin to ween.
rayiner 12y ago
When I was growing up they'd tone down the spice for kids until they were 5-6+. Still slices compared to American food. Our daughter has been eating spicy food since one or so. Not the super hot stuff that even makes Indian people sweat, obviously.
vithlani 12y ago
We started at 5 months for the spices, mild chili coming in at 8 months. By 2 years he was loving raw onions :)

by lemming 12y ago

FraaJad 12y ago

Spice-"lite" (ie., the less spicy part of sambar etc.,) are introduced as early as 1 year. Kids essentially eat the same food as their parents by age 2, even if they are still hand-fed by their mothers (sometime even up to the age of 5). (speaking as a South Indian).

FraaJad 12y ago

FWIW, my american born daughter (to us south Indian parents), started eating spicy food at the age of 1. She can bat down spicy chicken and fish to make both her grandmothers proud.

cubancigar11 12y ago

Well, the concept of spicy or non-spicy food is non-existent, at least that is how it was in my family. Some people like a lot of spices, others do not - it is like a family tradition. Generally the mother controls the family taste, husbands fall in line :)

pbhjpbhj 12y ago

I'm not Indian but spicy food is effectively introduced pre-birth. The nutrient range that one gets from ones mother pre-birth appears to have a bearing on ones taste later. Certainly some flavours are passed on to breast-milk, eg http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2452382/Mothers-shown-how-to-produce-flavoured-breast-milk.html http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2452382/Mothers-shown-how-to.... The first solids one of my kids (UK) had was Thai green curry, at 5 months, but it wasn't very spicy. Our kids just ate what we eat when they were ready to ween [move on to solid foods]; I can imagine this is probably quite common and so in many cultures if the adults are eating spicy food then the kids are from the time they begin to ween.

rayiner 12y ago

When I was growing up they'd tone down the spice for kids until they were 5-6+. Still slices compared to American food. Our daughter has been eating spicy food since one or so. Not the super hot stuff that even makes Indian people sweat, obviously.

vithlani 12y ago

We started at 5 months for the spices, mild chili coming in at 8 months. By 2 years he was loving raw onions :)