Some call it green beans, I call it French beans... even though real French beans are called haricot verts and are much finer and daintier than these. I digress...
The butternut squash agreed with Chubbs rather well, and it's time to move on to tasting his first vegetable... French beans. I bought some organic ones from Thailand at Fairprice Finest. They looked very fresh and were surprisingly spotless.
Usually to prepare them, I steam/blanch them before trimming the fibres that run alongside, so that the vitamins do not leech into the water. But because I'm cooking for Chubbs, I trimmed the fibres before cooking. Steaming is a form of sterilisation, and being the germaphobe that I am, I'm not comfortable handling his food so much after they have been cooked. After steaming them to al dente, I pureed them with a stick blender until smooth, spooned into his baby cubes and left in the freezer.
So far, so good right? NOT!!! I served the French beans to Chubbs as is, without adding breastmilk or rice cereal. I've never seen him so violently opposed to anything before! He was banging on the chair and pulling on his ear until it was beet red. Chubbs' face was one of sheer disgust and horror. He gagged a few times but valiantly held it in. He didn't like the beans either, when I mixed a little in with a lot of brown rice cereal.
The queer thing is, he still opened his mouth wide when I brought subsequent mouthfuls to him. I guess ultimately, if I force it on him, Chubbs will tolerate the stuff and eat. But his eyes were red, watery and I couldn't bear to traumatise him any further. Moreover, I want him to have happy associations and relations with food and not ever view food as an obligation.
I know I should try to feed it to him a few more times before concluding that he doesn't like it. But I have a hunch it's not a flavour thing. It might be the gritty texture that he is not ready for, so he can't get it down. I'm inclined to keep the frozen cubes for next month or so before trying again. I'll play by ear and see how he feels tomorrow. At least I still have some butternut squash and avocado as back-up.
"I'd much prefer this."
