The worst mistake you can make.

     Now it may be presumptuous of me to say this is the worst mistake you can make. I suppose a worse mistake would be to get the picky eater to eat by flinging peas into his mouth using a spoon as a trebuchet. But only just behind that is the all too common proclamation made in an attempt to get the child to eat, which in reality doesn't convince. To tell a picky eater "You can't even taste it" is a grave error made all too often.

     First of all, you have no idea whether I can taste it or not. You probably like the taste of whatever it is already, so having a slight bit of that flavor means nothing to you. However, for the picky eaters like me, it's an obvious change to what the meal could have been. We all have different tastes and tolerances, so maybe you truly can't taste those carrots in the soup, but to me they stick out worse than a clown at Sunday service.

      Second, it feels like an attack. It isn't going to be the same for everyone, but when I get told "You can't taste it" what I hear is "What is wrong with you? Why can't you eat like a normal person?" Not only is that depressing, but it also completely puts me off to whatever is now being put in front of me. I will dislike this food even if I can't taste whatever ingredient was originally putting me off.

    Rather than try to convince the eater that the ingredient has no taste, acknowledge that it's in there, and ask them to give it a shot. Highlight what is in the recipe that they like (hopefully it contains something  that they like, because otherwise there is next to no chance of this working out) and, if possible, make the pieces of the ingredient small so that the flavor has the best chance of actually "disappearing".