Envy. We’ve all felt it, haven’t we?

Like while attempting to dine out with young children (having perhaps inhaled a stiff, steadying, purely medicinal apertif beforehand, naturally) and spotting another family across the restaurant, boasting two rosy-cheeked, immaculately dressed little cherubs who are tucking into chilli crab, or delicate slivers of toro drenched in ponzu, or pho topped with coriander and crispy shallots that’s redolent of punchy, pungent fish paste, all without complaint.

Meanwhile, your own child demands of the attentive waiter: “But where are the chips?! I only eat fries!”

It truly is a quandary for the ages, one deserving PhD theses, investigative taskforces, or at least an episode of the X-Files in order to find the answer: how do we encourage children to test their tastebuds? To challenge their palates? To broaden their culinary horizons? To boldly peruse any given menu and select the dish less travelled, without us resorting to swapping their avocado for wasabi and just hoping for the best?

Well, the algorithm that is the fickle appetites of childhood might be easier to unravel than we think. Let me introduce the KISS method: Keep It Stupidly Simple.

Ask yourself: when are children at their very best? Their most adventurous? Their most spirited, most joyful, yet also their most amenable? The answer is simple: when they are at play! So, short of encouraging a food fight at your local Italian, why not let them make a game of their meals? The results might just surprise you.

One of the more successful “appetite awakening exercises” I have employed with my own tribe is a little game affectionately known as “Blind Man’s Banquet”. When next you brave potential catastrophe by taking your progeny out for a meal – or even when it’s just dinner at home – before serving, have your child(ren) close their eyes (no peeking, on threat of no dessert!) and offer them small spoonfuls of the different components of the meal prepared: a small scoop of meat, of peas, of gravy, a combination of all.

Now ask them to tell you what they taste, in a manner not dissimilar to sampling wine: sweetness, nuttiness, heat, tanginess, saltiness, etc. Prompt them to offer details on temperature, texture, and descriptions outside the realms of food like earthy, sunny, loud, fizzy, zingy and smooth.

Once they get the idea, challenge them with foods beyond their usual repertoire. I’m talking about the kind of dishes that, if offered in the usual setting, would induce an outbreak of psychosomatic hives in my lot. Sample curries, chilli, unusual marinades and sauces. Experiment with different styles of cuisine – the complexity of Thai flavours, the aromas of Indian spices – and help them to express what they taste. Suggest verbs and adjectives that broaden not only their vocabulary, but also their knowledge and appreciation of food, where it comes from, and its power to inspire, excite and communicate.

Kids will love the novelty of eating a meal in this manner, and the challenge of finding the best words to describe what they taste. You’ll love how fearlessly they will sample, and enjoy, proteins, vegetables, grains and spices you generally could not pay them to eat.

It’s human nature to eat first with our eyes: the aesthetic of what’s on our plates, and its presentation, whets the appetite just as surely as the tang of vinegar on hot chips, or the scintillating scent of a freshly-popped cork. In the case of children, however, the very appearance of food can have an equally powerful effect in the opposite direction, shutting down their appetite as effectively as sour milk. Foods that appear unfamiliar, have a texture alien to what they are used to, or just look “yucky” are deemed unpalatable by children before even passing their lips. Remove the visual and you open up a whole new world of possibilities. For kids, appearance can cloud perception. Take that away, and they will experience the merits of different foods based purely on the taste profile and texture.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: in all things, encourage your child’s imagination to run wild. Capture not just their attention, but also their curiosity. That’s the key to unlocking their appetite.

Change is the spice of life, but fear of change, fear of the new and fear of the different are all prominent aspects of childhood, especially when it comes to food. But with a few simple strategies, your little people will learn to push their boundaries. Before you know it, you could be the object of envious glances from across the restaurant as another harried parent tries valiantly to convince their child to eat something other than chips!