ReTRo HouSeWiFe

DEAR RETRO HOUSEWIFE

Husbands

Hungry Hubby, 2007-08-11

Dear Retro Housewife,

How do you cook for a husband that is hard to please? For example he does not eat left-over's, and dislikes American food. He hates the stuff I have cooked in the past, matter of fact he got so sick of it he threw away all of my cookware and "yucky food" that was in the fridge. Now he wants me to start cooking again. What do I do?

RE: Hungry Hubby

Dear Cassandra,

The simplest way to figure out what he wants to eat is to ask him. If he doesn't know the name of the dishes he prefers, ask his mother if she is still around, or another relative who knows how to cook for some basic recipes and menu ideas. I am going to make a guess that his (and possibly your) ethnicity is Hungarian? (Goulash is delicious and a good place to start, btw.)

It worries me a bit that he threw out your cookware, and the food. It is a bit abusive and needs to stop. Sit him down and tell him you are happy to try to adapt to his tastes, but that he needs to control himself, have patience and be supportive. A little encouragement can go a long way, and will make it much more likely that he will like the result.

If I have guessed correctly with Hungarian, then he will probably like Hungarian food  (I will put up some more recipes soon),  and most likely other Slavic cuisine such as Polish, Russian Bulgarian, Czech etc. and most likely Romanian, German and Austrian recipes will appeal to him as well.

RH

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