Auntie Houmous Vs. Nephew Sauce: Culinary Clash of the Titans
Ah, parenting by proxy—a noble and sometimes hilariously horrifying endeavor. Today, we’re diving into a Reddit saga that hit me harder than a spoon of peanut butter on a dry mouth. Yes, my dear readers, grab your hummus (or as they spell it, ‘houmous’) and Worcestershire sauce because this story is an irresistible cocktail of culinary catastrophe. Spoiler alert: not all dips are created equal.
The Setting: An Ordinary Lunchtime
Meet our players: a savvy aunt (let’s call her Houmous Hermione) and her 11-year-old ‘nephew’ (Little Saucy Sam). So, Sam is over at Hermione’s house for a lunch date. And what does Hermione whip up? Houmous, with its usual entourage of bread, feta cubes, and veggie sticks. Here enters our plot twist—our audacious Sam wants a sprinkle of Worcestershire sauce on his houmous. A bold choice, you might think. An unhinged one, I say.
The Decision
Houmous Hermione, being a diligent aunt, asks the million-dollar question: “Have you done that before?” Predictably, the answer is no. She then suggests starting with a small portion to try it out. But our Little Saucy Sam is no half-measure man. With the confidence of a MasterChef finalist sans skills, he insists on going all in.
The Disaster
Surprise, surprise—Worcestershire sauce and houmous are about as compatible as oil and water. The kid can’t stomach it, and guess who he turns to for a culinary bailout? That’s right, good old Aunt Hermione. To which she delivers a gentle reminder of the pre-lunch agreement—if you asked for it, you eat it. Wouldn’t you know it, this gets her branded ‘the most horrible aunt ever.’
The Fallout
Mama Bear, otherwise known as Hermione’s friend, swoops in, talons out, accusing Hermione of letting her precious boy starve. To clarify—to say the kid would ‘starve’ is like saying he’s planning a solo trip to Mars. There were still bread, feta, and veggies galore to nibble on. He wasn’t set up for a day-long fast but rather for a not-so-delightful game of ‘eat what you’ve ruined.’
The Reddit Verdict
For those not in the know, Reddit is the place where unsolicited opinions go to thrive. And the consensus? Well, let’s just say the commentariat deemed Hermione ‘Not the Asshole’ (NTA), a title as ceremonious as it sounds. But wait, there’s more—like any good soap opera, we get a little character development. Hermione acknowledges she could have been firmer in her initial ‘try a little first’ stance. Moreover, she clarifies that she didn’t mean to threaten the poor kid into finishing the vile concoction but hoped to nudge him towards culinary accountability.
Roger’s Sassy Take
Oh, sweet Hermione, you dance on the fine line of culinary tough love. Listen, I’m all for letting the kiddos face the consequences of their culinary curiosity. This is a life lesson served with a side of Worcestershire sauce. Now, dragging the mum brigade into this—dear lord, no good can come from that. But fret not, for you’ve got the Reddit council at your back.
Here’s my spicy Roger’s take on this: Dear Mom of Saucy Sam, it’s not starvation; it’s a tactical withdrawal from an ill-advised flavor battle. Your kid won’t waste away missing one random lunch, especially not when there’s edible bread and cheese on the table. Heck, half of us subsist on coffee and existential dread till dinner.
And to Saucy Sam, my young culinary innovator, sometimes your taste buds just aren’t ready for the world’s culinary smorgasbord. Be adventurous, yes! But also, understand that not every adventure ends with a treasure chest. Sometimes, it ends with a terrible sauce on otherwise delightful houmous.
In summary, you done good, Hermione. The sauce didn’t kill him, the veggies filled him, and guess what? He walked away with a dash of accountability. Not every meal is a Michelin-star event, but every moment can be a teaching one.
Original story
He (11M) is the child of my friend, I refer to him as my nephew because he calls me Auntie.
He was at my house and I made some houmous (also known as hummus.) He asked if he could put some Worcestershire sauce on his; I asked if that’s something he’s had on it before, he replied no, I offered to give him a small portion to try it first, he insisted he likes it and wants it.
I told him that in that case, even if he didn’t like it, I expected him to eat it all.
Surprise, Worcestershire sauce and houmous is not a winning combination. He wanted to leave it and have me make him something else, I reminded him that I expected him to eat it after he was so insistent on having it.
I conceded I couldn’t force him to eat it but I wouldn’t be making something else.
I’m now the most horrible aunt ever and my friend is angry that I let her son ‘starve’ (this was lunchtime, she was picking him up at 5.30pm to return home, he wasn’t going to waste away.
) I don’t honestly think I’m wrong here but maybe I am?
Edit: I’m advised to add the following that I replied to a question – there was also bread and celery and carrot and cucumber sticks, and feta cubes. He did eat the bread and feta cubes so there wasn’t no food, just not as much as originally intended.
Second Edit: First, addressing a few common topics:
that’s a pretty normal sized lunch in my country, it’s more food than I’d generally eat for lunch, and it’s a similar size to the lunches his mother feeds him; I call it houmous because the standard spelling in my country – it’s an accepted variation, people! 😂
Thank you for overall voting me NTA, although I suspect it was close and I have read all the comments and taken them on board. As a few people guessed, my friend got the “I ate nothing all day” version from my nephew, and once she heard the extended version of events she was no longer particularly upset.
I agree I could have been as insistent that he try a small bit as I was that I wasn’t replacing it if he didn’t like it, and apologised to him for that; I also apologised for the ‘you will finish it’ – that was never what I meant. He now understands why it was suggested that he experiments with a small bit, and accepts he could and should have taken that advice.
He also apologised for wasting it, although whilst I don’t like food waste that wasn’t my main concern.