Nancy,

My husband is Vietnamese, and his family also chews the food for babies
when they start solids.  When this conversation came up between us
(BC---before children), I did think it was "gross".  A few years later, I
was doing the same thing for my children.  My older one also did it for
her younger siblings.  It seemed the natural thing to do---nothing
"gross" about it.  No messing with store brought baby foods nor making my
own.  In my husband's family, an adult will do this for any child in the
family.

Aloha,
Gloria Thai  LLLLeader Hawai'i