Way too long ago for mine. DD was into "no solids untill six months" and then normal foods mashed down enough not to choke on. sweet potato and avocado were what he tried first.
DD was of the let him just use his fingers first. "Baby led weaning is the term.
I don't know if it was anything to do with the self service approach, but now at 33mnths he likes all sorts of different foods we would never have dreamt of giving to our babies. At 10mths his day care were giving the babies such stuff as lasagne and garlic bread and lentil dals.
He now enjoys the odd olive. It makes him very easy to cater for.