PREP WORK: FOOD THAT CONNECTS THE PAST, PRESENT & FUTURE
Food.
It has been a staple of life since the beginning of time–one of the necessities in the daily lives of people around the world. This essential, originally only a source of energy for the consumer, has been transformed throughout the centuries to serve different needs to different cultures.
Ranging from elaborate ancient tea ceremonies in Japan to the early Thanksgiving feasts of the Pilgrims, food has served a secondary purpose beyond preserving life; it has in fact preserved our very cultures. Food links us all through traditions, through times of celebration and times of great hardship. It shows up at religious events, at festivals, at family gatherings. It can bring us back to childhood memories…
Biting into that sugary cupcake that instantly transports us back to elementary school birthday celebrations. Taking a sip from a mug of hot chocolate evokes memories of lazy snow days with neighbors.
Food connects us to people and places in our lives both now and from the past.
The other day, I was sitting with my mom while she made dinner in the kitchen, and noticed she was making a recipe that was printed on an older piece of paper. Looking closer, I saw that it was a printed-out email from my grandma, sent on September 12, 2001. It was her pesto recipe, and the text in the subject line read “To make these tough days a little easier.”
This got me thinking. If, even in the immediate aftermath of one of the worst disasters in our country, my grandma was focusing not on the fact that her family was in potential danger but on making sure they had a tasty recipe to enjoy, then the power of the recipe was something to take note of.
It made me curious: what other family secrets and history is linked to the food we enjoy?
So, I pulled up a chair, climbed up to reach the very top shelf in our kitchen where my mom keeps our recipe box, and proceeded to look through to see what else was there.
And I was amazed.
Almost every recipe was either handwritten on an index card by a family member or a close family friend, or printed out with a personal note attached saying something along the lines of “this is one of our favorites! Make sure you guys try this one out next!”
Our family recipe box, filled to the brim with old recipe cards from family members and close friends. I intend to uncover the secrets behind them!
The number of personal messages, the time taken to write down and get these simple lists of ingredients and directions to our family, and the fact that these had been preserved over the years, testifies to the power of the family recipes. So much history and so many memories are contained in each and every index card.
I intend to discover all I can about them.
This is my challenge: to look through all of these old recipes that were passed down through the generations, and to discover just what they all truly entail. Yes, I will be doing a lot of cooking, but I want this to go beyond a generic cooking blog.
I want this to be about discovery of my family history, and bringing back the memories and traditions associated with each recipe. I want to learn the emotional sides–to talk to the ones who wrote the recipes and learn what their experiences with the food are, and how they were incorporated into their lives. I want to make my own memories with these recipes, and be able to create a lasting connection with my family today that will hopefully span many generations, as others have in the past.
Through the power of food, I hope to draw my family closer together, and discover what makes us special–giving ourselves a “second helping” of the food and the traditions of our ancestors.
So come along with me, share in the experience, and let’s see what we can discover.
It has been a staple of life since the beginning of time–one of the necessities in the daily lives of people around the world. This essential, originally only a source of energy for the consumer, has been transformed throughout the centuries to serve different needs to different cultures.
Ranging from elaborate ancient tea ceremonies in Japan to the early Thanksgiving feasts of the Pilgrims, food has served a secondary purpose beyond preserving life; it has in fact preserved our very cultures. Food links us all through traditions, through times of celebration and times of great hardship. It shows up at religious events, at festivals, at family gatherings. It can bring us back to childhood memories…
Biting into that sugary cupcake that instantly transports us back to elementary school birthday celebrations. Taking a sip from a mug of hot chocolate evokes memories of lazy snow days with neighbors.
Food connects us to people and places in our lives both now and from the past.
The other day, I was sitting with my mom while she made dinner in the kitchen, and noticed she was making a recipe that was printed on an older piece of paper. Looking closer, I saw that it was a printed-out email from my grandma, sent on September 12, 2001. It was her pesto recipe, and the text in the subject line read “To make these tough days a little easier.”
This got me thinking. If, even in the immediate aftermath of one of the worst disasters in our country, my grandma was focusing not on the fact that her family was in potential danger but on making sure they had a tasty recipe to enjoy, then the power of the recipe was something to take note of.
It made me curious: what other family secrets and history is linked to the food we enjoy?
So, I pulled up a chair, climbed up to reach the very top shelf in our kitchen where my mom keeps our recipe box, and proceeded to look through to see what else was there.
And I was amazed.
Almost every recipe was either handwritten on an index card by a family member or a close family friend, or printed out with a personal note attached saying something along the lines of “this is one of our favorites! Make sure you guys try this one out next!”
Our family recipe box, filled to the brim with old recipe cards from family members and close friends. I intend to uncover the secrets behind them!
The number of personal messages, the time taken to write down and get these simple lists of ingredients and directions to our family, and the fact that these had been preserved over the years, testifies to the power of the family recipes. So much history and so many memories are contained in each and every index card.
I intend to discover all I can about them.
This is my challenge: to look through all of these old recipes that were passed down through the generations, and to discover just what they all truly entail. Yes, I will be doing a lot of cooking, but I want this to go beyond a generic cooking blog.
I want this to be about discovery of my family history, and bringing back the memories and traditions associated with each recipe. I want to learn the emotional sides–to talk to the ones who wrote the recipes and learn what their experiences with the food are, and how they were incorporated into their lives. I want to make my own memories with these recipes, and be able to create a lasting connection with my family today that will hopefully span many generations, as others have in the past.
Through the power of food, I hope to draw my family closer together, and discover what makes us special–giving ourselves a “second helping” of the food and the traditions of our ancestors.
So come along with me, share in the experience, and let’s see what we can discover.