Family recipes are considered historical memorabilia passed within the family from generation to generation. In essence, these recipes are a family heritage. People eating meals made from family recipes enjoy a taste of the culture and history that their family has gone through. “Generations of Good Food,” a cookbook by Eleanor Gaccetta, is an excellent example of a cookbook containing family recipes spanning six generations. Eleanor brings to life food recipes, stories of her Italian life, and how family recipes bring the family together around the table.
From Traditional to Modern Day Recipes
Just like the style and technique of cooking, recipes over time have evolved into the modern-day recipes that people know of today. It is hard to pinpoint the exact origin of a recipe, much more so a family recipe. Recipes are made out of a person’s particular taste or liking for a specific ingredient and then developed based on the lifestyle of the current society when that recipe was first thought of. Take, for instance, the Irish people. Potatoes are considered a staple diet in Ireland. This vegetation found its place within Irish soil, growing easily and abundantly. Not only is it easy to grow, but it is also very cheap, making it a mainstay in the diet of the Irish working class and the lower class. Potatoes can be mixed, mashed, and cooked in many different ways. Hence, the abundance of potato recipes. Over the years, Irish potato recipes have evolved. A simple Irish potato soup consisting of large potatoes, Irish butter, onions, garlic, milk, parsley, cheese, and celery has added different ingredients ranging from various vegetables and meat.
Same with traditional family recipes. Traditional family recipes over the years have gone through several changes, depending on the chef’s personal taste and available ingredients in that area. What started as a simple family spaghetti recipe with one meat ingredient in the sauce is now upgraded into a two-meat sauce ingredient.
Connecting the Past and the Present
Evolving family recipes does not necessarily mean letting go of what was initially created. Family recipes are intended to remind future generations of what has occurred in the past and the significant changes that led to the family’s future. A taste of food is a taste of culture and history – a connection between the past and the present. Family recipes are heirlooms, a souvenir to the thought process of what the person cooking is going through. A proof that there is and always will be a connection between the past and the present.
Family recipes also served as an inspiration and motivation to create new recipes. Have you ever gone through an experience when you are eating, then suddenly you get inspired to recreate that dish in your hand? That’s the start of the food evolution, right there.
Going way back, a person’s food palate is primarily influenced by the cooking of their family and peers when growing up. That smell and warmth coming from grandma’s cooking taste like no other. It’s those delicious desserts, specially made with your mom’s twist on them. It’s those moments that come to mind when thinking of family home-cooked meals and family recipes. As the person becomes exposed to the outside world and its different cultures, they start to experience various tastes from these cultures. But it’s always that first taste that the person developed that they go back to. In the person’s longing and the quest for that primary comfort food, they imitate their family recipes and eventually add their own flavor and style they had acquired from being exposed to different cultures – another example of family recipe food evolution.
At the end of the day, it all boils down to the ultimate benefit that a family recipe gives. A family recipe may go through several changes over time, but the essence of its creation remains. And it’s found in the word “family.” A family recipe is meant to be cooked, shared, and passed on within the family. A family recipe is intended to bring the family together. A family recipe is meant to serve as a remembrance of a family’s history. And a family recipe is meant to produce that warm, positive experience that recreates family history and bonding moments repeatedly.
The Happy Hammock 