Parents with different nationalities, what do you still make?
My dad was Hispanic and was raised in the barrios of San Francisco and my mother is British…military family. I spent 18 years of my youth in England and returned back to the States at age 19.
My mother was and still is an outstanding cook, baker, and taught me everything I know. Back then, she tried to make recipes to the tastes my dad preferred while dealing with the poverty level income that a military man at that time made with a family of 8.
Back in the USA, mom came up with some strange but wonderful dishes, like chile made with ground beef, kidney beans, onions, garlic, etc and served over mashed potatoes.
My question is this. Has anyone grown up with mixed heritage parents? How has the melding of cuisines colored your current culinary lifestyle. If so, what recipes were adapted to meet both tastes?
Add a comment:
Previewing your comment:
HTML Hints
Some HTML is OK: <a href="URL">link</a>, <strong>strong</strong>, <em>em</em>
Comment Guidelines
Post whatever you want, just keep it seriously about eats, seriously. We reserve the right to delete off-topic or inflammatory comments. Learn more at our Comment Policy page.
If you see something not so nice, please, report an inappropriate comment.
Start Talking!
Need a question answered? Have advice to share? Start a Talk topic now!
Sign up to get your questions answered and share advice.
18 Comments:
Mother = Austrian/Italian
Father+ Hungarian with some Gypsey
I am first generation and had a very strange up bringing. But I would not ever change it for anything. I had so much more culture with foods then you can think so i feel like I got massive of of some worlds. I grew up with alot of Hungarian/Austrian/Italian and American dishes, and my parents introduced me to other countries cuisines, so I feel I am blessed with many different tastes
pjracz10 at 4:05AM on 12/19/08
My father grew up on a small Greek island the size of a postage stamp, and was taught by the example of his mother that a wife's job was to have her life revolve around cooking for the family. He also grew up with very rigid food preferences and believed the man's preferences should dictate what was served.
My mother grew up in an Italian/Irish/Jewish-American household with very chaotic food access.
Needless to say, she could never live up to my father's standards and also had a very different palate from his--he liked octopus, she liked steak. He liked mountains of extra cheese, she liked to watch her weight.
So the unhelpful answer is that we ate out. A lot. And went over to my grandmother's on Christmas Day, where a buffet of lunch meats and cheeses and dried fruits and cookies were served, to please everyone.
HeartofGlass at 8:22AM on 12/19/08
My mother was British and my dad was a Newfoundlander (before joining Canada) - they met during the war and she moved back to NL with him. She was (and still is, at 83) a wonderful cook - she cooked perfect roasts, with a different sauce, i.e. bread sauce, onion sauce, parsley and egg, for every dish, lots of perfectly cooked veg. and greens. Dad grew up with root vegetables, potatoes, carrots, turnips and cabbage - that was all that grew in the harsh climate, and in his day, there weren't lots of imports! We had great meals of "boiled dinner" which consisted of all those veg. boiled with salted beef (mostly from Argentina which was traded for fish) and things like "fish and brewis" which was salted cod, hard tack bread (soaked overnight to soften, then cooked with the cod, then mixed with fried scruncheons, bits of salt pork) - after 50 years, we still cook up the odd Newfoundland meal, delicious - I have benefitted from the diversity in my culinary experience from both my parents and my children and grandchildren enjoy some of these meals still.
bareneed at 9:43AM on 12/19/08
My mom is Korean and my Dad is American, from German and Irish descent.
I think after my parents got married, they bought an early 80's addition of the Betty Crocker cookbook and it led to some pretty gross dinners.
Both grew up rather impoverished- my dad's from a large (12 kids) Irish-Catholic family from Podunk, NY and my mother grew up following the Korean War.
We always had more than enough but they were always very shrewd.
My dad's a very big meat and potatoes guy, and my mom liked spicy food. So take any hunk of red meat (the chewiest, toughest slab) and throw too much black pepper on it, bake it for hours, and that would be our dinner.
Luckily, my mom also makes some *amazing* stir frys that I am unable to reproduce, and I wish I were. A little dash of this, a little dash of that and presto it's delicious! Me, not so much.
My dad's still very meat and potatoes kind of guy, but it was adapted to mesh into our Korean meals because he'll eat the bulgogi (marinated beef) and white rice, and we can have as many panchan (small side dishes of Korean food) as we want.
machellebelle at 9:49AM on 12/19/08
@bareneed: There's nothing like a good Newfoundlander meal. I've still never tried figgy duff but it's on my list of things to try.
CanadianFoodieGirl at 12:04PM on 12/19/08
all sounds great above.......
my mom - ukrainian - lots of pork, lots of pork, lots of pork, stuffed cabbage, pork, beets, cabbage (kapusta), chicken paprikash, pierogi, palacinta (crepes), pork, bacon, bean soups, pork, dumplings, pork.
my dad - sicilian - caponata, fish, linguini aglio-olio, fish, salads, garlic, pasta with lentils, gaguzza, vegetables, fish, eggplant with pasta, fish, snails, mussels, clams, calamari. stuffed artichokes, fish, fish soup with galic and parsley, tomato salads, fish. cassata.
my favorite foods: all of the above.
pooch at 12:40PM on 12/19/08
@machellebelle - I'm Korean, adopted as a baby by Caucasian (American) parents. Bulgogi is the only thing my mother ever mastered, except she cooks it in an electric skillet (the square kind with legs and a lid that plug in) and spells it with a "P" (pulgogi). I want to come eat panchan at your house. =)
(I married a guy who is 1/2 Dutch and 1/2 French/Scottish/English, and his mother can't cook. So my kids are out of luck as far as really cool fusion dishes.)
akk328 at 2:58PM on 12/19/08
My mother is Polish and my father is Irish. Growing up, I don't think I ever ate a meal that didn't feature cabbage, potatoes, or both.
And I can't forget to mention when the cultures collided.... Irish boiled dinner on St. Patricks day turned into corned beef, cabbage, and potato pierogis on several occasions.
Na zdrowie!
nosillak at 3:12PM on 12/19/08
@CanadianFoodieGirl, yes, some of the traditional Newfoundland meals are delicious. I have fond memories of fish cakes, and meat cakes and cods tongues, and white puddings as well as the other stuff I mentioned. My Mom used to make Figgie Duff, all the time - it is a boiled pudding with sauce and is similar to a British, "spotted dick" - strangely enough, there is not a fig in sight!
bareneed at 4:18PM on 12/19/08
My father's first generation Sicilian, and my mother's mainly Norwegian, with a smidge of French. They come from COMPLETELY different backgrounds, not only ethnicity-wise (mother's father was a professor and executive, father's father was a farmer with a 4th grade education) so there's definitely a huge difference in our traditions. I learned to cook from two sources: my mother, who's a great cook, but cooks mostly old school American, with a little Norwegian thrown in, and my dad's mother, who's hardcore Italian. I find I actually make Italian food really well, (something in the blood?) much better than my mom, even though she tries! But I'm pretty well-rounded, cause I do know stuff my nonna never did (pies, chili, a variety of Norweigan desserts, pot roast).
So long story short, I think I tend to cook more Italian food than anything else, because I'm comfortable with it, it's relatively cheap, and I love love love it, but I'm also always down for some chicken pot pie or meatloaf. Also, I think the variety has left me more open to exploring different culinary experiences - I'm not afraid to try stuff like making my first curry, or my own tortillas, especially since I feel pretty masterful about the styles I grew up with.
embolini9 at 4:43PM on 12/19/08
mother - French-Canadian. very small Ontario town. limited vegetable knowledge. really. eggplant and squash were new to her.
father - Indian (Hindu). lacto-vegetarian who eats onions to fit in with my mother's cooking.
Huge education for my mother. New spices, new veggies, new culture. New things for my dad to try too... he tried fish and chicken and will eat them sparingly.
As for me and my sister, we both love different foods and trying new things. We like some things quite spicy but can appreciate a simple pepper spiced new england boiled dinner too. But the main way they influenced me, is the rule that big meals must be eaten with other family members. Cannot go sit alone and eat if someone is awake and nearby without inviting them, even if you know they may not be hungry.
blizcheetah at 11:21PM on 12/19/08
I wish my parents had been from different cultures, but the best it got was that when they were young marrieds, they lived in an apartment building where a lot of ethnic immigrants lived. Europeans, from what I gather. My father picked up bits and useless pieces of different languages, and my mother got cooking tips from the women. I don't recall her ever making anything that was strictly from another ethnic culture, but I'm sure that some of her cooking was influenced by those cultures in subtle ways.
dbcurrie at 11:38PM on 12/19/08
It is ironic that I met and married a Hispanic man. While dating, I tried to impress him with my home cooking. One day making my traditional Sunday roast...gravy, Yorkshire pud, sprouts, and my delectible gravy (I'm proud of my gravy and stand by my boast)...anyway, I retrieved something from the kitchen and noticed he had pulled out a bottle of Tabasco and slathered it all over his roast beef, mash and gravy. I was horrified!! Sadly, after 22 years of marriage..I have learned to turn a blind eye on his peculiar additions to my tradional dishes. I guess that is true love...although...when there is gravy to be served, I hide the hot sauce.
lamora at 12:13AM on 12/20/08
my mom is japanese, and my dad is american (mostly irish). while i was growing up, my mom's mom asked me which i liked more, potatoes or rice, my guess is to assess my cultural identity. being the diplomat that i am, i told her that i really like them both the same. she nodded he head and seemed to accept that answer.
i cook a lot of japanese food, more than my mother ever did. i'm just trying to learn from my grandma while i still have the opportunity.
erichichi at 9:46AM on 12/20/08
My mom is American (her parents are Polish) and my dad is Israeli, and we definitely have a melding of the two. We have olives, pickles and chick peas (Israeli) and cabbage (more Polish) on the table for every meal. We eat a lot of cucumbers and parsley and hummus. I love falafel and pretty much every Middle Eastern food and snack. My mom's cooking is pretty much typical Jewish style chicken soup, brisket, and chicken. My dad will take those and add some yogurt, eggs or cucumbers and dill and make them distinctly Israeli.
jrmanor at 11:26AM on 12/20/08
Mother = Korean
Father = English, Irish, Scottish German
We didn't have a lot of money growing up so a lot of our meals were typical lower/middle class fare. Hamburger Helper (we all still love zesty italian), various casseroles, meat w/ potato and canned veggie and the occasional trip to a fast food place.
But about once every two months or so my parents would take us to Madison to visit a little Korean grocery where my mom could stock up on whatever they could afford (kimchi making supplies, noodles, sauces, fish, etc) and then we would have our "Korean Meal" with a full spread. My dad eats pretty much everything my mom cooks because she rocks! Now they can afford to eat anything they want without the pinch so they mix it up pretty regularly.
bobfole at 12:06AM on 12/21/08
I was raised by my dear Nana, and she was from the deep south. My grandfather was Yugoslavian (and my other grandmother was Hungarian). Nana was a wonderful and adventurous cook with lots of traditional southern food - fried chicken, greens of every kind, fried green tomatoes, great mac and cheese, the absolute best spare ribs I've ever eaten, chicken fried steak (frying was done in a huge cast iron skillet that must have been a zillion years old and every meal was accompanied by either biscuits or cornbread, and usually a white cream gravy). She branched out into Serbian dishes and I remember a wonderful bean soup with kielbasa and something she called "Serbian Ravioli." Also something I remember she called "shevacheechi" or something like that, which was ground meat shaped into small rolls. I LOVED that dish. There was stuffed cabbage and stuffed peppers, and lots of sauerkraut dishes. Boy, what great memories! Thank you for this topic.
sandydee8 at 11:34AM on 12/22/08
Italian/Irish
I never realized that I was "eating Italian" growing up. I didn't realize that what my grandmother was cooking was regional food until I watched Mario Batali make the same dishes on Molto Mario. And she never made a dish the same way twice--it was always different, depending on what was available. We had corned beef and cabbage on St Patrick's day--that's about it.
Donnamarie at 2:30PM on 12/22/08