Recreating a tradition. Sort of.

    So it's the time of year when we cook and dine together.  The 'holiday season'.  We share everything from cookies to turkey and the recipes to make them.  Not that they ever come out the same as say our mother's, neighbor's or best friend's did.  They look the same and have the same or similar name but as you take your first taste the reality hits you.  That's not my mom's recipe!  Well maybe it was but something gets lost in translation.  That one ingredient or maybe not enough of that one ingredient throws it off.  Maybe the altitude or humidity was different.  My mother wouldn't make strudel if the humidity wasn't right.  I don't know how she knew because she didn't have a barometer.  It was usually cloudy and her strudel was always great.  Mom's have a way of knowing when to do things and how to bake and cook without measuring.  Not that everything came out great, but it was usually great because my mom made it.  Probably the same for you.
     Anyways we were at a cookie exchange recently and my wife brought me a cookie and said 'Here's those cookies you like!'  It didn't look like the crescent cookies my mom made but there were similarities.  So I took a bite (unfortunately in front of the creator--not God, but the lady who made them you sillyhead!).  I couldn't spit it out and it really wasn't that bad but it wasn't the memory of the cookie I remember my mom making.  The memory, that's what I really wanted and got for one fleeting second before it hit my tongue.  If only I hadn't taken that bite.  I could relish in the memory.  I could smell, see and almost taste what I thought I might get to enjoy once more.  Alas it was not to be.
     I think everyone has the best interest in recreating the recipes that we grow up enjoying but either our mom's made things different, or we can't find the right ingredients or maybe we're just lousy cooks.  I also think if we focus on our favorite food from our childhood we can avoid disappointing each other and do our parents proud by making that dish as close to theirs as possible.  I think we try to do too much and thus everything suffers.  Could I suggest we pick that favorite dish, dig out that recipe and really do it justice.  I know you can't read your mom's writing or the paper is greasy and torn and your sister disagrees with you about how much sugar it calls for but just focus!
     So now you have your favorite childhood recipe and you've gathered all the ingredients.  Now make it.  Not once or twice but make it until it's what you had way back when.  Tweak it until you like it.  If you have to start in July to make the perfect Christmas cookie, then start in July.  Our moms could cook and bake without measuring because they did it a lot.  They practiced it evey time they made it.  Their first time probably wasn't great either.  So like anything you make I would suggest you practice.  But  have fun doing it.  That's why you should make your favorite.  That way you'll probably like it even if it isn't perfect.  Now go practice.  Just not on me please!

Until we eat again,
Jake

Introducing 'Palatable Digest'!

Hello World!

My name is Jake and my blog will be about everything FOOD.  I love food.  I am a chef, entrepeneur, consultant and foodie.  My blog will cover everything from my dining experiences to cooking tips to the latest information available about food and food products.  Let me know what you like to eat, where you like to imbibe and I'll do the same with you.  In future posts I'll let you know how you can access my restaurant consulting services as well as the latest, greatest places to dine.

Until we eat again,
Jake