Keeping our culinary traditions alive

FOOD TRADITIONS play a huge role in our families. What we eat, when we eat and what we cook are a significant part of our earliest memories, and they follow us through our lives. 

Many of us try to preserve and continue those family traditions and memories. It’s the reason that so many organizations compile favorite recipes into cookbooks, which are in high demand. The Sandra Borstein Holocaust Education Resource Center, right here in Providence, is putting together a cookbook of memories from families connected to the Holocaust (see page 16). 

I’m pretty sure you have a cookbook on your shelf, from your synagogue or another group, that you turn to for some of your favorite recipes. And this interest in food traditions is one of the reasons that food influencers are a huge attraction on social media. They give you a peek into their lives and traditions. 

A person’s heritage is often revealed by what foods he or she prepares and eats. And your meals are influenced by family and friends, of course. You may also prepare the foods of your youth. Or you may stay away from certain foods because you don’t enjoy them or were forced to eat them when you were young. 

Families often merge their traditions, coming up with new ones or celebrating each in its own way. There’s a little of that in my own family. I still make my mother’s brisket recipe for each holiday, and sometimes for meals in between. I’m so glad we wrote it down a long time ago! And we have a video of my mom making matzoh balls with my niece from several years ago. She was over 90 at the time, but we still make them her way, creating fluffy nuggets of deliciousness (we are not a sinker family). 

I also make a sweet noodle kugel I learned to prepare in high school. It’s simple. No cottage cheese. No pineapple. No crunchy bits on top. But it’s a hit whenever I serve it. My sister makes a grandmother’s kugel that’s completely different. We’re sisters, but we have our own traditions! 

So, before Passover this year, when a close friend and I got out our calendars to decide when we would have time to bake mandelbread, I realized we’d started a new tradition. Actually, it’s not so new anymore. We’ve been baking this Passover treat for more than 30 years, through several houses and new kitchens. We’ve persevered through family emergencies, trips and last-minute illnesses. And on the rare occasions when we couldn’t bake together, one of us bakes and makes enough to share with the other’s family. It’s just not Passover without our mandelbread at the end of the seder (and in my family, it is very much in demand with coffee or tea at breakfast). 

Through the years, both families decided to forego the nuts in the original recipe. Now, we use tiny chocolate chips. A couple of years ago, I experimented with cinnamon chips (OK, not great). We ended up going back to our original. After more than 30 years, we aren’t inclined to do much more experimenting with the recipe. 

We both have adult children, and I wonder if they will continue the tradition in their families. So far, they prefer to lean on our Passover contributions. 

Food, cooking and recipes are an important part of family and tradition. What are your traditions? Have you taken steps to preserve them and pass them on to the next generation or the generations beyond? I’m very thankful we have managed to keep  the culinary heritage of my family alive and as a vibrant part of our family gatherings. 

Fran Ostendorf,

Editor