Intro to my Cookbook

So anyway, about this cookbook of mine.  It started out as a family history project to document the food and stories of the immigrants in my family.  A sort of family album of American cooking and life.  I did a little bit of genealogy, collected old photographs, and started raiding my relatives’ recipe boxes, trying to recreate old dishes.  Some go as far back as the 1800s. 

I also sat down and tried to get people talking about things like World War II, the Depression, the family dynamics of the time.  Things that had a huge impact on how we ate and lived.  I also excerpted old memoirs from the family and had some people write down their stories.  What I ended up with is a fascinating glimpse into food and family life before today.  And I think it’s not just interesting because these people are my family, but because they’re characters, and a lot of how they lived is applicable to other immigrant families. 

So, I started with the Italian side.  Luckily, my grandmother (Nonni) is still around to help me document these recipes (most of which aren’t written down), so we can have conversations like this:

Her: You put potatoes in this?  Why did you put potatoes in here?

Me: I thought that’s what you did.

Her: I don’t put potatoes in this.

Me: You don’t?  But you told me you did.  See, I wrote it down.  Two potatoes.

Her: No, not in this.  I would never say that.

Later, although the grandparents on the other side of my family are gone, I began doing the same thing for my relatives with roots in Appalachia, as well as my Acadian relatives who emigrated from Nova Scotia and settled around Boston.  Lots of people contributed, so I have a good collection of old recipes from both the North and South of the Mason-Dixon line.  And as our family grew, new immigrants joined the ranks, from South Africa to Armenia.

For the purposes of this blog, I won’t bore you with the details nobody cares about but me.  I will, however, bore you with the recipes because, well, why stop now.

Since this is a blog and there are no rules, I’m going to do this my way.  I’m starting with the Italians.  Why?  Because they rule.  I declare Fridays to be Cookbook Fridays, wherein I will post one page from the cookbook.  That way the octogenarians in my family have the whole weekend to get their high-speed modems in order, check out all the porn that’s accumulated in their inbox during the week, and finally meander their way over to my web site.

Oh look, tomorrow’s Friday.  Guess I’ll have to get my rear in gear.  However, you should know that if my relatives are going to be visiting this site, there are going to have to be some changes around here.  For one thing, there’s going to have to be a LOT more swearing.

First Recipe: Friselles

Comments

[cookiecrumb]

So, you're giving your cookbook away on your blog?
Man, we are so lucky. Well, I think.

[ilva]

Are you sure about this? It seems like such a great idea for a real cookbook. Why don't you publish it with Lulu or something? Anyway, I have a new reason to live now, one Friday at a time, I will be able to hanker on in this miserable life.

[Tammy]

I know it must be hard to live that miserable Tuscan lifestyle! I will try to self-publish if I get nowhere with the book proposal. In the meantime, nothing is too good, or potentially too scary, for my loyal readers.

[Sister]

Yea! More swearing!

[Sally]

What a wonderful idea! I do hope you can get your book published. But, like Ilva said, you can always self publish. I'd buy it - if only for the history.

[Ani]

Hi, I just stumbled across this site and I wanted to say how wonderful it is to find recipes I've been looking for a long time. I'm also in the midst of collecting recipes so I can prepare dishes that I used to eat as a child. I try to get as many recipes from my mother as much as my hand will permit me to write. I'm half Armenian and half Romanian so I try to get recipes from both worlds so I can then pass it on to my kids. Ok so I'm ranting now. Hehe... Well, just wanted to say keep up the great work with this blog and when you do publish your book, please make it known. I'd love to add it to my collection.