Preserving the Family Legacy, One Recipe at a Time
Somewhere over the last few years, this urgency to write down all of my mom’s recipes began burning inside of me. It started as me wanting to collect recipes that my dad taught her before he passed away in 1996. My father was a chef in Cuba before he immigrated to the United States in 1973. My dad passed away when I was 12 years old and in a feverish attempt to hold onto him, I wanted to collect as many of his recipes as I could.
What started as a passion project to remember my dad evolved into finding a new way to pass down my culture to my son. Over time, I also began collecting my mom’s Colombian recipes. My mom immigrated to the United States from Colombia when she was only 18 years old, and many of her recipes come from my grandmother and extended family in Colombia.
Growing up, a typical dinner was white rice, red or black beans, some sort of meat and fried sweet plantains. On our Thanksgiving menus were lechón, not turkey, and flan instead of pumpkin pie. On Christmas Eve, we celebrate with carne en polvo, arepas and chicharrón. Growing up, I realized how much of our culture is passed down through the food we eat – all foods rich in flavor and tradition that I want to pass down to my son and future generations.
The process of collecting these recipes has been interesting. My mom does not believe in measuring spoons and does not have a single recipe written down. She seasons until it feels right. Luckily, she loves the idea of teaching me these recipes and cooking with me. It’s given us an opportunity to bond and learn from one another. We’ll decide on a recipe days before and make a plan. I’ll go to her house and stand next to her with a pen and notepad in the kitchen while she works her magic.
As she cooks, I take notes and write everything from cooking times to measurements. She’ll have me chop potatoes or stir the rice. In those moments, I’m transported to a time when I had to stand on top of a chair to be my mami’s helper in the kitchen. My mom will share with me the latest gossip about my tías or what the nosy neighbors are up to. Once the food is ready, I take pictures. Then we eat. My mom then makes final adjustments, like “it needs a little more salt, add ½ teaspoon to whatever you wrote down.”
These recipes currently live on my blog at fatgirlhedonist.com. The idea is for other people to use them and help them share Cuban or Colombian culture with their families through food. My dream is for these recipes to someday go into a tangible cookbook that I can one day give to my son to share with his family.
– Cari Garcia
