The Pickle Jar
August 16, 2017
A Staple Dish
August 16, 2017

Food For My Senses

Growing up in the Bronx, my friends were of many different ethnicities and cultures. But the one thing we had in common was food. When our mothers called us upstairs for dinner, or supper as it was called, the scents of food in the hallways of the building melded into a wonderful sensory experience. Holidays were even better. A dinner at one another’s houses was almost always an adventure, with food we had never tasted. We would say, “How did your mom make this? It’s delicious! Can she give my mom the recipe?” But, usually, there was no recipe. It was a little of this, a lot of the other and cook until it tastes right. Occasionally, our mothers would trade family recipes, but most often, they were a guarded secret, revealed only to family members.

Food touched all our senses, and as I got older, I realized just how much. The smells, of course, were amazing and signaled we were home, safe and loved.  I watched my mother cook and the vision of the finished product on the table brought satisfaction for a well-done job and anticipation of that first, delectable bite. I listened to the oohs and ahs and the general banter of the family between bites, loving every minute of it and the feelings it evoked in me. And helping to cook, in those days, meant getting your hands into the uncooked food, so you could feel that the consistency of it was right. There was one other passionate sense food touched, the emotional one. Not only did you touch the food, but the food also touched you, in your heart, and that feeling remains, especially when I cook for my family.

Happily, I have passed down this incredible ritual to my children. When I see the looks on their faces when they walk in the house for Passover or Hanukah, and smell the chicken soup or potato latkes, and run to taste them, it warms my heart in a very special, indescribable way. When my daughter calls me to confirm that her stuffed cabbage recipe is right, just how I make it, I know the recipes of my mother and grandmother will live on.

For me, My Mother's Recipe re-creates the warmth of home, and the feelings of sharing of food, as it touches all our senses. This event is a tradition of our extended family. 

Donna Jacobson

2013 May eighteen