A Quick Foodie Thought

My grandmother and I have a lot in common. We're about the same height, and enjoy swapping stories about the people we love. Furthermore, we both love the kitchen, and tend to catch things on fire while cooking. What we're making when the stove top starts flaming, and where its recipe originated, however, are where we become rather different.

My grandmother's stash of recipes is primarily handwritten. Those recipes originate from women in her family line and very dear friends. The recipes are great, and largely American. Cookies, pot pie, casseroles, quickie pancakes, and similar classic American dishes abound. Similarly, there are a few Italian and British recipes, like lasagna and scones, passed down from the countries her parents and in-laws immigrated from. Overall, the recipes are delicious, but focus on American, Italian, and British food heritage.

I, on the other hand, am a very different case. When I was in middle school, my mother's recipe shelf was the grandest recipe library imaginable. A few years later, I discovered the internet. The world of food opened up to me. I'm no longer dependent on the wisdom of my ancestors or neighbors for whether to flip an omelet or not, or how to keep my pie crust from sticking. I don't have to trudge to the library to dig up a cookbook, which may or may not be there, from a different country if I've developed an interest in foreign food.  I can look up an easy sugar cookie recipe on an online recipe website that may have been posted by someone stateside, or in a different country. I can go to a cuban food blog to find an authentic recipe for tamales, something I guarantee has never been made in my grandmother's kitchen. When a friend of mine came home from spending two years in Argentina, she spent a lot of time on From Argentina, With Love, to make the food she missed eating. The popular epicurious.com has a segment dedicated to international food. Allrecipes.com's recipe of the day is Babka, a Polish bread.

Overall, time and technology make food preparation a more global experience. Whether it's making a classic you already love from an online recipe posted by someone in a foreign country, or easily satiating a curiosity about foreign foods via the internet, or even having those foreign dishes brightly advertised on your favorite recipe website, the Internet allows cooks all over the world to come together and share their craft.