Let’s be honest: when thinking back about the best food we’ve ever eaten, those dishes with an awesome “yum!” factor, mouthwatering goodies that made us beg for second helpings, the one wearing the apron was usually…your grandma or your mum.
She seemed to make the best everything, didn’t she? The best cookies, the crumbliest pie crust, the juiciest roasts for Sunday family meals. It’s not just the lens of nostalgia making you feel this way. Grandma — and likely your mum, too — really did make the most memorable dishes. What made their cooking so extraordinary? How come they were (and still are) so successful, and so comfortable, in the kitchen?
Here are just some of the secrets to grandma’s and mom’s cooking, ideas that you can easily adapt for your own, modern 21st kitchen.
Their Recipes Were Tried and True!
Back then women often inherited treasured collections of recipes from their own mothers, usually handwritten (can you imagine?) and tucked into a makeshift book of some kind, perhaps a photo album co-opted for the kitchen. These recipes were given to grandma by her family, friends and maybe clipped from cookbooks from church bazaars, and she, no doubt, tinkered with them to make each one her own. Those vintage recipes stand the test of time, and though the paper she wrote on may be withered and stained, the results will be outstanding and earn you accolades from the hungry bunch awaiting them.
They Used ‘Real’ Ingredients
A pie crust can be made with butter or vegetable shortening, but the simple truth is that the best pie crust is made with lard, and that’s what grandma did. She wasn’t afraid of it, or of the calories. In fact, this is true of all her foods; she didn’t worry about gluten, or dairy, or the fat content of any ingredients. And consequently, her food tasted yummy because fat adds flavor. Often the milk she used was whole, not skim or two percent like we use today. Enjoy it — but if you’re worried about “heart health,” don’t use it every day. Moderation! And remember: grandma didn’t skin her chicken breasts. If you must, cook the breasts with the skin on and then remove it. It’ll taste 100 percent better, and will be much moister and satisfying.
To Everything, There Is A Seasoning!
Your grandma knew that even something boring — a pot roast, for example, or whole, roasted chicken — could be made wonderful with just the right seasoning. And she didn’t forget the salt and pepper, two basics that bring flavours front and centre. A pinch of salt makes flavors sing, and grandma knew it.
They Used their Taste Buds and Fingertips
There is no substitute for tasting yourself how the sauce is doing or feeling whether the fried chicken skin is crisp enough. That’s what grandma did — she followed the recipe, of course, but she also engaged with the food with all her senses.
Take a sip of the soup! Peer at the potatoes! Use all your senses to determine whether the food is properly cooked, browned, thickened, and colorful — it’s the best way to learn how it’s progressing. That’s what’s she did, and it’s how she made her dishes so amazing. Women from grandma’s generation had never heard of meat thermometers and food processors, so why even drag them out of the cupboard when making one of her recipes?
They Used their Cookware Constantly
It seems like there’s a new line of cookware and kitchen gadgets on the market every other month, right? Grandma wasn’t fooled by all that glitz — she had favorite pots and pans and used them for years. This is wise because you get to know how certain ingredients react in certain pots. For example, her favorite roasting pan may have the scars and stains of a thousand Sunday dinners, but she never threw it away because she knew how it behaved in her oven, with different meats cooked at different temperatures. And she cooked those meals with love, the most important ingredient there is! How could she toss out that pan, the centerpiece of so many family dinners, and therefore so many cherished memories? And it’s better for the environment, which is something everyone is concerned about today. Holding onto, and using, her prized kitchen equipment will make you think of grandma every time you make one of her old-fashioned recipes, but you’ll also be helping the planet. Grandma would most certainly approve.
They Were Experienced — You Will Get There Too!
None of us are born fabulous cooks, so don’t be too hard on yourself if you can’t replicate grandma’s peanut butter cookies the first time you try. Remember, by the time you were old enough to appreciate her cooking, she’d likely been doing it for three or four (or more!) decades. With time, practice and patience, you can be every bit the cook your grandma or mum was – maybe even better! Keep an open mind and observe the elders!
These are a few of the reasons you remember your grandmother’s cooking so fondly. The food was wonderful, of course, but tied in with it is your memories of her making those pies, rolling out that cookie dough, stuffing that Christmas turkey. It’s not just the cooking that was terrific, it was the cook.
Following some of those vintage recipes is a good way to start your own collection of favorite dishes. If you have her recipes, so much the better, or consider buying a cookbook — a real one, not just a bookmark online — and begin making ones that sound delicious and that you’re sure your family will enjoy. Whatever you choose to start your culinary journey with, think of grandma or your mum while you’re making it. Before you know it, friends and family will be asking you where you got the recipe, and whether they can have a second helping. Soon you’ll have started a whole new tradition of your own because the recipes have been made with two ingredients your grandma and your mom would approve of — plenty of laughter, and lots of love.
Please make sure to check out our Vintage recipe cookbooks from Louise Davidson.
