Food
Alexandria Lo
9th Grade
January 2, 2015
The Key to Our Past: a Glimpse through My Grandma
There is a small field of familiar colors in front of me. Sharp smells fill the air, creating an almost alternate reality. It is like being back in my grandma's homeland in a time when disputes between landowners were common and visits to the cobbler and seamstress were commonplace. It is amazing how much the world has changed while so much has stayed the same. My family still utilizes the same culinary methods and tools. Although there are now 'shortcuts' for everything, it is not the same. It does not taste the same or feel the same or teach the same lessons. Instead of spending days or even months cooking down the bones of chickens' into a gorgeous broth, a person can go to the store and get the same thing for $3.00 and four minutes in the microwave. Daily practice has evolved and forced us to evolve along with it. But, there are still times when I connect with my roots.
Every New Year's, my grandma and grandpa fly out from either New York or Taiwan. My cousins and I will have 'shared custody' of them. They will spend one week at our house and he next at the cousins'. The week before, my grandma will go on a tour of all of the Asian grocery stores in the area picking up a little of this and that; slowly gathering everything she needs exactly how she wants it bit by bit. She knows exactly what she wants from the food type to the brand name, manufacturer, and ingredients included. The second fridge will be emptied out just for her and slowly filled with all sorts of strange vegetables, fruits, meats, and sauces. My brother and I spent the two days before New Year?s cutting up all of the vegetables into paper thin strips, grinding the nuts, and making sauces.
Have you ever tried to flip a thin egg? Let me just say that it is the hardest thing in the world. The moment when you finally perfectly flip a little golden saucer of protein will be one of the best moments of your life.
My brother and I only did the minor prep work required to make the dish while my grandma actually makes them.
All New Year's Day my brother, dad, and I will try to steal little bits of Boke Bo (a deep fried rib dipped in a sweet and sour sauce type mixture), shrimp, chicken, 'bone broth,' potstickers, and other morsels. When it is finally dinner time, my family and I will line up and create wraps out of a rice lumpia wrap, mixed veggies, nuts, shrimp, and sauces and have potstickers and items like Boke Bo on the side.
Many people lose the key to their past. This key is often an elder family member or a special friend. But, too often do their recipes, knowledge, and cultural experience pass when, well, when he or she does. I am now trying to write down all of my grandma's recipes.