Cooking influence and style

[jusnikki]

I know the way I cook comes mainly from my mom. She made everything homemade. I don't remember her using anything from a box. So when I moved out and had a family of my own, I was accustomed to homemade foods. I tried premade foods and foods from a box but didn't like the taste. So much of what I make is homemade. I'm more into comfort foods but not limited to...


Where did you're cooking influence come from?



What would you say is your cooking style?

 

[Katie H]

I can't say my cooking style came from my mother. I began cooking for my 4 siblings and my family when I was 8-years-old, so I suppose I developed my own style as I went along. It was a matter of necessity and my mother was rarely present in the kitchen.

I did a LOT of reading and joined a cookbook club when I was 12. I still have all those cookbooks, which have pages that have gone beyond yellow.

I, too, am used to a cook-from-scratch base and still do that. I even did it when I raised 8 children and worked multiple jobs. I discovered that many or most times it took just as long to prepare something from scratch than it did to use something already premixed or premade. And, as you noted, the flavor was certainly much, much better.

My style is very varied. That is, I can switch from very homey, to extremely elegant to anything in between, depending on my mood and the people I'm preparing the food for.

I love to bake and I also take great pleasure in producing a wonderful entree or side dish, but this is as a result of way over 50 years of cooking.

That's the long answer to your question. The short answer is that my cooking influence came from trial and error and lots and lots of reading and my style is very, very eclectic.

 

[jusnikki]

I can't say my cooking style came from my mother. I began cooking for my 4 siblings and my family when I was 8-years-old, so I suppose I developed my own style as I went along. It was a matter of necessity and my mother was rarely present in the kitchen.

I did a LOT of reading and joined a cookbook club when I was 12. I still have all those cookbooks, which have pages that have gone beyond yellow.

I, too, am used to a cook-from-scratch base and still do that. I even did it when I raised 8 children and worked multiple jobs. I discovered that many or most times it took just as long to prepare something from scratch than it did to use something already premixed or premade. And, as you noted, the flavor was certainly much, much better.

My style is very varied. That is, I can switch from very homey, to extremely elegant to anything in between, depending on my mood and the people I'm preparing the food for.

I love to bake and I also take great pleasure in producing a wonderful entree or side dish, but this is as a result of way over 50 years of cooking.

That's the long answer to your question. The short answer is that my cooking influence came from trial and error and lots and lots of reading and my style is very, very eclectic.

You know......something I haven't master yet is cake baking. My mom could whip up a cake in a moments notice. I wouldn't let anybody even see my cakes, lol. Maybe twice in my whole history of cooking have a had a cake turn out ok. But I haven't given up yet.....

 

[Katie H]

Never give up.

And in the words of my grandfather, "Take it easy. Make it nice."

You'll get there.

 

[jusnikki]

Never give up.

And in the words of my grandfather, "Take it easy. Make it nice."

You'll get there.

lol, I won't.. thanks.

 

[Aunt Bea]

My mom and my paternal grandmother were the big influences for me.

I was raised on country, home cooking. This type of cooking was best described by Mama Dip as "dump cooking"! A little of this and a little of that, butter the size of an egg or the size of a walnut etc.

I enjoy all types of foods but, I do not feel comfortable cooking new items until I have done it enough times to "wing it". I am very interested in the foods prepared by people who have come to this country and have learned to adapt our local ingredients to the cooking styles they grew up with.

 

[larry_stewart]

Well, definitely not from my mother's side. My mom is a good " Recipe Follower" but can not deviate at all from the recipe. My grandmother ( on her side) grew up in the depression, her parents from eastern Europe. When I was old enough to remember her cooking, she was suffering from ulcers and diabetes. That being said, her food was bland, unseasoned kosher peasant food. The only thing I remember that was rally good was her Hungarian Goulash served over egg noodels. All this being said, my fathers side was really my influence. I can remember as a child on a rainy day, my father putting a few records ( not cd's. mp3's or even 8 tracks) on the stereo ( which was the size of a love seat) and cooking the whole day ( Manhattan clam chowder, stuffed artichokes...things like this). As a kid he would let me help by cutting up the vegetables and letting me use a " real " knife, but taking the time to teach me how to properly use it. Since then ,I have become a vegetarian ( not because of his or my grandmothers cooking) and have taken it as a hobby to A) try and recreate some of my favorite childhood food dishes into some kind of vegetarian similarity, and B) look for new inspiration. I started by trying to find pen pals/ internet e-mail/ chat pals around the world to learn as much as I can. ( this was all pre cooking forum days). Unfortunately, I found that so many people take in or buy prepared food than cooking them. Then the cooking forums arrived, which made my life easier. Also, I love attending food and wine festivals, watching the cooking demos, speaking to the chefs, watching the cooking shows ( especially the pbs ones like Jacques Pepin, Julie Child, Jeff Smith and others. I actually watched these shows as a kid, pre- computer and food network days. Even though primarily the topic is meat based, I love learning new techniques, new cultures ( through foods). I also love the challenge of trying to incorporate various ethnic flavors in my diet, and love learning new cultures that have a big influence in vegetarian food.

Larry

 

[jusnikki]

@auntbea
My mom is a great cook but I also remember my grandmother's cooking. She cooked many dishes you don't even hear of today. Many of the ole' timey foods like butterolls (a pie consisting of crust and a syrupy filling), coke cola salad (it was a jelled type salad made with coke) and many others. My mother hasn't cooked in years since she's become elderly.
I miss both of their cooking. Some of those old ways of cooking are lost. I hate that....


@larry_stewart
My dad cooked also but he was a hunter. The things he cooked were like possum, squirrel, turtles,lol, name it he ate it. So, I didn't take on a any of his cooking style,lol. I remember he had caught too rabbits for cooking. ANd I cried until he had to let me keep them as pets...but the next morning I woke up one was missing. He claimed it must have gotten loose but I think otherwise.......

 

[pacanis]

I don't think I had any influence. Probably why my cooking "style" is haphazard and my tastes carefree.

 

[larry_stewart]

My dad was also an avid gardner which he learned from his father ( my grandfather who had died before I was born). I used to help him in the garden. Now as an adult, i think Im more of an avid gardner than he is. So during the growing season, whats ripe and available in the garden ( and what I am capable of growing) also influences me.

 

[jusnikki]

My dad was also an avid gardner which he learned from his father ( my grandfather who had died before I was born). I used to help him in the garden. Now as an adult, i think Im more of an avid gardner than he is. So during the growing season, whats ripe and available in the garden ( and what I am capable of growing) also influences me.

My dad use to garden also but he stopped by the time I was in my teens. I wished I had learned from him. I kill every plant I touch no matter how I baby it or love on it. I have a death touch when it comes to growing things...

 

[buckytom]

lol nikki, your rabbit story reminds me of my macedonian neighbors. they celebrate easter 2 weeks after we do, and every year just before their easter they'd get some live animal and keep it for a while in a crate or tied up in their driveway until the day before. then it would mysteriously disappear and viola, easter dinner. they kept lambs, chickens, turkeys, a pigs, and so on.

well, one year just after our easter, the dad goce and son blagoce were in the driveway building a rabbit house with two giant flop eared rabbits in a box in the garage.

i asked them if they were to be easter dinner just as the pre-teen daughter came out to see what was going on..

when she heard me ask, she ran back into the house crying. how was i supposed to know that they were her new pets. they'd eaten everything else that lived in the driveway every spring.

 

[jusnikki]

lol nikki, your rabbit story reminds me of my macedonian neighbors. they celebrate easter 2 weeks after we do, and every year just before their easter they'd get some live animal and keep it for a while in a crate or tied up in their driveway until the day before. then it would mysteriously disappear and viola, easter dinner. they kept lambs, chickens, turkeys, a pigs, and so on.

well, one year just after our easter, the dad goce and son blagoce were in the driveway building a rabbit house with two giant flop eared rabbits in a box in the garage.

i asked them if they were to be easter dinner just as the pre-teen daughter came out to see what was going on..

when she heard me ask, she ran back into the house crying. how was i supposed to know that they were her new pets. they'd eaten everything else that lived in the driveway every spring.

Oh I had a pleathora of animals growing up... Many of them started out to be supper...but my dad could never say no to me. Of course we didn't keep them in the driveway. I can even remember he brought home a snapping turtle and he had told me I couldn't keep it because it would bite my finger off. I didn't believe him so I coaxed one of my cousins to put her finger near it and it jumped at her and almost bit her finger, lol.
So, I didn't care to much for the snapping turtle.

 

[babetoo]

my mother was a lousy cook. she tried but had no imagination at all. my step dad always had a garden. so fresh veggies were a given. he also introduced me to different kinds of fish, before it was all the rage. southern food is what i grew up on. don't cook like that much, to much fat and sugar. i think i just absorbed how to cook through my pores. i will try anything, that i can afford the ingredients for, sadly these days my food budget is not that big. day to day i hardly ever use a recipe. even if i try a new one, i always add my own touch or change.

 

[CWS4322]

Definitely not my mother (I hate to COOK) nor my paternal grandmother...memories of her stringy potroast and overcooked vegetables makes me avoid potroast at all costs. My maternal grandmother was a very good cook. She taught me the basics like bread, pie crusts, and lefse. Things every good descendent of Swedish and Norwegian ancestors should know. I loved to cook from an early age. As a teen, I earned my ski pass by baking 4 dozen cinnamon rolls Friday and Saturday nights to sell at the local ski area. I don't like using canned or boxed anything. So, I make almost everything from scratch. If I want to eat it, I have to figure out how to make it. Of course, having over 1000 cook books in my culinary library doesn't hurt.

 

[Claire]

Mom was definitely #1 influence. Neither of my grandmothers were good cooks; mostly they boiled New England Boiled dinners with different kinds of meat, or over-cooked roasts or chickens. At least that's what I've been told by my parents (I never lived near them). So when Mom & Dad married, he bought her a cookbook, and between that and the myriad of military wives we socialized with from many different countries and parts of this country, she tried man different cuisines and became quite good. I loved to cook with her. She wasn't a baker (neither am I). Nowadays, she and Dad have different dietary needs and she doesn't so much. But that's where I started when I was still in single digits. Now Mom called last night and said she was excited that I'm visiting and am going to make them a great meal. Told her to consult Daddy and I'd make whatever they wish.

Like my mom, I, too married a military man and have had great experiences with other people who are well-traveled and love to experiment.

 

[Dawgluver]

My mom was an adequate cook, but I learned to pickle, can, make jams and jellies, cook meats and make salads from my grandma and my great aunt. They were also great pie and cake bakers, sadly, that gene did not take.

 

[PrincessFiona60]

I'm the cook in my family, self taught from my first cookbook and my Mother's BH&G. We had a very limited budget when I was little and no imagination from my parents. I really hate eating the same thing every day, so a menu of 7 dishes repeated each week was not working. I drug out Mom's cookbook and started learning what I could do with what I had, but gave us different tastes and styles. I'm still the only one who cooks from scratch and enjoys being in the kitchen. My sibs and parents hate cooking, to them it's a chore.

 

[Bolas De Fraile]

My Mum then later learning Patisserie in France.

 

[Luca Lazzari]

My two loving and caring and gentle grandmas!
One from Piedmont region (great vegetable, great garlic, great meats, great risotto, powerful bagna cauda, fantastic red wines and wine vinegars), one from Veneto region (unforgettable polenta, and gnocchi, and those little fried fishes, and baccalà, and pancakes).

I like to remember them here, Pina e Maria, and I want to thank you, jusnikki, for this thread.