Ethnic Cuisine or "What Grandma would make"

[Mark Webster]

We have all had several different levels of Italian Cooking from traditional to spaghetti-o's. Some people l know consider a good Mexican Restaurant to be Taco Bell (No offence Taco Bell). As a professional chef and a world traveler I would like to start a dialogue on enthic recipes that have been passed down over the years from generation to generation.

While techniques would fun to talk about I am more interested in the recipe/food item and any history behind it. Such as the Tapas from Spain. The history behind them vary some, but stay pretty similiar. We know that they really started in a round about way because people in tavernas would cover their wines/sherry with a piece of bread to keep flys/insects out of it and then as they drank they generally ate the bread.

I know there has to be many fun and interesting facts that we can share. I am looking forward to our chat.
Mark

 

[jkath]

bumping this one up!

 

[vyapti]

I am interested in hearing what spice combinations are used in different regions of Italy. My grandmother, born on the Adriadic, used alot of cinnamon and her famous meat sauce is flavored with cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg. She never used basil (could have been personal preference) and the typical basil, oregano, etc., were not common at all with her.

Here is her recipe:

 

[BreezyCooking]

I'm 100% Czech, so everything my grandparents & relatives made from both sides of the family were heavily influenced that way.

Traditional foods? Czech Bread Dumplings, Potato Dumplings, Tripe Soup, Blood Sausage, Liver & Barley Sausage, Roast Duck, Chicken in Dill Sour Cream Sauce (with bread dumplings, of course), Roast Fresh Pork, Sauerkraut, Sauteed Chicken Livers, all come to mind as very popular.

As far as seasonings, one constant in my grandparents' cooking was definitely caraway seed, dill, & freshly ground black pepper.

 

[Ishbel]

I'm Scots.

We have very localised dishes, such as white puddings as well as many English dishes which have morphed into the Scots diet.

The interesting thing is: many American 'ethnic' dishes aren't American at all. They are dishes from various European countries which have been adapted for the tastes of Americans. For instance, Cornish pasties are made in an area of the US populated by immigrants from Cornwall.

If you eat apple pie, shepherd's pie, roast beef etc - Americans are eating the culinary dishes of the UK as a whole.

Scottish cookery has been influenced by the Auld Alliance - when Scotland and France were very close, way back in the 15 and 16th centuries and before. Indeed our butchery of lamb, for instance, is based on the French method, not the English. We use 'ashets' to serve vegetables, from the french 'assiette'.

 

[Swann]

A great idea but I do not have any. My family came from Ireland to Canada to USA about 150 to 200 yrs ago. My husband's family is from MD and PA but 350+ yrs ago. The most delicious thing I learned to make from them was stuffed ham and crab cakes from Southern MD!
You can use a corned ham if you can find one or a cured ham and cut slits in to stuff with onion and assorted greens. My husband was visiting his aunt in St Mary's County, MD one weekend and came home to proclaim, "I think I died and went to heaven!" There were a couple big dinners at the church, firehall etc. where fried oysters, stuffed ham, crab cakes, and all the blue crabs you could eat were served. CA just doesn't have that good stuff!