True Family Legacy Recipes

All families have legacies, They could be old records, tintypes , jewelry and even clothing. Nothing, however connects us to our ancestors like recipes.  They give not only a taste of the past but of our culture and heritage. A family dish is what ties us to our grandparents and great grandparents and it's what we leave to future generations.

Kim Severson wrote about this in her column in today' New York Times Food section.It resonated strongly with her because her mom left her a legacy of all sorts of recipes. There is a sadness to these because her mother is suffering from both Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease. Chats about cooking are few and far between for them however there are her mother's recipe cards and old cookbooks to still connect them..These have notes and stains on them;. unique marks that identify them immediately as dishes and treats made during Ms. Severson's childhood and adolescence.Other home chefs have been this personal and messy with their cookbooks .It has been this way since there where "receipts" and cookery books of the 18th and 19th centuries In fact one of the country's most famous cooks' Julia Child left her cookbooks splotched and dirtied, perfect for their display at the Smithsonian.Ms. Severson's mother not only kept her recipes in cookbooks but also on backs of bridge score sheet and notepads from moving companies. There are quotation marks and questions., a secret code that only her mother knew.

Family lore and dishes are also on display in a new book. Three Nashville writers, Erin Byers Murray, Cindy Wall and Jennifer Justis got together with eighteen cooks to create an exhibition of well loved dishes and the stories behind them.One  writer , Alice Randell, has contributed and also is the author of "Soul Food Love::Healthy Recipes Inspired by One Hundred Years of Cooking in a Black Family."Her grandmother, a Nashville librarian, read cookbooks like novels and owned a whopping one thousand different ones..They broadened her world.by introducing her to her  favorites  Italian fish stew, salmon mousse and Russian food.Theses varied dishes also connect her to the current generations as those who visit the display will see ,The recipe exhibit itself will be first seen in Nashville  and then  on permanent display at the Southern Food and Beverage Museum in New Orleans.

Family recipes are the greatest legacy that can be handed down. They connect us with our ancestors and family who first made them. They also will be what will be given to the next generations of cooks.