I have no point of reference, as my mom was a single-parent.
But for those who were fortunate to have both parents around, or a father growing up, what did your father teach you about cooking? Or, really, just about food generally.
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Master of soup , and made exceptional pot of beans . No recipe. Just a little bit of dis and a dat . He spoke with a Connecticut accent mixed with Lithuanian.
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My mom did most of the cooking, but my dad always made pancakes or waffles or french toast on Sundays. I do this now for my daughter. He also made split pea soup with the ham bone from Easter, and this is something I love to make now too. I think my dad’s enthusiastic appreciation of my mom’s cooking and baking, and now of my cooking and baking, has definitely encouraged me as a home cook over the years. Great question!
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My dad is a retired physicist, so he took a research and experimentation path toward cooking and baking. Before high gluten flour was readily available to the general public, he got it into his head to make bagels, so he bought 100 lbs of flour - the smallest amount they would sell him - from a baking supply company. Which is why there was a (clean) trash can full of flour on our back porch for a long portion of my childhood. I can draw a direct line from this to the 5 giant stalks of torch ginger flower I have in my freezer from that time I made assam laksa. He never quite got bagels right, but he still makes excellent bialys and baguettes.
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Not one thing about cooking. My Father was great but didn’t cook anything except what went on the grill. He knew about food and had owned a small grocery store in west Tampa, the more ethnic part of the city
Got all my cooking chops from my mom
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The only thing I remember seeing my dad cook was instant Sapporo ramen in which he would swirl an egg for a quickie meal. Mom cooked for all 4 of us and did it very well, but with no breaks/help (except when I was old enough), I know it was not easy, especially since she worked nights for many years. Still don’t know how she did it.
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My father taught me that Southern Comfort and opiates are not just for breakfast.
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My brother and I always dreaded the times that Mom would be away because we knew that Dad would serve canned sardines, saltines, and Vienna Sausages, the extent of his cooking ability, for every meal. We lost him in April.
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I’m so sorry for your loss @MrGuyGuyGuy. I hope you enjoy happy memories on this first Father’s Day without him.
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I’m really not looking forward to Father’s Day this year. This is the first one without my dad. My dad loved food and life. He didn’t cook much but grilled and breakfast (my mom also is fairly controlling over her kitchen and rarely lets others in!). We would make french toast together when I was a kid listening to Buena Vista Social Club on the stereo. He loved cured meats, stinky cheeses, and a nice cold Budweiser. I have a strong appreciation for a nice kielbasa on the grill with mustard from him! Man, I miss him!
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Am very sorry for your recent loss too @gracieggg; wonderful having the good memories at least. BTW, love the BVSC.
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<3 thank you! I wanted to take my dad to Cuba but sadly we ran out of time.
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I lost my father a long time ago, but he was the parent who cooked with enthusiasm. My mother, to this day (now 89), never liked to cook and wasn’t good at it. My father made great chili - stretched with macaroni to feed 6 kids (5 growing boys and me). He took us to rod and gun clubs for venison dinners. He bought fresh smelts to fry when they were running, and bought fresh oysters to put in our Thanksgiving stuffing. I have his handwritten recipe for eggnog - with 151 Ronrico rum! Pancakes and waffles were his passion. Split pea soup and cornbread…If it had been up to my Mom, we would have had grilled cheese and tomato soup every night. Although to give her credit, her potato salad was really good.
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We each need to take this to our foreheads. Thanks for the heads-up.
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Well, looking on the bright side, and respectfully too, I mainly learned what NOT to do! Like using a large serrated bread knife to chop nuts, or a paring knife to chop large vegetables! Not to say I don’t have fond memories of dad in the kitchen on weekends making pancakes and frying up bacon or spam. After we kids flew the coop, he learned to do some cast iron Dutch Oven cooking over coals, and made some great potato and chicken dishes for awhile. Now, at 95, he’s cooking for his GF girlfriend, and while he keeps things pretty simple, he makes a great soup from leftover Costco rotisserie chicken and carcass. He’s engaged in the process, and loves to tell me the meals he’s made, as well as ask for advice. I really enjoy our food talks. But sadly, no appreciation still of good knives, cutting boards or the like, but whatever floats his boat. I’m just happy he’s eating well and still enjoying life.
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My dad never did a lot in the kitchen – mainly just simple things like soft-scrambled onion eggs. I do have fond memories of waking up on weekends to the rrrrr-sound of the electric citrus juicer. He liked to juice different varieties of oranges and occasional other citrus, and would test the “blend” out until he felt the flavor was perfect. It usually was. He also got involved in larger-scale family projects, like deep-frying pastry dough after my mom had rolled it out thin and cut it up, and my brother and I had made them into “knots”.
He’s been gone over 35 years, and I still think about him almost every day.
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Sorry for your loss gracieggg. I was really into the Buena Vista Social Club many years ago. The music is full of life. Hope you play some in your Dad’s honor and dance
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Zilch, nada, nothing. The old man was of the generation where he went to work to earn money and his wife stayed home and cooked. In truth, neither of them did their jobs at all well. Dad never earned much money and Mum was a lousy cook. I blame the latter on the times - they married in the immediate postwar years when cooking a vegetable meant boiling it to death for ages. And, of course, there was food rationing until 1954 (when I was four).
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Happy Fathers Day to all …
We celebrate Fathers Day on the 19th of March in Spain on Saint Joseph´s Day and it is a National Holiday, also close to the LAS FALLAS of Valencia.
LAS FALLAS is an ancient festive celebration in which Valencians create statues of wood or carton with paper maché of a wide variety of subject matter and figurines and they burn them at the end of the evening. LAS FALLAS = THE FLAMES IN VALENCIAN …
Sort of a ritualistic pagan fest.
One can check on Wikipedia if you wish to know more.
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