I know most of the people joining in Denyse’s linkup today will be husbands, wives and parents and sharing their own family’s favourite meal. Alas, this singleton lives alone so my thoughts immediately jumped back to my family of origin and meals of my childhood.
I’m very fortunate however as I see my mother regularly since my seachange four years ago and she loves to cook. I believe I’ve mentioned the research I invented to prove that the domesticity gene skips a generation. So this means I can get my fave meals from mum without even needing to whine pathetically or remind her I fix stuff on her computer from time to time.
Having said all of that, I’m still struggling to enjoy any food since my weight loss surgery two months ago which means the idea of food is currently more exciting than the actual act of eating. Nevertheless… here we go.
My childhood favourites
Interestingly the absolute favourite things my mother cooks are things I’ve attempted myself and though I follow her instructions diligently (there are no official recipes) THEY NEVER TASTE THE SAME!
Even the most basic, her roast gravy…. I make up the gravy powder, cornflour and water, add some vegemite (gluten-free MightyMite) and juices from the roast and yet it’s still bland rather than rich and delicious like my ma’s.
And then there’s her braised steak. Essentially she buys cheap cuts of blade steak – which I normally wouldn’t touch with ten foot pole – and then slow cooks it with gravy and onion. And voila… the meat falls apart and the gravy is AMAZING.
And finally, the last of my childhood favourites… a fried curry. We didn’t do ‘foreign’ foods when I was young and I was in my final year of high school before I came across spaghetti bolognese… but my mother did a curry using Keen’s curry / mustard powder, gravox which she cooked with cubed fried potatoes and cubed leftover roast, onion and peas and corn. Now that I’m far more evolved I know there are red and green curries and the like so I struggle to aptly describe the deliciousness of mum’s fried curry which required no coconut cream or similar. Again I’ve tried it myself and…. yep, you guessed it. It was nothing like mum’s.
MY family’s favourites
Mostly I’m accustomed to cooking for one. And pre-surgery I was kinda boring as I cooked the same things again and again. But… as the spokesperson for MY family it has to be said my fave was always fillet steak with peppercorn sauce (made with Gravox Pepper Sauce powder – which is gluten-free) with mashed / roasted potato and some veges because I’m apparently a grown-up and supposed to eat them. I usually cook onion and garlic in the frypan with minimal oil (GF soy and worcestershire sauce) before adding the steak which I prefer pretty rare, and then I add the Gravox (diluted lump-free with water), to the pan with its juices / fragrance and stir in some cream to finish it off. D-E-L-I-C-I-O-U-S!
Interestingly my mother tells me she can’t cook certain dishes in the same way her mother could. Perhaps there’s a conspiracy of sorts. These so-called-mothers hold something back – a secret ingredient or special technique – so we’ll never emulate THEIR meals and will have to keep visiting to enjoy our favourites. Little does mum know I’d visit anyway.
What was favourite childhood meal?
I’m linking up with Denyse Whelan for ‘Life This Week’.
*Main pic from Pexels.
September 19, 2016
My dad is a (over cooked) meat with 3 veg man so my mother’s cooking has never needed to be more than serviceable- & I say that with love. But I always loved her “goulash” which is, of course, nothing like the real thing. It’s minced meat (no garlic, onions etc), tomato soup, tinned corn & fettuccine.
September 19, 2016
My dad was exactly the same, though later in life he was probably a bit more adventurous than mum when it came to spices and flavours.
September 19, 2016
We too had a similar curry family meal. The meat however was left over roast mutton. Well I did grow up on a sheep property. Along with my siblings and cousins we have decided our grandmothers secret ingredient in her delicious mashed tatty was heaps of salt and her custard…lots of sugar.
September 19, 2016
I think we mostly had roast beefs when I was young, though my mother prefers lamb now. A friend of mine told me the secret to their mashed potato was promite / vegemite (which is a bit like salt I guess!).
September 19, 2016
Mum’s Salmon rissoles. Have been trying for 30 years but just can’t get them the same. Once they came close but never again.
September 19, 2016
I was like that with mum’s roast gravy. Once I almost got it but not quite. Even when I’m at her place and cooking for her I sometimes got her to partake in the gravy-making bit of the roast dinner cos there’s just some knack I’m missing!
September 19, 2016
Yep. Same phenomenon here. I can never get things to taste the same as my Mum’s. Even mashed potatoes. My Mum’s apple pie is legendary in our extended family. I’m not even going to go there. My Mum makes gravy with vegemite too!
September 19, 2016
Maybe it’s a generational thing…. It does make is darker and richer!
September 19, 2016
My absolute favourite (and like your fried curry, is a bit of an odd combo) is tuna patties served with fried rice. My mum used to make it but I also make it for my own family (and is a favourite). One dish that my mum makes that I can’t/ don’t replicate is a chicken thing, stuffed with bacon and mushrooms and served with Hollandaise sauce – it’s probably good that I don’t make this for myself because it’s not the healthiest of meals!
September 19, 2016
Oh it’s good that you’re able to ‘hand’ one of the recipes on down to your family! The chicken dish sounds good (though I don’t eat mushrooms)!
September 19, 2016
It’s nice to hear about your mum’s cooking! I am totally the same when it comes to my mum’s “recipes” – I used to call her and ask stuff like “how much flour do you use?” and she’d go “Ohh, I don’t know, just add it until it looks right”. Totally unuseful. And I could follow her instructions and still get it all wrong.
September 19, 2016
I know… there are no measurements… they do it by instinct!
September 19, 2016
How did I miss the news about the weight loss surgery. I rarely miss your posts and I don’t know how that slipped past me?? Spag Bol is my family’s favourite which is good because it’s cheap and easy. I can do a good curry though… secret ingredient is sweet paw paw chutney.
September 19, 2016
It’s the first time I’ve mentioned it Michelle. I was gonna write about it, then I wasn’t. I wrote a lot about the fact I had surgery but didn’t mention 3/4 stomach was removed via gastric sleeve surgery. A few people know but I don’t want to lie about losing weight or what I’m doing so thought I’d slip it into a post.
As for the sweet paw paw chutney, ummmm…. I’m not so sure…
September 19, 2016
That was really interesting to read because like you said, meals made by Mum (or grandma or whoever) don’t ever seem to be easily replicated. Mum was never much of a measurer either even though her recipes did have the amounts next to them. Instinct is something I do use in cooking but I have never been able to cook corned beef for example. Mum’s was great as it fell apart ..I only liked it on sandwiches though. I did not realise your surgery was to help with weight loss and give you high fives for doing this for yourself and your health. Thanks too for being such a great support for this new linkup Deb!!
September 19, 2016
I didn’t make a big thing of the surgery Denyse. Everything came upon me at once a little with the sale, and purchase and then the move.
My folks used to do corn beef but I wasn’t a fan. I recall my brother loving fritters my mum made from it though!
September 19, 2016
I too had never eaten anything ‘foreign’ until I was late teens. I boarded with an Italian lady in my first year at Uni and my eyes were well and truly opened. Mirella was her name and she was s great cook. I loved this story about your childhood meals Deborah. You’ve inspired me to share mine. Wasn’t going to but think I will and link it up later in the week. Love that Denyse opens until Thu lol.
September 19, 2016
I had the spaghetti bolognese at my brother’s girlfriend’s place. Her parents were away from memory and old sibling was cooking and I was invited over. I would have been 15 or so I suspect and I had NO idea how to eat the spaghetti! I suspect I was very messy!
September 20, 2016
My favourite childhood meal was Macaroni and Cheese that my Mum used to make from scratch. She hasn’t made it for years as she has been on a diet forever and I have tried, but I cannot replicate it for the life of me. Overall, I have to say I think I am a pretty terrible cook, even though I do a lot of it! The only thing I think I do well is roast dinners.
September 20, 2016
I had to laugh at you saying you’re a terrible cook. I bet you’re not and the girls will grow up thinking they can’t cook certain things as well as their mum can!
September 20, 2016
I’ve always loved a good roast. My mum would crisp up the baked veggies in the deep fryer which was so naughty but so yummy. I alas don’t own a deep fryer (or ever want to) so my veggies will never live up to her impressive level of crispness!
September 20, 2016
Oh no, my mum doesn’t even use oil on her veges now – just sprays them and roasts them! It’s amazing how times have changed. I remember us having a deep fryer when I was a kid for our chips but I’d never dream of pouring a litre of oil into something to cook with! (Though I do eat fried stuff when out. I think it’s called denial!) 😉