Did you parents or grandparents teach you to cook and were they good or bad cooks?
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Anonymous
| I am also curious if they cooked when you were a child. Are you a good cook now? What were the best dishes your parents or grandparents made that you reminisce about or perhaps make now for yourself or your kids if you have kids? |
Anonymous
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My mom taught me how to cook and my dad taught me how to grille. My dad and I have the same preference for how things are grilled so that worked out well.
My mom was very...stereotypically 80s/90s white suburbia SAHM cooking. Blandish, casseroles, then a switch to "heart healthy". It wasn't bad per se, but definitely not the type of food I eat now. I think I have 3 recipes from my childhood that I will cook now. My grandmother's mac and cheese, a scallop recipe from my mom, and a salmon recipe from her. My mom taught me the basics of cooking, but I developed my own love for it in high school and enjoyed experimenting with flavors. I rarely use a recipe. I get inspiration from one but will tweak things. My mom always comments about how she has to folllow a recipe down to the tsp. Dh's mom cooked a similar way to mine and DH developed a real love for various types of hot sauces. He too has developed his own love for cooking and cooks quite a lot. |
Anonymous
Thanks for answering! I guess I am wondering how our parents' cooking skills transfer to us being good cook and/or liking to cook. Those three dishes sound great, to be honest. We only ate fresh water fish at the house, and would only have seafood if on a beach vacation. |
Anonymous
My grandmother's recipe was amazing. My mom didn't cook it often because my grandmother tweaked it a lot from the original recipe and she was always disappointed when it didn't taste the same. It took my awhile to figure out what she had done to change things. And yes, the two seafood dishes are delicious. My mom found those recipes when I was in high school and became pescatarian. She only eats white fish that "doesn't taste like fish" but my dad would eat the salmon. Prior to that, our only seafood was corn flake crusted sole. Which looking back was actually pretty good. Maybe I will make that again too. |
Anonymous
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None of my grandparents ever taught me how to cook. I thought their food was just fine. I liked my grandma’s chocolate booze cake. My mom was good at cooking Jewish food- she made the house smell really good around the holidays. Her cooking really dropped off around middle school. My dad was a consistent cook- I liked his meatloaf and stuffed shells, though he made those rarely.
I made stuffed shells twice during the pandemic- it’s a lot of work. I’m a family of one, so haven’t tried making meatloaf. My parents didn’t teach us how to cook, though we had to cook one dinner each week. I’ve always hated cooking. |
Anonymous
| My mom was a terrible cook. She taught me in the sense that if I wanted good food, I had to make it myself… i learned to cook as a teen from recipes. |
Anonymous
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Grandmother was wonderful. Had a genuine passion for making terrific meals.
Mother sucked donkey balls. Does a decent Thanksgiving and Christmas because of necessity. That's it. But otherwise really doesn't care. Father was pretty good. Particularly six whiskies in. And then the martinis. So many issues. A drunk cooking history. The grandmother had the best technical skills. The father had the best instincts. The quality of the food was even. But everything always went to hell by the time the grappa or brandy went around Perhaps one day I'll find a therapist. |
Anonymous
| I came from a family of four children. My mom and oldest sister did all the cooking except my dad would grill on Sundays. My middle sister and I would prepare a salad, set the table, clean up and bake during the holidays. My baby brother did nothing. My oldest sister became a gourmet cook, while the rest of us taught ourselves and became average cooks. DH's mom did all the cooking so he never learned to cook but can do basic grilling and make an omelet. |
Anonymous
Thanks for sharing! Who needs a therapist when you have dcum! |
Anonymous
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My grandmothers both cooked and I helped. I started cooking dinner (meat, starch, veg) when I was 7 or 8 because my mom worked evening shift and my dad can’t cook at all.
I have taken it a lot farther than either of them did, I am an excellent cook. It’s a hobby of mine, though. |
Anonymous
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My grandmother never cooked a day in her life, except to boil eggs.
My mom cooked every day and her meals were all terrible. She sort of taught me how to cook …like her. As a result, I’m a pretty bad cook. But we started doing meal kit deliveries and I’m slowly learning and getting better. |
Anonymous
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My mom was a SAHM but she never cooked. So no.
My dad retired when I was 14 and he cooked, and we discussed what he cooked but he never taught me to cook. I was super interested in cooking so I watched cooking shows and would try to make the meals. This is where I really learned, in my 20's it didn't have to be that good and people thought it was amazing. My H's mom was a SAHM but when the kids went off to college, she became a chef and she never taught my H how to cook... but she loved to criticize my cooking and, in her criticism, I would get information, and I paid close attention. I learned a lot watching her and listening to her. She would even go so far as to give you false information like she used tarragon when it was oregano. She's Italian. Everybody in her family are very good cooks/own restaurants/etc. My son's girlfriend never learned to cook from her mom and she and I cook together. She is vegan-ish, meaning she is vegan but eats seafood so I've taught her how to make tofu gyros, mussels in wine sauce, real artichoke, shrimp tacos, etc. |
Anonymous
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My grandmother was a terrific cook. My grandfather was set in his ways, but she’d experiment and make new/different things for us. All 3 of my aunts are wonderful cooks. My mom HATED cooking, and growing up, she had like 5 things she made, but she made them well. In her old age, she has someone that does routine cooking for her, so when she cooks, it’s because she wants to not because she has to, and you can absolutely tell the difference. My dad cooked by instinct, and was exceptional. My brother is the same way; just doesn’t cook as often.
Like my mom, I despise cooking. I am an excellent cook though, and have a wider repertoire than she did. What I enjoy, is baking. I can bake pretty much anything and have it turn out. My DD and I have been baking since she was little, and she’s an excellent baker too. Where I fall short is in aesthetics, but she’s highly artistic and has that covered. Where we differ is that I really enjoy baking bread while she hates it. |
Anonymous
That is awesome that you are now cooking(I mean, if you enjoy it and want to do it, not if it is a chore) and, I suppose, wanting to learn to cook better than your "ancestors!" LOL. Sorry about the childhood of horrible meals. |
Anonymous
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My mother was a horrible cook growing up. There are some people who love food and different tastes etc. my mother just sees food as fuel, no thought at all to taste. Just put ingredients on the stove.
Truthfully I learned to cook from Food Network. I have a love of food from my dad’s side of the family, but my grandmother didn’t teach me how to cook delicious food, the Food Network did. When I was about 14 or 15 I started cooking meals for my family. To my mom’s credit she was supportive of this (but would not buy any expensive ingredients, if I wanted something expensive I needed to pay for it myself from my babysitting money). Now I’m an above average home cook. My kids are adventurous eaters and love trying new types of food that I make at home. We cook together often as a family and I really hope they will enjoy cooking and good ingredients as they get older too. My DH is my biggest fan but sadly does not have the most adventurous palette. |