Anonymous wrote:Warn your parents.

+1. Hopefully your parents can be gracious and take it as a compliment that your MIL tried.

Warn your parents.

My mother is French and she doesn't cook and doesn't drink.

Growing up in various counties we had boiled eggs, re-heated frozen prepared meals, etc. My father cooked on weekends, healthy, light meals. Not the typical involved French fare with sauce.

Let it go.

Anonymous wrote:You tell her in a nice gracious way. " here's a trick from my homeland....never add blah blah more than x spice NO MATTER THE RECIPE, for some reason it comes out wrong" or it's more authentic if you do .... Or I prefer lower spices...can you try .....

+1. Or flat out tell her that it tastes like you put in too much x or y. Find out why she is messing with the spices.

My MIL can't do spices other than salt and lack pepper (and the later, very sparingly). I grew up basically the polar opposite. I never say anything of course but privately, it always amazes me that people can like such blandness (butter and ketchup are the main flavoring a they use). They'd probably feel similarly puzzled re my family's food - I guess it all comes down to what you're used to. Rightly or wrongly tho, I do tend to judge people who are super picky about foods, particularly anything "different".

have your husband comments in her food...

Anonymous wrote:Scour the internet for cooking classes to gift her. My MIL is Italian but grew up with an Italian mom who hated garlic. All my MIls Italian recipes just tasted off (it didn't help she always tried to make them healthier). SIL (her daughter) gave her some Italian cooking classes for her bday once because she couldn't take the cooking much longer during holiday meals. MIL's food is soooo good now. I can't wait for tomorrow!!! Haha

This is a good suggestion. You should be happy your MIL is interested in learning about and continuing your culture. Don't tell her she over spices.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sometimes older people have this problem, OP.

This may be the problem. The sense of taste starts to go when you start getting older and some people start over-spicing and over-salting because they can't taste it otherwise.

Or they under spice and under salt.

My moms cooking has gone downhill with age and she's only 60. She made meatloaf the other night and it was still pink in the middle. Everything is under or over cooked, she forgot the sugar in the pumpkin pies this year...it's just part of her charm I guess!

Anonymous wrote:Sometimes older people have this problem, OP.

This may be the problem. The sense of taste starts to go when you start getting older and some people start over-spicing and over-salting because they can't taste it otherwise.

Sometimes older people have this problem, OP.

You tell her in a nice gracious way. " here's a trick from my homeland....never add blah blah more than x spice NO MATTER THE RECIPE, for some reason it comes out wrong" or it's more authentic if you do .... Or I prefer lower spices...can you try .....

Scour the internet for cooking classes to gift her. My MIL is Italian but grew up with an Italian mom who hated garlic. All my MIls Italian recipes just tasted off (it didn't help she always tried to make them healthier). SIL (her daughter) gave her some Italian cooking classes for her bday once because she couldn't take the cooking much longer during holiday meals. MIL's food is soooo good now. I can't wait for tomorrow!!! Haha

Anonymous wrote:My mil loves cooking "ethnic" food except she always adds in 2-3 times as much of one or two spices that she likes and the result is BAD. It's especially noticable to me when she cooks Indian food because I am Indian and the food tastes all wrong. Do I just let it be? I'm embarrassed for when she is going to invite my parents over and she serves them what is supposed to be my moms recipes but she messed with the spices. What do I do?

You say thank you. Her cooking is bad, but intentions are good.

My mil loves cooking "ethnic" food except she always adds in 2-3 times as much of one or two spices that she likes and the result is BAD. It's especially noticable to me when she cooks Indian food because I am Indian and the food tastes all wrong. Do I just let it be? I'm embarrassed for when she is going to invite my parents over and she serves them what is supposed to be my moms recipes but she messed with the spices. What do I do?