Whenyouhearthephraseculturalheritage,whatcomestomind?Maybeyouremembergoingtoseeethnicfolkdanceswithpeoplewearingtraditionalcostumes.Perhapsyouwereexposedtothemusicandartsofthisculture.Mostlikely,however,whatcomestomindwillbethefood.Itmightbeginwiththerecollectionofyourmother’scooking,orvisitinggrandma’shouseandreceivingaspecialtreatasarewardforgoodbehavior.Asyoucloseyoureyes,canyoupictureyourfavoritedish?Isitasaladwithaspecialdressing,orascrumptiousdessert?Canyousmellthearomawaftingthroughthehouse?Maybeyou’refarawayfromhomeandeatingyourfavoritesoulfoodmakesyoufeelclosertothoseyou’reseparatedfrom.
Manyofushavemissedspendingaholidayortwowithourlovedones,onlytofindourselvescallingtoaskwhattheyhadfordinner.Itdoesn’tmatterifit’sthesamethingthatisservedyearafteryear.There’snothinglikefoodtohelpusidentifywithourroots.Theserecipes,cherishedfamilyfavorites,handeddownfromeachgenerationtothenextmightundergosubtlechanges,buttherestillremainsacableofunity.Itisthisunitywhichconstructsthebridgebetweenfamiliesandgenerations.Foodcanbedescribedasthebuildingblocksofthisculturalbridge.
Goodfoodknowsnoboundaries.Itbecomesthegreatequalizerbetweenyoungandold.Here,inthekitchentheoldmasterworkshandinhandwithyoungerfamilymembersandfriends,passingontraditionalskillsusedintheculinaryarts.However,moreistakingplacethanameretransferofinformationaboutingredientsandmixinginstructions.Magicmomentsarecreatedbetweenchildandelder.Itbecomesanopportunityforaparenttoteachfamilyvalueswhilepassingthesugarandbeatingtheeggs.Confidencescanbeexchangedalongwiththenaturalflowofconversation.