Assignment:
Write a short memoir about one of the following types of food experiences: A meal or some kind of food in your childhood, or a struggle to cook a particular dish.
or…
Write a brief personal essay about anything related to food or drink.
My great-grandmother’s cheesecake is legendary in some circles. My mother’s grandmother made a cheesecake of substantial heft, with a soft, creamy texture and a rich sweetness shot through with bright acidity and an almost-imperceptible whisper of spice.^1 My mother was not the star cook in the family during my childhood: she lagged behind my father and his mother. But she was the only one who made The Cheesecake, and when we gathered for holiday dinners, whispers and furtive glances would commence.
Its recipe has been the object of numerous attempts at bribery, thievery, and spycraft. My cousins, acting on the orders of others, have offered money, favors, labor, and even help in negotiating a car purchase in exchange for the secret recipe. Mom wasn’t hearing any of it. That recipe, she said, would go with her to her grave unless she decided to give it to one of her kids on the condition of absolute secrecy.^2 This brings us to Christmas 2012.
The family, seated around the living room, opened their gifts, sipped coffee and ate cinnamon rolls, as was custom in Clan Breeland. I eventually came to an envelope, marked simply “B” in my mother’s hand.^3 Expecting a gift card, I tore open the envelope, but instead, I found The Recipe.
I was dumbfounded, my hands shook anxiously. We had never been allowed to observe the making of The Cheesecake, and we had run across a copy of what purported to be The Recipe in my great-grandmother’s recognizable writing, but we knew that this was a decoy, a dummy recipe, and that the true recipe contained a number of additional secret ingredients and steps.
“NOT TO BE SHARED WITH ANYONE - GIRLFRIENDS INCLUDED” was Sharpied across the top of the page. This was a not-so-subtle reference to the fact that I had made it known that I intended to propose to the woman who is now my wife in the coming days (and my mother has since allowed me to share the recipe with her, but only upon marriage, and with the understanding that she is sworn to secrecy, and should we ever divorce, The Recipe is mine for good).
My eyes scanned the page, having committed to memory the dummy recipe. I noticed five distinct changes: two additional ingredients, one modified ingredient amount, a modified temperature setting during one phase of the baking, and an additional step. I couldn’t believe it – I held in my hand The Recipe. I read it over twice, taking particular note of the comments scrawled in the margins, explanatory or troubleshooting addenda^4 surely of great use.
Over time, I came to realize that the importance of The Recipe, or indeed of The Cheesecake, was not its superior quality or elusive formula. It was the shared experience and producing and eating the same flavors that my great-grandmother had produced and eaten hundreds of times over the decades. And though she died in 2010, I can hear her voice when I taste The Cheesecake.
End Notes
1 Nicely worded
2 Great job building up such a sense of intrigue about this recipe
3 What a fantastic gift (and a fantastic way to pass along this recipe)!
4 Arguably the most valuable part of any recipe...
Comments
Brennan,
Such an engaging read. This really brings home the idea that food - and sharing it together - can be one of the most treasured aspects of family life.
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