Grandparents’ Day from the Inside (of the Kitchen)

One of the most beautiful and important elements of family traditions is the meals eaten together, especially those prepared by grandparents and grandmothers. These moments spent at the table not only provide delicious flavors, but also play a key role in shaping family identity and transferring values from generation to generation. Passing on recipes, kitchen secrets and special culinary tricks is an integral part of the family culture heritage, something that distinguishes our family. Families who continue the tradition of family meals pass on not only the flavors, but also the stories associated with the dishes.

At this point, it is worth mentioning the role that our senses discover and how beautifully we can transfer to childhood memories in the case of adults, and create sensory memory in children.

Sensory memory is a stage of the memory process that involves the short-term recording of sensory information from sensory stimuli such as sight, hearing, touch, taste, or smell. This is the first step in how the brain processes information. By participating with their grandparents in a positive culinary exhibition, children can instill the smell of the dish, the taste and the atmosphere that prevailed during its preparation for many years. As a result, food becomes not only a matter of satisfying hunger, but also a means of building family bonds and maintaining ties with the past.

It is while cooking that grandmothers can pass on not only culinary techniques, but also stories about their lives, experiences and values. In this way, food becomes a tool for building family bonds and passing on knowledge and wisdom from one generation to the next.

Remembering the importance of nutrition at every stage of life, it may be worthwhile, especially in January, when we celebrate Grandmother’s and Grandfather’s Day, to prepare a culinary gift together with them.

Warming millet groats cooked with milk, or a vegetable drink with warming turmeric, cinnamon, served with roasted pumpkin mousse with orange and clove can support eyesight, replenish energy and give our grandparents some necessary calcium.

Pancakes baked from semolina, with a country egg, spelt flour, a vegetable drink or thick yoghurt and chopped finely dried fruit are a good warm composition for warming teas with ginger and cinnamon stick. Or maybe the grandchildren will prepare the fruity and green tea compositions themselves in a decorative gift bag?

Or maybe this year, exceptionally, you will create a culinary recipe for your family and together with your children and grandparents you will sit down and write down your family recipes.