Verified by 
Cooking is an important way of passing down family traditions, as well as part of holidays no matter what your religious beliefs. Here’s more on the subject of food, cooking and cultural traditions from Monica Bhide, author of Modern Spice:
Jennifer Haupt: You have three highly acclaimed cookbooks that add a modern flair to the Indian recipes you grew up with in your mother's kitchen. How important is food and cooking in handing down cultural traditions in your family?
Monica Bhide: I think they go hand in hand. But it’s funny how culture shows up where you least expect it. I remember learning to cook without tasting my food. You see, in our family, the first serving of food being cooked was always intended for the Divine. And to taste the food when you cook it would make it impure. So I learned how to cook by watching the onions caramelize to a perfect amber, listening to the cumin sizzle and to the mustard seeds roar in hot oil. And now I notice I teach my son to cook the same way -- I am always making him smell, touch, listen to food to learn how to cook it perfectly. Although, he does love to taste!
Our meals growing up were around the family table. We cooked together, we ate together and during the meal spend time planning the next meal. My kids are the same way. I seem to have passed down not just our food traditions but to some extent our food obsession!
JH: Do you have a particular recipe that a loved one taught you how to make and you now make with your children?
MB: Eggs! When I was growing up, one of my best comfort foods was watching my father prepare his piece de resistance - his Indian style scrambled eggs. He would heat a pan, add oil, onions, garlic, tomatoes, spices, green chilies and cilantro. Cook them until the tomatoes softened and then add the eggs and scramble them. I would wait by the stove for this treat. The sweet smell of the onions, the lemony scent of cilantro, the eggs ... I associate them all with the love of my father. He served the eggs on simple white toast slathered with butter.
I introduced this to my husband when I got married, over 17 years ago and then to my sons. Both boys love it. It always makes me a misty eyed when my boys wait by the stove for me to give them some. Even now when we visit my Dad, he makes these eggs but now I have to wait in line behind my boys!
JH: Your essay from Modern Spice, "What is Real Cooking" was just picked for the Best Food Writing 2009 collection. So, what is real cooking?
MB: The essay focuses on my lovely friend, Vrinda who claims she cant cook. She describes real cooks as people who can make rice 9 ways and then have 10 ways to cook the leftovers. Yet, her meals are ones that satisfy not just
the palate but the soul. Eating at her table always makes me want to thank the Universe for the gift of her friendship. No, she isn't a gourmet cook. She cooks simple meals - spice slathered potatoes, beautiful white rice, simmering lentils. What makes her meals special is the love that goes into them. It shows in the dishes. They are rich in flavor and soul.
So to me, a real cook is one who adds more than ingredients to their dishes ¾ they add soul, they add spirit. There is an old Indian saying that a when a dish tastes good, it is because these is love in the hands of the cook.
JH: In our melting pot of different cultures, what really is American cooking?
MB: I think it really is a melding of all the different cultures that are here. Our friends are in the US are from all over the world -- Egypt, Lebanon, Brazil, France, Germany, India, Scotland. And eating dinner at any of their homes is a testament to what constitutes the new American table -- wonderful cultural and food traditions that show up and become one here. A Brazilian friend always serves a hearts of palm salad at her barbeques, our Indian friend's serve tandoori turkey at thanksgiving, and our Middle eastern friends make pizza with hummus instead of tomato sauce! Fusion, you would think. But it isn't, it is the new American table.
For more about Monica, check out her blog, A Life of Spice, and look for her essays in Real Simple, The Washington Post, Parenting and other magazines.
