Family Food Fare and Favourites
Join me as I dig through my memories, and recipes, to rediscover my family’s food “back in the day” and how those food habits have changed over the decades to today’s diverse and multi-cultural cuisines. This is my theme for the 2021 A to Z challenge.
THEN
One of my favourite biscuits when I was a teen was mum’s Marshmellow Slice. I especially liked it as a birthday treat, though with a summer birthday, making marshmallow wasn’t a very forgiving experience. In cooler months I’d also take it to school when one of my classmates had a birthday. It was traditional for us to bring food to share over lunch while sitting on the Terrace overlooking the Story Bridge.
Another fruity treat was fresh mangoes when in season. My grandparents planted a mango tree when dad was born and when last seen it was still growing though it had gone through some bedraggled years. As a child I loved to climb the tree to near the top, which must have given grandma heart failure.
NOW
One of our treasured recipes is my sister-in-law’s Mango Chutney recipe (remember all those curries?) Sadly, I can no longer eat mangoes which is a shame considering we lived in mango country for years.
I’ve never ventured to make mum’s marshmellow slice but for Christmas on a few occasions I made a rolled meringue cake with tropical fruit filling. It was quite delicious!
MEMORABLE MEALS
What defines a memorable meal for you? Mr Cassmob talked about our favourites, and they range from family Christmas dinners where everyone contributes something special, casual picnics or BBQs by a creek while having a day out in the country, family gatherings for birthdays and anniversaries (given we often travel around our anniversaries we’ve had some pretty amazing meals).
And then there are the special culinary meals like a gourmet fine dining experience, often to celebrate an event like a first date or a big anniversary, or even a lucky prize like we won recently in Brisbane.
Or the times where the location is as much the feature as the food: from breakfast in the Masai Mara with two of our daughters, to fresh seafood in Santorini at a restaurant recommended by a colleague, a takeaway roast chicken (halb henschen) overlooking Heildelberg, bratwurst mit senf at the Nuremberg Christmas markets, the huge meal we had in Assisi on Easter Sunday in 2000, to the view of the Acropolis with our dinner in Athens. How lucky have we been?! I honestly couldn’t have imagined this when I was growing up. A few years back, at a fabulous AirBnB to see Riverfire in Brisbane, mum echoed that thought, asking if I ever thought we’d stay somewhere like that.
MARKETS
We love pottering in food markets wherever we are, from the unusual ones in Papua New Guinea to the upmarket versions in Provence. In each place the food is reflective of the local growing conditions as well as the culture.
What special memories do you have of meals, either simple or elaborate?
Do you enjoy exploring food markets wherever you go?
Do you love to munch into a mango with the juice running down your arms?
Family history across the seas 
I really like mangos.
I too remember eating wurst in Nuremburg 🙂
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There’s something special eating a local treats when you’re visiting.
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For my recent 70th birthday my family prepared a feast. My son-in -law set the ball rolling with Singapore Chiili Crab. My son then joined in with garlic prawns. My husband did seared tuna on the BBQ. I made the salads and my daughter peeled, boiled and baked the potatoes. It was a memorable meal.
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What a fabulously memorable meal and all the more so for being a family collaboration. Wish I’d been invited 😉
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I love shopping in local food/produce markets when I travel. In fact, most of the souvenirs I bring back end up being kitchen utensils — reminding me of pleasurable trips whenever I cook. Must bookmark that marshmallow slice recipe. Looks delicious. https://mollyscanopy.com/2021/04/margot-moose-and-ancestral-connections-atozchallenge/
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Enjoy the slice Molly. I’ve bought a few things like salad servers as gifts but because we have issues with wood and quarantine, it tends to deter us.
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I didn’t know about mangoes when I was a child. Love them now.
Inevitably when we go on tours in a foreign city there is a food market to be visited, I don’t enjoy many of these and often sit outside and people watch. There are just a few exceptions, the markets in Norway where whale was sold was an eyeopener, there was a good fish market in Mauritius and a couple in Vietnam.
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How interesting that food markets don’t “speak” to you. I loved them though I am now forewarned about Norway.
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The food markets in France were fabulous with the produce so fresh. Ah, memorable meals, too many to add here but what an excellent prompt for future blogging. Yum, fresh mangoes but for an extra dash of something special, rub the cut and scored cheeks of mango with brown sugar, caramelise face down in hot pan and serve with vanilla brandy cream.
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That sounds like seriously upscaling the mango.
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Like you Pauleen, I don’t seem to be able to eat mangoes in one sitting like I used to. I might have overdone it in my youth. I just feel quite sick afterwards. But I can still have it in small quantities in yoghurt or icecream, thank goodness. Probably one of my favourite meals that I discovered when I was overseas was Dutch breakfasts. They were like a smorgasbord incorporating meats and cheeses…so yummy. I loved them 🙂
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Sadly mangoes are on my banned list…a shame given 20 years in NT. Interesting that it makes you feel ill unless in small quantities. yes , Dutch and German breakfasts are yummy with their fresh rolls, slice meat, eggs and cheese, and yoghurt.
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