Serene Vannoy wrote:
> Kswck wrote:
>> Parent, other family member, friend? Or did you have to learn on your
>> own?
>
> My mom says I was helping her cook when I was four years old. I don't
> know if she's exaggerating, but I do remember cooking with her when I
> was quite small, and she's still my go-to source for how to cook meat
> and all my childhood favorites.
>
>> Mom boiled every veggie to death. Figure ALL pork must be cooked in a
>> fry pan covered with mustard and sauerkraut, till it's dead, beef so
>> rare it would moo and chicken ONLY in a pressure cooker, or Shake-N-Bake.
>> (Don't get me started on her soups-she believed food was to keep you
>> alive...taste? 'You want that too? Why?').
>>
>> Learned on my own.
>
> My mom is a wonderful cook, but James's mom was like your mom. It's such
> a shame. He didn't have a salad until he was in his 20s.
>
> Serene
>
My mother was that way. She was born in 1905 and her mother was born in
1862. Both learned to cook in a fireplace, and later in coal or wood
stoves. All meat cooked until it was more charcoal than anything else,
all veggies boiled for at least ten minutes, no salads, only store
bought white bread, very little fruit. Although, in all fairness, where
I grew up we had kumquats, satsumas, pears, and berries. Bananas came on
a boat and Dad would buy a whole stalk that would be kept in a closet so
they wouldn't all ripen at once. Apples, oranges, and nuts were only at
Christmas.

I probably ate more velvet cake and lemon meringue pie growing up than
most people ever did, that was all the desserts Mom knew how to cook
other than Jello. She would rarely make biscuits and then they weren't
very good. Don't remember ever eating pasta of any kind as a kid. No
cabbage, broccoli, or cauliflower ever.

May have been a combination of the times (forties and fifties) and Mom's
hard upbringing as a migrant farm worker when they weren't living with
relatives on the Rez.

Learned to eat all kinds of veggies, pastas, etc. when I married my
lovely wife. Learned to cook from my Dad, campfire style in Dutch ovens,
all cast iron stuff. Later taught myself to cook lots of regional foods
from the parts of the world wife and I lived in. Worked as a teenager in
my Grandmother's (Dad's Mom)cafes, mostly fried stuff, burgers, malts,
etc. Really didn't start to enjoy food for the flavor and texture until
I was in my forties. Food was mostly fuel so you could keep on working
and walking. Now I cook most meals at our home and enjoy having friends
over for meals on occasion.