the similarities of food cultures
the Yiddishe mama and the Italian nonna...
Food culture is an expression of our values, beliefs and rituals, shaping the way we eat and feed others. It is often defined by our attitudes, culinary practices and the connection to our heritage and ethnicity, impacting heavily on the environment and our local food systems.
As a writer and author of Jewish and Middle Eastern culinary culture, the relationship between food, my upbringing and life choices, tradition and an inherent love of feeding forms my culinary voice and the inspiration for my narratives.
I have just returned from spending nearly a week in Florence and the beautiful region of Tuscany, where in the company of my best girlfriend of many years, we soaked up the rich food and wine culture with a large handful of history and art thrown in. I soon realised how discernibly similar the culinary traditions and practices appeared to be between these ancient cuisines, and the significance of the cross-cultural attitudes of cooking and feeding, heavily connecting the inherent values of the Italian Nonna and the Yiddishe Mama. As respected matriarchs of their communities, the very core of the family unit and primarily, providers of sustenance and nourishment to anyone and everyone that crosses their doorstep, the similarities became all too apparent.
Typecast as strong, overbearing, selfless and guilt-ridden, the Jewish mother is principally characterised as an abundant feeder, who is only satisfied when nurturing her loved ones through the provision of customary, cooked food, and the face (and swollen stomach) of a well fed man. Exactly the same can be said of the Italian grandmother, maybe with a little less of the guilt. Both are traditional home cooks, who have followed recipes from generations before them, instilled into their memories from the tastes and smells of their upbringing.
The large pot of nourishing chicken soup with light, fluffy matzah balls bobbing around in a clear broth, slowly simmering on the hob for the start of the Sabbath, is the equivalent in sustenance, only to the freshly made pasta and rich, thick, beefy ragu, served up on every Italian’s table. Both classical dishes like so many others are intrinsic to their native cuisines, and always made with a good helping of love and a heavy hand of flavour.
It is so very easy to find commonalities between food cultures, particularly when looking at the aspects of sharing food, cooking each dish from scratch, the food of previous generations and the elements of each meal. There appeared to me to be such a strong relationship between the Jewish / Middle Eastern and Italian cuisines, and none more so that that of the influence of the woman, who affords it beating heart. The strength and determination of the Italian Nonna is as obvious as that of the Yiddishe Mama, both driven by an intensely passionate force, a deep-rooted love of cooking and the need to feed.
Carmella, a demonstrative and effusive Tuscan woman, mother, wife and cook taught us the basics of making bruschetta with fresh tomatoes, egg pasta and beef ragu, and the classic dessert tiramisu, which once made, allowed us the pleasure of sitting at her table and demolishing our morning’s work, with the ubiquitous glass of Chianti.
As a Leith’s trained cook, caterer and mother, I have made all of those dishes many times, including fresh tagliatelle, however it was not about the recipes and cooking for me, but for the cultural experience of visiting Florence’s main food market, buying local and seasonal produce and being taught the nuances of regional Italian cuisine by the force of Carmella. She soon realised I was a cook and food writer, I probably mentioned it, but she delighted in this knowledge, and so I got to really understand her passion for food and the cultural flavours of this lush landscape.
As I progress with the research and writing of my current manuscript, Feeding Us… the food of memories, I have begun to delve deeper into the inherent need for Jewish women to feed others in the many joyous, grieving and conflicting occasions that we experience during our life cycle. So often the giving of cooked food is seen as not only a charitable act, but as a sacred one too, offering both religious and spiritual enlightenment to those that provide.
Whatever the woman’s inclination, persuasion, heritage or influence, the cultural similarities are simmering between the cuisines, and hopefully will continue to intertwine for generations to come.
L’chaim… to life!