Setting the Table with Family Traditions

One of the main reasons that food has played such a big part in my life is because my mom is an excellent cook. If you follow me, you might know that she had a catering business and later my parents had a Japanese market.

Recently I hosted my family for dinner.   I decided to serve a traditional Japanese meal and settled on temaki. What is temaki? They're Japanese hand rolls. You begin with a sheet of nori (dried seaweed) and then you roll in raw fish, rice, and other fresh ingredients like cucumber, avocado, wasabi, sesame seeds, etc.  It's a delicious and simple meal and it's fun to be interactive and get creative with your rolls.  At the dinner my brother-in-law lightly chided my sister (his wife) and our mother. Why had they never introduced him to temaki before in the many years that he has been a part of our family?  Although we got a good laugh it made me realize the importance of reproducing family food traditions. 

A few months later, when I had all four of my kids in town, we decided to host another family meal.  Again, I thought of sentimental food traditions I had growing up.  What food tradition did I want to share with my children and my niece? Obviously my sister and mom weren't going to carry the torch and the weight had fallen to me (I joke. I have an awesome sister and mom and they are great with this generation of kids).  

I settled on sukiyaki. Sukiyaki is a nabe or hot pot dish, where you cook all the ingredients at the table in a well seasoned broth.  Traditionally it is made with thinly sliced beef.  I had to revise this tradition and in addition to the beef sukiyaki I served a vegetarian option as well for our resident vegetarian (my now wife). 

All my kids had a great time walking to the corner Japanese market to select the ingredients. It gave me the opportunity to share stories with them about their grandparents store.  At home the kids were also eager to help prepare and cook the food and it was good to know that one day they'll have the knowledge to continue these food traditions.

These dinners made me think of other simple food traditions that I enjoyed when I was a kid.  One was a very typical New Yorker breakfast experience. The bagel spread. This involves authentic NYC bagels, schmear (aka cream cheese), lox, tomato, onion, and capers. Voila! The best breakfast.

During another visit when my kids were with us in NYC we put an awesome bagel spread together for breakfast for them.  They loved it. My oldest son King thought it was awesome. In an almost accusatory way he said "Dad! Why have you never done this for us before?!" The answer was simple. "Seattle doesn't have good
bagels." I dead panned. But truthfully carrying on food traditions often takes thought and planning.   

I love learning the food traditions of other families and I've been fortunate to take part in them.  This past Lunar New Year, I was invited to my friend Dorothy's house to celebrate. She put all of the guests, my kids included, to work learning to roll and fold the dumplings. It was a lot of fun.  

I know a lot of people out there, cooks or not, who don't put an emphasis on carrying on food traditions.  I think it's important because it's an opportunity to share stories and to pass on knowledge that often has been passed on for several generations.

What a cool way to feel connected to people who came even hundreds of years before. 

Even if you don't have any traditions, any day is a good day to start one.  Once you do, you can pass it on to your friends and family.  Once you start there will be someone to carry it on. 

So, please share with me some of your favorite food traditions. What do you enjoy to cook? Is it associated with a holiday? I'd love to hear about your experiences in the comments below.  

Sashimi for Temaki

My daughter learning to fold dumplings with family friends