Family recipes dished up comfort during COVID-19
By Courtney Smith
A knock at the door in April 2020 meant two things for Cat Mouer, 21. First, her delivery had arrived. Second, she got to talk through the door to her favorite delivery guy, the only person she would see for more than a month while hunkered down for quarantine. When school ended in May and her frozen food was officially gone, Mouer decided to try her hand at cooking family recipes.
“My grandma was Lebanese and food has been one of the big parts of my family in terms of connecting with that heritage,” Mouer said. “So when she passed away, the year before COVID, I was like, okay, I want to learn how to make Lebanese food myself in my apartment.”
During these early days of COVID-19 and quarantine, family recipes provided the ultimate comfort food for those stuck at home. These recipes were not only a way to connect with loved ones, but also provided a break and something to do.
“I started trying to learn how to make baked eggplant and it’s basically layered eggplant and meat and tomato sauce﹣and it’s great. It is one of my favorite things,” Mouer said.
The connection and comfort one feels to family recipes begins at a young age, according to Brittany Crim, Director of Nutrition and Program Development for the Fitness Institute of Texas and the Department of Kinesiology.
“You’re hardwired at a young age to be comforted by food if you have a family member, specifically mom, dad, parent, grandmother, that shows love through food,” Crim said.
“Most of us have that family member.”
These positive associations and memories from early-life have led many people to turn to their comfort foods during the pandemic, according to Crim.
“It really wires your brain to feel that dopamine, serotonin release when those foods are present. Think about if you ever fell down and skinned your knee, mommy gave you a lollipop. If you had your birthday, mom made your favorite dinner,” Crim said. “That kind of stuff just really, as your brains are developing, creates that emotional connection to that food.”
This emotional connection to family recipes was clear for Whitley Birkla, 21. Her life before the pandemic involved working at an elementary school, where she would play games and hang out with the school children. When COVID-19 hit, suddenly she was taking care of her elderly grandfather.
“We would just hang out and I got bored very quickly. I would find these very elaborate recipes to cook, so that it would take at least two hours to cook dinner, just so I would have something to do,” Birkla said. “It was most definitely an escape. I feel a lot of calm when I’m cooking, I’m just kind of in my own little bubble, and I’m very happy when I cook.”
Birkla’s grandmother’s recipes were some of her go-tos. She made her grandmother’s stuffing, fettuccine alfredo and bread. While the stuffing was usually made for Thanksgiving, last year Birkla’s family made an exception and had it on Easter.
“I would always make that with my grandma and she was always so happy when somebody would cook with her because she’s like, ‘this is going to be able to be passed down, you know how to make it now and then you can take it home to your family in the future and make it and pass it on to your kids’,” Birkla said. “So it was always very sentimental to cook with my grandma and I feel like making her recipes it’s just a way to honor her now.”
Dishing up family recipes also allowed Mouer to feel closer to her family.
“It’s something that I always feel like I’m connecting with my family and with my grandma when I make it and so it’s always really nice,” Mouer said.
While there is a hopeful end to the pandemic in sight and memories of the early quarantines may begin to fade, comfort of these family recipes and the positive memories associated with them will not soon be forgotten.
Marshmallow frosting recipe
One of my family’s greatest treasures is a marshmallow frosting recipe from my great grandmother, Lucille “Grandmuddy” Leonhardt. She always had a chocolate cake with this frosting waiting for us at her house in Gastonia, NC, when we’d come to visit as it was my dad’s favorite. Now, it’s my favorite. It looks, tastes and smells like home. Here’s our recipe for the best ooey gooey marshmallow frosting:
Ingredients:
- 1 ¼ cup of clear corn syrup
- 2 egg whites
- 10 large marshmallows
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
Directions:
Heat corn syrup until a rolling boil, then cut off. Beat egg whites until peaks. Put all ten marshmallows in corn syrup and, using a wooden or metal spoon, melt marshmallows into corn syrup. Put in a bowl with egg whites, add vanilla and mix together.
