The Story of Nosh I - The Cooking Gene

Another day I'll have to dig up ye olde photo albums with pictures that illustrate just how and when my romance with food began. Sometimes it's not so much the food itself, but the nostalgia it evokes... The memory of taste and smell.

Typical scene of Me and Mom in the kitchen

In my opinion, whilst the cooking gene may span more than three generations before, - it is quite possibly my Grandmother (on my mother's side) who probably influenced and nurtured my love for cooking the most - followed by my mother and her sister (Aunty J .)
Cooking is also another love that I share with my Father - and I remember the times in my childhood when he was perfecting cheesecake and lemon merringue recipes... still two of my favourite desserts.

My grandmother used to give cooking lessons from her rather palatial kitchen - and my strongest food memories of that time (and of my grandfather) revolve around rolling sticky balls of pineapple jam between my hands to make tarts in preparation for Chinese New Year, sitting on the porch with Kongkong (Grandfather) and seperating glutinous rice grains by the zillions - for C'hang festival, and my very first Trishaw ride back from the wet markets with all the things that Grandma needed for Dinner.


From my Grandmother I picked up a most quirky habit - meal planning -
a.k.a. asking what you want for dinner at breakfast. I guess to an extent, my mother does it too - if only to think on what needs to be marinated or dethawed from the freezer. I also learnt to cater from my Grandmother because she entertained often and always insisted on family meals together. She would sit me in the kitchen so I could often observe (and eat!) the things she did. I remember her saying to me "The best way to a man's heart is through his stomach" (My love politely reminds me that the best way to a man's heart is through his chest)

From my Mother, I really learnt how to read a recipe and then do somethingelse. She taught me not to be afraid of cooking - and to be creative with what was to hand. My mom's a pretty experimental cook and she's made some stunners that we've only ever eaten once in our entire lives and are unlikely to ever eat again... sigh.



From my Aunty J, well I learnt to appreciate traditional heritage cooking and fine cuisine. I remember one day in primary school (she lived right by my school then), I had an invitation to come around for lunch and we had roasted baby squid, gerkins and caviar! She was always educating my palate like that...