The Secret Ingredient That Our Parents Have Kept Secret

My grandmother used to always make a cake for anyone in the family who had a birthday. I have made cakes from scratch but they never taste like my grandmothers. When I was a young girl I used to set and watch my grandmother make the cake and so I know what she puts into it. Mine just never tastes quite the same. Its a mystery.

Actually, as my mom has gotten older, there are certain dishes that she used to make, that she no longer makes. It's been years since she has made her lasagna or her stew chicken. I ask her if she still knows how to make them. Tell me, if you never find the secret ingredient, do the elders just die with it?

Fortunately, my Mom did not keep any secret to me when it comes to cooking. I am inherently interested with cooking. As a young girl, I was not much interested with dolls but with kitchen utensils and would cook all the leaves I could ever gather from Mom's garden to the delight of all my playmates. As I grew older, I would watch my Mom and my elder sister and help them out as they prepared our meals. My Mom noticed my interest and she and my elder sister started teaching me just about every thing I need to know. From there, I learned all the secrets of their good cooking and so now I cook just as perfect as they do. My mother is now gone but her good cooking is one of the legacies she left with me. I really am thankful to her for that.

Hello Gtargirl, I hope that you are fine. You make me recall some good times. Not my mommmy but my grandaunty tought me a lot of cooking recipes. I used to be with her many time on vacation. So we made cookies, bread, desserts, cakes, fish, beans. She was my grandmother sister. I never met my grandmother, but I knew by my aunty that my grandmother loved to make big wedding cakes. She loved to decorate them most. Thanks you for posting. Blessings Gtargirl... dainy

i feel that we all have those recipes that our mom and grand mother used to prepare for us. Those dishes tastes so good. But when we try to do the same, we fail to get that taste. I guess it has nothing to do with the secret ingredient and them hiding it. I guess it is all about the interest and the love that they had invested on the dish is what make it so different from what we make. We see it as a dish , but for them, it is a way of showing their love. The taste of love can never be matched friend.